International Law Commission International Law Commission

Last update: October 26, 2015

Fifty-first Session (1999)

Daily Bulletin

MONDAY, 3 MAY 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2565th meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2565)

  • Election of officers
    • The Commission elected Mr. Zdzislaw Galicki (Poland) as its Chair. The Commission also elected Mr. Raul I. Goco (Philippines) as First Vice-President, Mr. Emmanuel Addo (Ghana) as Second Vice-President, Mr. Enrique J.A. Candioti (Argentina) as Chair of the Drafting Committee and Mr. Robert Rosenstock (United States) as Rapporteur.
  • Adoption of the agenda
  • Filling of casual vacancies
    • The Commission elected the following members to fill the three casual vacancies:
      • MR. GIORGIO GAJA (ITALY)
      • MR. MAURICE KAMTO (CAMEROON)
      • MR. PETER TOMKA (SLOVAKIA)

TUESDAY, 4 MAY 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2566th meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2566)

  • Nationality in relation to the succession of States
    • The Commission established a Working Group and designated Mr. Zdislaw Galicki as its Chair.
  • State responsibility

WEDNESDAY, 5 MAY 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2567th meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2567)

  • State responsibility
    • The Special Rapporteur, Mr. James Crawford, concluded the introduction of his second report on the topic (A/CN.4/498, Add.1, Add.2, Add.3 and Add.4). The Commission began its consideration of the report.

THURSDAY, 6 MAY 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2568th meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2568)

  • State responsibility
    • The Commission continued consideration of the first part of the second report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. James Crawford, on the topic (A/CN.4/498, Add.1, Add.2, Add.3 and Add.4).

FRIDAY, 7 MAY 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2569th meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2569)

  • State responsibility
    • The Commission continued consideration of the first part of the second report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. James Crawford, on the topic (A/CN.4/498, Add.1, Add.2, Add.3 and Add.4).
  • Nationality in relation to the succession of States
    • The Chair of the Commission, in his capacity as Chair of the Working Group on Nationality in relation to the succession of States, gave an interim report on the work of the Working Group.
  • Jurisdictional immunities of States and their property
    • The Commission, in conformity with operative paragraph 2 of General Assembly resolution 53/98 of 8 December 1998, established a Working Group on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and their Property, and appointed Mr. Gerhard Hafner Chair of the Working Group.

TUESDAY, 11 MAY 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2570th meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2570)

  • State responsibility
    • The Commission concluded consideration of the first part of the second report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. James Crawford, on the topic (A/CN.4/498, Add.1, Add.2, Add.3 and Add.4) and referred draft articles 16, 17, 18(1) and (2) and 19(1) to the Drafting Committee.

WEDNESDAY, 12 MAY 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2571st meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2571)

  • State responsibility
    • The Commission started its consideration of the second part of the second report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. James Crawford, on the topic (A/CN.4/498, Add.1, Add.2, Add.3 and Add.4).

FRIDAY, 14 MAY 1998
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2572nd meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2572)

  • Nationality in relation to the succession of States
    • The Commission considered the report of the Chair of the Working Group on Nationality in Relation to the Succession of States (A/CN.4/L.572). The Commission took note of the Report and decided to defer the draft articles on nationality in relation to succession of States as adopted on first reading, together with the amendments suggested by the Working Group, to the Drafting Committee.

TUESDAY, 18 MAY 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2573rd meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2573)

  • State responsibility
    • The Commission continued its consideration of the second part of the report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. James Crawford, on the topic (A/CN.4/498, Add.1, Add.2, Add.3 and Add.4).
  • Cooperation with other bodies
    • Representing the Inter-American Juridical Committee, Ambassador Luis Marchand Stens informed the Commission of the activities and recent developments on the work of the Committee.

WEDNESDAY, 19 MAY 1998
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2574th meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2574)

  • State responsibility
    • The Commission concluded its consideration of the second part of the second report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. James Crawford, on the topic (A/CN.4/498, Add.1, Add.2, Add.3 and Add.4) and referred articles 20, 21 and 23 to the Drafting Committee.
    • The Commission commenced and concluded its consideration of the third part of the second report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. James Crawford, on the topic (A/CN.4/498, Add.1, Add.2, Add.3 and Add.4) and referred articles 18 (3)-(5), 22, 24, 25, 26 and 26 bis to the Drafting Committee.
    • The Special Rapporteur, Mr. James Crawford, introduced the fourth part of his second report on the topic (A/CN.4/498, Add.1, Add.2, Add.3 and Add.4) concerning Chapter IV of Part One.

FRIDAY, 21 MAY 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2575th meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2575)

  • Programme, procedures and working methods of the Commission and its documentation
    • The Chair of the Planning Group, Mr. R. Goco, delivered an interim report on the work of the Group.
    • The Legal Counsel made a statement

TUESDAY, 25 MAY 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2576th meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2576)

  • Cooperation with other bodies
    • The Secretary-General of the Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee, Mr. Tang Chengyuan, informed the Commission of the activities and recent developments on the work of the Committee.
  • State Responsibility
    • The Commission continued its consideration of the fourth part of the report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. James Crawford, concerning Chapter IV of Part One of the draft articles (A/CN.4/498, Add.1, Add.2, Add.3 and Add.4).

WEDNESDAY, 26 MAY 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2577th meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2577)

  • State responsibility
    • The Commission continued its consideration of the fourth part of the report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. James Crawford, concerning Chapter IV of Part One of the draft articles (A/CN.4/498, Add.1, Add.2, Add.3 and Add.4).

FRIDAY, 28 MAY 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2578th meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2578)

  • State responsibility
    • The Commission concluded its consideration of the fourth part of the report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. James Crawford, concerning Chapter IV of Part One of the draft articles (A/CN.4/498, Add.1, Add.2, Add.3 and Add.4) and referred draft articles 27 to 28 bis to the Drafting Committee.

TUESDAY, 1 JUNE 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2579th meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2579)

  • Nationality in relation to the succession of States
    • The Chair of the Drafting Committee introduced the Committee's report on the draft articles on Nationality of Natural Persons in relation to the Succession of States on second reading (A/CN.4/L.573). The Commission adopted the Preamble, article 1 (Right to a nationality) (Droit à une nationalité), article 2 (Use of terms) (Termes employés), article 3 (Cases of succession of States covered by the present draft articles) (Cas de succession d'Etats visés par les présents articles), article 4 (Prevention of statelessness) (Prévention de l'apatridie), article 5 (Presumption of nationality) (Présomption de nationalité), article 6 (Legislation on nationality and other connected issues) (Législation sur la nationalité et les questions connexes) and article 7 (Effective Date) (Date d'effet).

WEDNESDAY, 2 JUNE 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2580th meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2580)

  • Nationality in relation to the succession of States
    • The Commission continued its consideration of the draft articles on Nationality of natural persons in relation to the succession of States on second reading (A/CN.4/L.573) and adopted article 8 (Persons concerned having their habitual residence in another State) (Personnes concernées ayant leur résidence habituelle dans un autre Etat), article 9 (Renunciation of the nationality of another State as a condition for attribution of nationality)(Renonciation à la nationalité d'un autre Etat conditionnant l'attribution de la nationalité), article 10 (Loss of nationality upon the voluntary acquisition of the nationality of another State) (Perte de la nationalité d'un Etat lors de l'acquisition volontaire de la nationalité d'un autre Etat), article 11 (Respect for the will of persons concerned) (Respect de la volonté des personnes concernées), article 12 (Unity of a family) (Unité de la famille), article 13 (Child born after the succession of States) (Enfant né après la succession d'Etats), article 14 (Status of habitual residents) (Statut de résident habituel), article 15 (Non-discrimination) (Non-discrimination), article 16 (Prohibition of arbitrary decisions concerning nationality issues) (Proscription de l'arbitraire en matière de nationalité), article 17 (Procedures relating to nationality issues) (Procédures en matière de nationalité), article 18 (Exchange of information, consultation and negotiation) (Echange d'informations, consultation et négociation), article 19 (Other States) (Autres Etats), article 20 (Attribution of the nationality of the successor State and withdrawal of the nationality of the predecessor State) (Attribution de la nationalité de l'Etat successeur et retrait de la nationalité de l'Etat prédécesseur), article 21 (Attribution of the nationality of the successor State) (Attribution de la nationalité de l'Etat successeur), article 22 (Attribution of the nationality of the successor States) (Attribution de la nationalité des Etats successeurs), article 23 (Granting of the right of option by the successor States) (Octroi du droit d'option par les Etats successeurs), article 24 (Attribution of the nationality of the successor State) (Attribution de la nationalité de l'Etat successeur), article 25 (Withdrawal of the nationality of the predecessor State) (Retrait de la nationalité de l'Etat prédécesseur), Article 26 (Granting of the right of option by the predecessor and the successor States) (Octroi du droit d'option par les Etats prédécesseur et successeur). The Commission adopted the Preamble, the title and the draft articles on Nationality of natural persons in relation to the succession of States as a whole (Articles 1–26). The Commission recommended that the draft articles should take the form of a General Assembly Declaration.

THURSDAY, 3 JUNE 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2581st meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2581)

  • Reservations to treaties
    • The Commission began its consideration of the topic "Reservations to treaties". The Special Rapporteur, Mr. Alain Pellet, presented Addendum 4 of his third report (A/CN.4/491/Add.4) and draft guidelines included in it. The Commission decided to refer to the Drafting Committee draft guidelines 1.2.1 (Joint formulation of interpretative declaration) and 1.2.2. (Phrasing and name).

FRIDAY, 4 JUNE 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2582nd meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2582)

  • Reservations to treaties
    • The Commission continued its consideration of the report of the the topic "Reservations to treaties" (A/CN.4/491/Add.4, Add.4/Corr.1, Add.6 and Add.6/Corr.1). The Commission decided to refer draft guideline 1.2.3 (Formulation of an interpretative declaration when a reservation is prohibited) to the Drafting Committee.

TUESDAY, 8 JUNE 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2583rd meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2583)

  • Reservations to treaties
    • The Commission continued its consideration of the report of the the topic "Reservations to treaties" (A/CN.4/491/Add.4, Add.4/Corr.1, Add.6 and Add.6/Corr.1). The Commission decided to refer draft guideline 1.2.4 (Conditional interpretative declarations) and draft guideline 1.2.5 (General declarations of policy) to the Drafting Committee.

WEDNESDAY, 9 JUNE 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2584th meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2584)

  • Reservations to treaties
    • The Commission continued its consideration of the report of the the topic "Reservations to treaties" (A/CN.4/491/Add.4, Add.4/Corr.1, Add.6 and Add.6/Corr.1). The Commission decided to refer draft guideline 1.2.6 (Informative declarations) to the Drafting Committee.
    • The Commission decided not to refer draft guidelines 1.3.0, 1.3.0 bis and 1.3.0 ter to the Drafting Committee but to include their content in the relevant commentaries.

THURSDAY, 10 JUNE 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2585th meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2585)

  • Cooperation with other bodies
    • His Excellency Jusge Stephen Schwebel, President of the International Court of Justice, addressed the Commission. He gave a detailed exposé of the work of the International Court of Justice, which was followed by a series of questions and answers.
  • Reservations to treaties
    • The Commission continued its consideration of the report of the the topic "Reservations to treaties". The Special Rapporteur introduced section 2 of his third report dealing with "reservations" and interpretative declarations in respect of bilateral treaties (document A/CN.4/491/Add.5). The Commission then started the debate on that issue.

FRIDAY, 11 JUNE 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2586th meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2586)

  • Reservations to treaties
    • The Commission continued its consideration of the report of the the topic "Reservations to treaties" (A/CN.4/491/Add.5). The Commission decided to refer draft guidelines 1.1.9 ("Reservations" to bilateral treaties), 1.2.7 (Interpretative declarations in respect of bilateral treaties), 1.2.8 (Legal effect of acceptance of an interpretative declaration made in respect of a bilateral treaty by the other party) and 1.3.1 (Method of distinguishing between reservations and interpretative declarations) to the Drafting Committee.

TUESDAY, 15 JUNE 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2587th meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2587)

  • State responsibility
    • The Special Rapporteur, Mr. James Crawford, introduced the fifth part of his second report on the topic (A/CN.4/498, Add.1, Add.2, Add.3 and Add.4) concerning Chapter V of Part One. The Commission commenced its consideration of that part of the report.

WEDNESDAY, 16 JUNE 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2588th meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2588)

  • State responsibility
    • The Commission continued its consideration of the fifth part of the second report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. James Crawford, on the topic (A/CN.4/498, Add.1, Add.2, Add.3 and Add.4). The Commission decided to refer draft article 29 to the Drafting Committee.

THURSDAY, 17 JUNE 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2589th meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2589)

  • State responsibility
    • The Commission continued its consideration of the fifth part of the second report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. James Crawford, on the topic (A/CN.4/498, Add.1, Add.2, Add.3 and Add.4). The Commission decided to refer draft article 29 bis and paragraph 1 of draft article 29 ter, to the Drafting Committee.

FRIDAY, 18 JUNE 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2590th meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2590)

  • State responsibility
    • The Commission continued its consideration of the fifth part of the second report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. James Crawford, on the topic (A/CN.4/498, Add.1, Add.2, Add.3 and Add.4). While deciding to retain article 30 ("Countermeasures in respect of an internationally wrongful act") in Chapter V of Part One, the Commission decided to defer the question of its content until after the discussion on Chapter III of Part Two at its next session.

TUESDAY, 22 JUNE 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2591st meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2591)

  • State responsibility
    • The Commission continued its consideration of the fifth part of the second report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. James Crawford, on the topic (A/CN.4/498, Add.1, Add.2, Add.3 and Add.4). The Commission decided to defer further consideration of proposed article 30 bis (non-compliance caused by prior non-compliance by another State) until after its consideration of chapter III of Part 2 (countermeasures). It also decided to refer paragraph 1 of draft article 34 bis, and draft article 35 to the Drafting Committee.

WEDNESDAY, 23 JUNE 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2592nd meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2592)

  • State responsibility
    • The Commission continued its consideration of the fifth part of the second report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. James Crawford, on the topic (A/CN.4/498, Add.1, Add.2, Add.3 and Add.4). It decided to refer draft articles 31, 32 and 33 to the Drafting Committee, thereby concluding its consideration of the topic of State Responsibility at its current session.

THURSDAY, 24 JUNE 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2593rd meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2593)

  • Unilateral acts of States
    • The Special Rapporteur, Mr. Rodríguez-Cedeño, introduced his second report on the topic (A/CN.4/500 and Add.1). The Commission started the consideration of the report.

FRIDAY, 25 JUNE 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2594th meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2594)

  • Unilateral acts of States
    • The Commission continued the consideration of the second report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. Victor Rodríguez-Cedeño, on the topic Unilaterals acts of States, contained in documents A/CN.4/500 and Add.1. It also decided to re-establish the Working Group on the topic.

TUESDAY, 29 JUNE 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2595th meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2595)

  • Unilateral acts of States
    • The Commission continued the consideration of the second report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. Rodríguez-Cede o, on the topic Unilateral Acts of States, contained in document A/CN.4/500 and Add.1.

FRIDAY, 2 JULY 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2596th meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2596)

  • Closing of the International Law Seminar
    • The Chair gave out the attendance certificates to the participants and made a statement closing the Seminar.
  • Unilateral acts of States
    • The Commission concluded the consideration of the second report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. Rodríguez-Cede o, on the topic Unilateral Acts of States, contained in document A/CN.4/500 and Add.1. The Special Rapporteur made the summing up of the discussion.

TUESDAY, 6 JULY 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2597th meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2597)

  • Reservations to treaties
    • The Commission began its consideration of draft guidelines provisionally adopted by the Drafting Committee (A/CN.4/L.575) and adopted draft guideline 1.1.1 (1.1.4) (Object of reservations) (Object des réserves) in a revised form.

WEDNESDAY, 7 JULY 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2598th meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2598)

  • Tribute to the Memory of M. Doudou Thiam
    • The Commission paid tribute to the memory of M. Doudou THIAM who passed away in Geneva on 6 July 1999.
  • Reservations to treaties
    • The Commission continued its consideration of draft guidelines proposed by the Drafting Committee on the topic and adopted draft guidelines 1.1.5 (Statements purporting to limit the obligations of their author) (Déclarations visant à limiter les obligations de leur auteur), 1.1.6 (Statements purporting to discharge an obligation by equivalent means) (Déclarations visant à s'acquitter d'une obligtion par équivalence), 1.2 (Definition of interpretative declarations) (Définition des déclarations interprétatives), 1.2.1 (Conditional interpretative declarations) (Déclarations interprétatives formulées conjointement), 1.3 — a new draft guideline — (Distinction between reservations and interpretative declarations) (Distinction entre réserves et déclarations interprétatives), 1.3.1 (Method of implementation of the distinction between reservations and interpretative declarations) (Méthode de mise en oeuvre de la distinction entre réserves et déclarations interprétatives), 1.3.2 (Phrasing and name) (Libellé et désignation) and 1.3.3 (Formulation of a unilateral statement when a reservation is prohibited) (Formulation d'une déclaration unilatérale lorsqu'une réserve est interdite).

THURSDAY, 8 JULY 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2599th meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2599)

  • Reservations to treaties
    • The Commission completed its consideration of draft guidelines adopted by the Drafting Committee and adopted draft guidelines: 1.4 (Unilateral statemenst other than reservations and interpretative declarations) (Déclarations unilatérales autres que les réserves et les déclarations interprétatives), 1.4.1 [1.1.5] (Statements purporting to undertake unilateral commitments) (Déclarations visant à assumer des engagements unilatéraux), 1.4.2 [1.1.6] (Unilateral statements purporting to add further elements to a treaty) (Déclarations unilatérales visant à ajouter des élements supplémentaires à un traité), 1.4.3 [1.1.7] (Statements of non-recognition) (Déclarations de non-reconnaissance), 1.4.4 [1.2.5] (General statements of policy) (Déclarations de politique générale), 1.4.5 [1.2.6] (Statements concerning modalities of implementation of a treaty at the internal level) (Déclarations relatives à la mise en oeuvre d'un traité au plan interne), 1.5.2 [1.2.7] (Interpretative declarations in respect of bilateral treaties) (Déclarations interprétatives de traités bilatéraux), 1.5.3 [1.2.8] (Legal effect of acceptance of an interpretative declaration made in respect of a bilateral treaty by the other party) (Effet juridique de l'acceptation de la déclaration interprétative d'un traité bilatéral par l'autre partie), 1.6 (Scope of definitions) (Portée des définitions)
  • State Responsibility
    • The Special Rapporteur, Mr. James Crawford, introduced the sixth part of his second report (to be issued as A/CN.4/498/Add.4) on the topic concerning the treatment of countermeasures in the draft articles. The Commission commenced its consideration of that part of the report.

FRIDAY, 9 JULY 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2600th meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2600)

  • State responsibility
    • The Commission completed its consideration of the sixth part of the report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. James Crawford, (A/CN.4/498, Add.1, Add.2, Add.3 and Add.4). It decided to refer article 30, as adopted on first reading, together with a new article 30 proposed by the Special Rapporteur, to the Drafting Committee. The Commission concluded its consideration of the topic.
  • International liability for injurious consequences arising out of acts not prohibited by international law (Prevention of transboundary damage from hazardous activities)
    • The Special Rapporteur, Mr. Pemmaraju Sreenivasa Rao, introduced his second report (A/CN.4/501) on the topic.

TUESDAY, 13 JULY 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2601st meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2601)

  • International liability for injurious consequences arising out of acts not prohibited by international law (Prevention of transboundary damage from hazardous activities)
    • The Commission concluded its consideration of the second report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. P. S. Rao, on International liability for injurious consequences arising out of acts not prohibited by international law (Prevention of transboundary damage from hazardous activities) (A/CN.4/501).

WEDNESDAY, 14 JULY 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2602nd meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2602)

  • Appointment of the Special Rapporteur on Diplomatic protection
    • The Commission appointed Mr. C.J. Dugard as the Special Rapporteur of the topic Diplomatic protection.
  • Jurisdictional immunities of States and their property
    • The Commission concluded the consideration of the report of the Working Group. It took note of the report and adopted the suggestions contained therein, as amended.

THURSDAY, 15 JULY 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2603rd meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2603)

  • Unilateral acts of States
    • The Special Rapporteur, Mr. Rodriguez-Cedeño introduced the report of the Working Group on Unilateral acts of States (A/CN.4/L.588). After an exchange of views, the Commission adopted the report, as amended.
  • Adoption of the Report
    • The Commission started the adoption of its report.

FRIDAY, 16 JULY 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2604th meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2604)

  • Cooperation with other bodies
    • The representative of the Council of Europe's Ad Hoc Committee of Legal Advisors on Public International Law (CAHDI) addressed the Commission in the context of the item "Cooperation with other bodies".
  • Adoption of the Report
    • The Commission continued the adoption of its report

MONDAY, 19 JULY 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2605th and 2606th meetings
(A/CN.4/SR.2605 and A/CN.4/SR.2606)

  • State responsibility
    • The Chair of the Drafting Committee introduced the Committee's report on Chapters III to V of Part One of the draft articles on State Responsibility (A/CN.4/L.574, Corr.3 and Corr.4), as adopted by the Committee at the present session. The Commission took note of the report of the Drafting Committee.
  • Nationality in relation to the succession of States
    • The Commission adopted commentaries to article 21 (Attribution of the nationality of the successor State) (Attribution de la nationalité de l'Etat successeur), article 22 (Attribution of the nationality of the successor States) (Attribution de la nationalité des États successeurs), article 23 (Granting of the right of option by the successor States) (Octroi du droit d'option par les États successeurs), article 24 (Attribution of the nationality of the successor State) (Attribution de la nationalité de l'État successeur), article 25 (Withdrawal of the nationality of the predecessor State) (Retrait de la nationalité de l'État prédécesseur) and article 26 (Granting of the right of option by the predecessor and the successor States) (Octroi du droit d'option par les États prédécesseur et successeur).

TUESDAY, 20 JULY 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2607th meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2607)

  • Nationality in relation to the succession of States
    • The Commission adopted the part of its report relating to the topic (Chapter IV) as well as a recommendation to the General Assembly concerning the future status of the draft articles and a tribute to the Special Rapporteur, Mr. Václav Mikulka, and to the Chair of the Working Group, Mr. Zdzislaw Galicki.
  • International liability for injurious consequences arising out of acts not prohibited by international law (prevention of transboundary damage from hazardous activities)
    • The Commission adopted the part of its report relating to the topic (Chapter IX).
  • Reservation to Treaties
    • The Commission started the adoption of parts of its report relating to the topic (Chapter VI).

WEDNESDAY, 21 JULY 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2608th and 2609th meetings
(A/CN.4/SR.2608 and A/CN.4/SR.2609)

  • Reservations to Treaties
    • The Commission adopted commentaries to draft guidelines 1.1.1 (Object of reservations) (Objet des réserves) 1.1.5 (Statements purporting to limit the obligations of their author) (Déclarations visant à limiter les obligations de leur auteur), 1.1.6 (Statements purporting to discharge an obligation by equivalent means) (Déclarations visant à s'acquitter d'une obligation par équivalence), 1.2 (Définition of interpretative déclarations) (Définition des déclarations interprétatives), 1.2.1 (Conditional interpretative declarations) (Déclarations interprétatives conditionnelles), 1.2.2. (Interpretative declarations formulated jointly) (Déclarations interprétatives formulées conjointement), 1.3 (Distinction between reservations and interpretative declarations) (Distinction entre réserves et déclarations interprétatives), 1.3.1 (Method of implementation of the distinction between reservations and interpretative declarations) (Méthode de mise en oeuvre de la distinction entre réserves et déclarations interprétatives), 1.3.2 (Phrasing and name) (Libellé et désignation) 1.3.3 (Formulation of a unilateral statement when a reservation is prohibited) (Formulation d'une déclaration unilatérale lorsqu'une réserve est interdite), 1.4 (Unilateral statements other than reservations and interpretative declarations) (Déclarations unilatérales autres que les réserves et les déclarations interprétatives), 1.4.1 (Statements purporting to undertake unilateral commitments) (Déclarations unilatérales visant à ajouter des éléments supplémentaires à un traité), 1.4.2 (Unilateral statements purporting to add further elements to a treaty) (Déclarations unilatérales visant à ajouter des éléments supplémentaires à un traité) 1.4.3 (Statements of non-recognition) (Déclarations de non-reconnaissance), 1.4.4 (General statements of policy) (Déclaration de politique générale), 1.4.5 (Statements concerning modalities of implementation of a treaty at the internal level) (Déclarations relatives à la mise en oeuvre d'un traité au plan interne).
  • State Responsibility
    • The Commission started adoption of parts of its report relating to the topic (Chapter V).

THURSDAY, 22 JULY 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2610th meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2610)

  • State Responsibility
    • The Commission completed adoption of parts of its report relating to the topic (Chapter V).
  • Jurisdictional immunities of States and their property
    • The Commission completed adoption of parts of its report relating to the topic (Chapter VII)
  • Report of the Planning Group
    • The Chair of the Planning Group introduced the Planning Group's report to the plenary. The Commission started adoption of that report.

FRIDAY, 23 JULY 1999
Fifty-first session
United Nations Office at Geneva
2611th meeting (A/CN.4/SR.2611)

  • Report of the Planning Group
    • The Commission completed adoption of the Planning Group's report to the plenary.
  • Reservations to treaties
    • The Commission adopted commentaries to draft guidelines 1.5.1 ("Reservations" to bilateral treaties) ("Réserves" aux traités bilatéraux), 1.5.2 (Interpretative declarations in respect of bilateral treaties) (Déclarations interprétatives de traités bilatéraux), 1.5.3 (Legal effect of acceptance of an interpretative declaration made in respect of a bilateral treaty by the other party) (Effet juridique de l'acceptation de la déclaration interprétative d'un traité bilatéral par l'autre partie) and 1.6 (Scope of definition) (Portée des définitions)(Chapter VI).
  • Unilateral acts of States
    • The Commission adopted parts of its report relating to the topic.
  • Other decisions and conclusions of the Commission
    • The Commission adopted the part of its report (Chapter X) relating to the above issue.
  • Adoption of the Report
    • The Commission adopted the Introduction (Chapter I of its report), the Summary work of the 51st Session (Chapter II) and the Specific issues on which comments would be of particular interest to the Commission (Chapter III).
    • The Commission adopted the report of its fifty-first session and concluded its work for that session
    • The Commission received a message by the United Nations High Commissionner for Refugees, Mrs. Sadako Ogata, congratulating the Commission upon the completion of its 51st session and expressing satisfaction over the adoption of the draft articles on Nationality in relation to succession of States.