Sixth Committee (Legal) — 79th session
Criminal accountability of United Nations officials and experts on mission (Provisional agenda item 76)
- Authority: resolution 78/102
Documentation
Additional documents from previous sessions:
- Reports of the Secretary-General:
A/78/275 | A/78/248 | A/77/237 | A/77/225 | A/76/205 | A/76/208 | A/75/228 | A/75/217 | A/74/145 | A/74/142 | A/73/128 | A/73/129 | A/73/155 | A/72/121 | A/72/126 | A/72/205 | A/71/167 | A/70/208 | A/69/210 | A/68/173 | A/67/213 | A/66/174 + Add.1 | A/65/185 | A/64/183 + Add.1 | A/63/260 + Add.1 | A/63/331 - A/C.6/77/SR.35, A/C.6/75/SR.17 | A/C.6/73/SR.33 | A/C.6/70/SR.27 — Summary records of the 35th meeting (10 November 2022), the 17th meeting (11 November 2020), the 33rd meeting (5 November 2018) and the 27th meeting (13 November 2015)
- A/62/329 — Note by the Secretariat
- A/60/980 — Note by the Secretary-General on ensuring the accountability of United Nations staff and experts on mission with respect to criminal acts committed in peacekeeping operations: Report of the Group of Legal Experts
Summary of work
Background (source: A/79/100)
At its sixty-first session, the General Assembly decided that the agenda item entitled “Comprehensive review of the whole question of peacekeeping operations in all their aspects”, which had been allocated to the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee), should also be referred to the Sixth Committee for discussion of the report of the Group of Legal Experts on ensuring the accountability of United Nations staff and experts on mission with respect to criminal acts committed in peacekeeping operations (see A/60/980), submitted pursuant to Assembly resolutions 59/300 and 60/263 and decision 60/563 (decision 61/503 A).
At the same session, under the item entitled “Criminal accountability of United Nations officials and experts on mission”, the Assembly decided to establish an Ad Hoc Committee, open to all States Members of the United Nations or members of specialized agencies or of the International Atomic Energy Agency, for the purpose of considering the report of the Group of Legal Experts, in particular its legal aspects (resolution 61/29). The Ad Hoc Committee reported on its work to the Assembly at its sixty-second and sixty-third sessions (A/62/54 and A/63/54).
The Assembly has had the item on its agenda annually since its sixty-second session (resolutions 62/63, 63/119, 64/110, 65/20, 66/93, 67/88, 68/105, 69/114, 70/114, 71/134, 72/112, 73/196, 74/181, 75/132, 76/106, 77/98 and 78/102).
At its seventy-eighth session, the Assembly allocated the item to the Sixth Committee, where statements in the debate were made by 38 delegations (see A/C.6/78/SR.8 and 9). The Assembly reiterated its decision that the consideration of the report of the Group of Legal Experts, in particular its legal aspects, taking into account the views of Member States and also noting the inputs by the Secretariat, would be continued during its seventy-ninth session in the framework of a working group of the Sixth Committee, and, for that purpose, invited further comments from Member States on that report, including on the question of future action. The Assembly requested the Secretary-General to continue to report on any updates to the policies and procedures of the United Nations system regarding allegations of crimes that may have been committed or crimes that were allegedly committed by United Nations officials or experts on mission. The Assembly also requested the Secretary-General to report to it at its seventy-ninth session on the implementation of the resolution (resolution 78/102).
