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Strategy for an Era of Application of International Law - Action Plan
Adopted
by the Senior Management Group and Approved by the Secretary-General,
June 2000
Download Action Plan in PDF
2. Assisting States to Prepare Necessary Implementing Legislation
Background
In many national legal systems, at least certain of the rules of international
law that are binding upon the State automatically become part of national law
without the necessity for any further action on the part of State institutions.
In most systems, though, further institutional action is needed in order to
create new national laws which will ensure that the State's international obligations
are implemented.
Issue
Many States have very limited resources or expertise at their disposal for
the purpose of preparing legislation to implement their international obligations.
Situations may consequently arise in which State's international obligations
are not properly implemented, or are even not implemented at all, with the
result that individuals and corporations are not accorded the rights and benefits
for which international law provides.(3)
Present Practice
To address this problem, a number of Secretariat units, Programmes, Funds
and Agencies provide assistance to Governments in drafting or reviewing national
laws to implement their international obligations. These measures include:
The organization of seminars
or briefing sessions for Government officials on the implementation of specific
multilateral treaties.
Examples:
The International Trade Law Branch(ITLB) of OLA runs seminars
and briefing sessions on UNCITRAL conventions for government officials and
for legislators.
An NGO, with the assistance of OLA,recently organized an informal
briefing on the implementation of the Rome Statute of the ICC for delegations
attending the ICC Preparatory Commission.
The provision of technical assistance to
States, at their request, in particular, by providing them with experts who either
undertake the drafting of their national laws for them or give their Government
officials advice and assistance in that task.
Examples:
The International Trade Law Branch(ITLB) of OLA provides services
by technical consultants to particular States that wish to implement specific
uniform commercial laws or conventions,in particular by reviewing draft legislation
which has been prepared by national authorities or by providing those authorities
with assistance in the actual preparation of their drafts.
UNDP organizes the provision of technical assistance to States
in the drafting of national laws regulating judicial administration, legal
procedure and access to justice.
UNHCR provides technical assistance to States in preparing legislation
to implement the 1951 Geneva Convention and its 1967 Protocol. OHCHR and
UNICEF also provide technical assistance of this type within the particular
areas of their mandates.
Action
The Secretariat, Programmes,
Funds and Agencies should take steps towards providing such assistance on a more
systematic and widespread basis; (4)
In furtherance of this objective, the
Secretariat should take stock of the experience of those units that are already
involved in providing Governments with assistance of this type with a view
to identifying those approaches which have proved most efficacious and cost-effective
("lessons learned");
The Secretariat units, Programmes,
Funds and Agencies which provide technical assistance in the preparation
of legislation to implement international obligations should better coordinate
their activities with a view to maximizing their effectiveness and avoiding
duplication.(5)In
particular:
If several agencies or organizations
are providing assistance in respect of the same subject matter, they should endeavour
to coordinate their programmes.
Example:
The programmes run by UNDP, OHCHR,ODCCP, UNV, UNOPS, UNICEF,
ILO and UNCTAD on access to justice and good governance may benefit if
more coordination could be achieved.
Units which run programmes of
assistance in fields to which the programmes of other units are relevant should
share their expertise.
Example:
The International Trade Law Branch(ITLB) of OLA has taken
steps to ensure that UNCITRAL texts are taken into account in programmes
of technical legal assistance that are run by development agencies.
The Secretariat,Programmes,
Funds and Agencies, with the assistance of relevant treaty bodies, should ensure
that government officers are provided with training on a more sustained and general
basis in the drafting of domestic legislation to implement treaty commitments
("capacity building"). This might be done through the direct provision of such
training or by developing national capacity to provide such training ("training
trainers"); (6)
The International Law homepage on the
UN Website should include a new sub-site entitled "Technical Assistance to
States", clearly identifying all UN offices that provide assistance to Governments
in the preparation of legislation to implement international obligations; (7)
Wherever feasible, websites and sub-sites
maintained by Secretariat units, Funds,Programmes and Agencies should include,
amongst the information on any treaties that are featured on the site, the
texts of relevant implementing legislation adopted by States and reported
to the Secretariat;
The Secretariat,Programmes, Funds and
Agencies, should, where they are not themselves in a position to provide
technical assistance, explore the possibility of enlisting the assistance
of relevant IGOs or NGOs, as appropriate.
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