Ad Hoc Committee on the Scope of Legal Protection under the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel
(2002–2005)
Introduction
The General Assembly, in resolution 56/89 of 12 December 2001, decided to establish an Ad Hoc Committee on the Scope of legal protection under the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel, open to all States Members of the United Nations or members of the specialized agencies or of the International Atomic Energy Agency to consider the recommendations made by the Secretary-General in his report on measures to strengthen and enhance the protective legal regime for United Nations and associated personnel. (see status of the Convention)
Work of the Ad Hoc Committee
The Ad Hoc Committee on the Scope of Legal Protection under the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel held its first session in 2002 and was later reconvened every year from 2003 to 2005 by the General Assembly (resolutions 57/28, 58/82 and 59/47). The Ad Hoc Committee held four sessions in total, the last being held from 11 to 15 April 2005.
At its fifty-seventh session, following the consideration in the Ad Hoc Committee and the Sixth Committee, the General Assembly, in resolution 57/28, endorsed a series of recommendations relating to the application of the Convention made by the Secretary-General in his report Scope of legal protection under the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel (A/55/637). Thereafter, typically, the General Assembly mandate for the Ad Hoc Committee consisted in expanding the scope of legal protection under the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel, including by means of a legal instrument.
At the fifty-eighth session of the General Assembly, it was decided that the work of the Ad Hoc Committee should continue in the framework of a working group of the Sixth Committee. The Working Group met three times between 2003 and 2005. At its last session, convened between 4 and 10 October 2005, during the sixtieth session of the General Assembly, the Working Group made substantial progress towards finalization of a text of a Protocol. Further consultations were conducted by the Chair of the Working Group which led to the finalization of the text in the Sixth Committee.
Upon the recommendation of the Sixth Committee, by its resolution 60/42 of 8 December 2005, the General Assembly adopted the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel.