Codification Division Publications: United Nations Juridical Yearbook Codification Division Publications: United Nations Juridical Yearbook

1986

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Part One. Legal status of the United Nations and related intergovernmental organizations

Chapter I. Legislative texts concerning the legal status of the United Nations and related intergovernmental organizations View PDF file
  1. Australia  
    Regulations under the International Organizations (Privileges and Immunities) Act, 1963 3
    (a) International Organizations (Privileges and Immunities of Specialized Agencies) Regulation (Repeal) 3
    (b) United Nations (Privileges and Immunities) Regulations 3
    (c) Specialized Agencies (Privileges and Immunities) Regulations 6
    (d) International Atomic Energy Agency (Privileges and Immunities) Regulations (Amendment) 10
    (e) International Atomic Energy Agency (Privileges and Immunities) Regulation (Amendment) 11
    (f) Internal Court of Justice (Privileges and Immunities) Regulation (Amendment) 11
  2. Ghana  
    External Companies and Diplomatic Missions (Acquisition or Rental of Immovable Property) Law, 1986 12
  3. Ireland  
    Diplomatic Relations and Immunities Act, 1967 15
    (a) Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail (OTIF) (Designation of Organisation) Order, 1986 15
    (b) International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (Designation of Organisation) Order, 1986 16
    (c) International Fund for Ireland (Designation and Immunities) Order, 1986 17
  4. Mexico  
      Agreement setting forth the regulations pertaining to automobiles purchased in the country with a subsidy or imported dutyfree 18
  5. Netherlands  
      Note dated 3 August 1987 from the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United Nations 22
  6. Senegal  
      Decree No. 86.060 of 13 January 1986 Amending the Code of Civil Procedure (extracts) 23
  7. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland  
      The Specialized Agencies of the United Nations (Immunities and Privileges) (Amendment) Order 1985 24
Chapter II. Treaty provisions concerning the legal status of the United Nations and related intergovernmental organizations View PDF file
A. Treaty provisions concerning the legal status of the United Nations  
  1. Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations. Approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 13 February 1946 26
  2. Agreements relating to installations and meetings 26
    (a) Agreement between the United Nations and the Government of the People's Republic of the Congo on the establishment of a United Nations Information Centre for the People's Republic of the Congo. Signed at New York on 20 June 1983 26
    (b) Agreement between, the United Nations and the Government of Spain concerning technical cooperation. Signed at Madrid on 19 April 1985 30
    (c) Agreement between the United Nations and the Government of Turkey regarding arrangements for the ninth session of the Commission on Human Settlements of the United Nations [to be held at Istanbul from 5 to 16 May 1986]. Signed at Nairobi on 16 April 1986 30
    (d) Exchange of letters constituting an agreement between the United Nations and the Government of France concerning the United Nations Symposium on the Economics of Small Renewable Energy Systems for Developing Countries [to be held at Sophia Antipolis, France, from 31 May to 6 June 1986]. New York, 13 and 20 February 1986 31
    (e) Exchange of letters constituting an agreement between the United Nations and the Government of Japan concerning the arrangements for the Second Congress of Local Authorities in Asia and the Pacific [to be held at Nagoya from 21 to 27 July 1987]. Bangkok, 23 April 1986 33
    (f) Exchange of letters constituting an agreement between the United Nations and the Government of the Polish People's Republic on the establishment of a United Nations Information Centre in Warsaw, Poland. New York, 25 April 1986 34
    (g) Agreement between the United Nations and the Government of the People's Republic of Benin regarding the establishment of a United Nations Information Centre in Benin. Signed at New York on 21 May 1986 36
    (h) Agreement between the United Nations and the Government of Colombia on a United Nations meeting of experts on regional cooperation in space science and technology and its applications [to be held at Cartagena from 16 to 20 June 1986]. Signed at United Nations Headquarters in New York on 11 June 1986 39
    (i) Agreement between the United Nations and the Government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka on the United Nations Regional Meeting of Experts on Space Technology Applications in the Indian Ocean Region [to be held at Colombo from 15 to 19 September 1986]. Signed at United Nations Headquarters in New York on 14 August 1986 40
    (j) Letter of Agreement between the United Nations and the Government of Bahrain concerning the establishment of a sub-office of the United Nations Development Programme in Manama, State of Bahrain. Signed at New York and Manama on 27 August and 7 September 1986, respectively 41
    (k) Agreement between the United Nations and the Government of Ecuador on the third United Nations/World Meteorological Organization/Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations/European Space Agency International Training Course on Remote Sensing Applications to Operational Agro-meteorology and Hydrology[to be held at Quito from 21 October to 7 November 1986]. Signed at United Nations Headquarters in New York on 15 September 1986 42
    (l) Exchange of letters constituting an agreement between the United Nations and the Government of France concerning arrangements for the meeting of the Steering Committee on the survey of national family policies. Vienna, 25 and 26 September 1986 44
    (m) Agreement between the United Nations (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) and the Government of Sweden regarding the Office of the UNHCR Representative for Nordic countries to be situated in Stockholm. Signed at Geneva and Stockholm on 31 August and 30 September 1985, respectively 45
    (n) Agreement between the United Nations and the Government of Mexico on the United Nations Meeting of Experts on Space Science and Technology and its Applications within the Framework of Educational Systems [to be held at Mexico City from 13 to 17 October 1986]. Signed at United Nations Headquarters in New York on 8 October 1986 48
    (o) Memorandum of Understanding between the United Nations and the Government of Belgium relating to the establishment of an International Centre for Training and Research in Population and Development in association with the United Nations at the Catholic University of Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve. Signed at Brussels and New York on 19 September and 10 October 1986, respectively 49
  3. Agreements relating to the United Nations Children's Fund: Revised Model Agreement concerning the activities of UNICEF 50
      Agreements between the United Nations (United Nations Children's Fund) and the Government of Barbados and the Government of Botswana. Signed respectively at Bridgetown on 7 February 1986 and at Gaborone on 21 August 1986 50
  4. Agreements relating to the United Nations Development Programme: Standard Basic Assistance Agreement (SBAA) between the recipient Government and the United Nations Development Programme 51
      Standard Basic Agreements between the United Nations (United Nations Development Programme) and the Government of Lebanon and the Government of Bangladesh. Signed respectively at Beirut on 10 February 1986 and at Dhaka on 25 November 1986 51
  5. Agreements relating to the United Nations Revolving Fund for Natural Resources Exploration 52
      Project Agreements between the United Nations (United Nations Revolving Fund for Natural Resources Exploration) and the Government of Rwanda and the Government of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire. Signed respectively at Kigali on 14 March 1985 and at Abidjan on 28 February 1986 52
B. Treaty provisions concerning the legal status of intergovernmental organizations related to the United Nations  
  1. Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the Specialized Agencies. Approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 21 November 1947 52
  2. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations  
    (a) Agreements for the establishment of an FAO Representative's Office 53
    (b) Agreements based on the standard "Memorandum of Responsibilities" in respect of FAO sessions 53
    (c) Agreements based on the standard "Memorandum of Responsibilities" in respect of seminars, workshops, training courses or related study tours 54
  3. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization  
      Agreements relating to conferences, seminars and other meetings 54
  4. World Health Organization  
      Basic Agreement on technical advisory cooperation 54
  5. International Atomic Energy Agency  
      Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Approved by the Board of Governors of the Agency on 1 July 1959 55
  6. United Nations Industrial Development Organization  
    (a) Agreement between the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the Federal Executive Council of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia regarding the arrangements for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization's Third Consultation on the Agricultural Machinery Industry [to be held at Belgrade from 29 September to 3 October 1986]. Signed at Vienna on 12 September 1986 55
    (b) Agreement between the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the Government of Italy on basic terms and conditions governing UNIDO projects envisaged by the interim programme for the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology. Signed at Vienna on 22 October 1986 57

Part Two. Legal activities of the United Nations and related intergovernmental organizations

Chapter III. General review of the legal activities of the United Nations and related intergovernmental organizations View PDF file
A. General review of the legal activities of the United Nations  
  1. Disarmament and related matters 63
  2. Other political and security questions 74
  3. Economic, social, humanitarian and cultural questions 78
  4. Law of the Sea 96
  5. International Court of Justice 98
  6. International Law Commission 130
  7. United Nations Commission on International Trade Law 132
  8. Legal questions dealt with by the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly and by ad hoc legal bodies 136
  9. Respect for the privileges and immunities of officials of the United Nations and the specialized agencies and related organizations 145
  10. Cooperation between the United Nations and the Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee 146
B. General review of the legal activities of intergovernmental organizations related to the United Nations  
  1. International Labour Organization 147
  2. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 147
  3. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 159
  4. International Civil Aviation Organization 161
  5. World Health Organization 164
  6. World Bank 166
  7. International Monetary Fund 171
  8. Universal Postal Union 174
  9. World Meteorological Organization 175
  10. International Fund for Agricultural Development 176
  11. United Nations Industrial Development Organization 184
  12. International Atomic Energy Agency 192
Chapter IV. Treaties concerning international law concluded under the auspices of the United Nations and related intergovernmental organizations View PDF file
  Treaties concerning international law concluded under the auspices of the United Nations  
  1. United Nations Convention on Conditions for Registration of Ships. Done at Geneva on 7 February 1986 206
  2. Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties between States and International Organizations or between International Organizations. Done at Vienna on 21 March 1986 218
  3. International Convention against Apartheid in Sports. Opened for signature, ratification and accession on 16 May 1986 249
Chapter V. Decisions of Administrative Tribunals of the United Nations and related intergovernmental organizations View PDF file
A. Decisions of the Administrative Tribunal of the United Nations  
  1. Judgement No. 376 (6 November 1986): Shatby v. the Secretary-General of the United Nations 256
  2. Judgement No. 377 (7 November 1986): Jabri v. the Secretary-General of the United Nations 257
B. Decisions of the Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour Organization  
  1. Judgement No. 729 (17 March 1986): Ilomechina v. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 259
  2. Judgement No. 741 (17 March 1986): Farinetti, Porta and Tuzii v. International Centre for Advanced Technical and Vocational Training 261
  3. Judgement No. 778 (12 December 1986): Petruc v. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 263
C. Decisions of the World Bank Administrative Tribunal  
    Decision No. 28 (22 April 1986): Gyamfi v. International Bank for Reconstruction and Development 265
Chapter VI. Selected legal opinions of the secretariats of the United Nations and related intergovernmental organizations View PDF file
A. Legal opinions of the Secretariat of the United Nations (issued or prepared by the Office of Legal Affairs)  
  1. Request by a Member State that the Secretary-General take immediate steps to ensure free access of the general public to all the material stored in the archives of the United Nations War Crimes Commission—Rules governing access to the archives of the Commission 269
  2. Policy governing access to United Nations documents and file 271
  3. Presentation of credentials by newly appointed permanent representatives to the United Nations during a temporary absence of the Secretary-General—Power of the Secretary-General to delegate competence in this regard to another official of the United Nations 272
  4. Protection against unauthorized use of the United Nations name, initials and emblem provided for in General Assembly resolution 92 (1)—Registration and protection of the name and emblem of the United Nations under article 6 ter of the 1882 Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (as amended in Stockholm in 1967) 273
  5. Questions relating to the voting procedure and decision-making process of the General Assembly—General rule applicable to the calculation of the majority required for the adoption of resolutions and decisions by the General Assembly—Exceptions to the rule—Effect of absence or non-participation on the binding force of resolutions and decisions 274
  6. Competence of the Disarmament Commission in connection with the adoption of its agenda—Question of whether the Commission could delete from its provisional agenda an item which was included therein pursuant to requests from the General Assembly 275
  7. Characterization of a committee dealing with programme and budgetary questions as an expert and/or representative of intergovernmental body—Conditions to be met for a United Nations body to be so characterized 277
  8. Assessment of a non-member State with respect to its participation in the United Nations Environment Programme— Regulation 5.9 of the Financial Regulations of the United Nations—Meaning of the term "participation" 280
  9. Possible motion involving the conciliation procedures provided for in rule 48 (2) of the rules of procedure of the Trade and Development Board, in connection with action by the Board on the provisional agenda for the seventh session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development—Procedural character of issues relating to the provisional agenda for UNCTADVII 282
  10. Scope of application of Article 27, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations—Practice of the Security Council in this regard—Question of giving effect to a judgment of the International Court of Justice within the context of Article 94 of the Charter—A determination by the Court that a matter is a "legal dispute" under Article 36, paragraph 2, of its Statute is not determinative of whether that matter is also a "dispute" within the meaning of Chapter VI and Article 27, paragraph 3, of the Charter 283
  11. Conditions under which the Security Council may meet away from Headquarters—Article 28, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations—Council's practice in regard to meetings away from the seat of the Organization—Detailed arrangements required to deal with the technical, financial and legal aspects of such meetings 285
  12. Practice in the Security Council for the circulation of communications from States not members of the United Nations—In those instances where such circulation has been questioned, the issue relates to the status of the entity requesting circulation and not to the content of the communication 286
  13. Participation in the Commission on Narcotic Drugs when it acts as the preparatory body for the International Conference on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking—Decision of the Economic and Social Council providing that "in the preparatory body all States should participate in the decision-making process"—Meaning of the term "participation in the decision-making process"— Consequences of the Council's decision as regards rule 69 (3) of the rules of procedure of the functional commissions of the Economic and Social Council 287
  14. Membership of a non-member State in the Commission on Human Settlements—Procedure to be followed by a non-member State to become a member of the Commission—Legal implications of a non-member State making voluntary contributions to the United Nations Habitat and Human Settlements Foundation 288
  15. Question of the full membership of the Cook Islands in the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific—Status of the Cook Islands under General Assembly resolution 2064 (XX) of 16 December 1965 and the terms of reference of ESCAP 289
  16. Participation in meetings organized by the Economic Commission for Africa—Terms of reference and rules of procedure of the Commission—Question of the participation of members of the Organization of African Unity which are not Members of the United Nations in such meetings—Status of the entity "Sahraoui Arab Democratic Republic" in the United Nations—United Nations practice with regard to contested representation in the Organization—General Assembly resolution 396(V) of 14 December 1950 291
  17. Question of who is responsible for compensation for death and injury and third party liability in relation to Namibian trainees undergoing training within the framework of the Field Attachment Programme administered by the Office of the United Nations Commissioner for Namibia 292
  18. Authority of the Administration to select airlines for official travel for the United Nations—Duty of the Secretary-General to ensure that his staff is not exposed to unnecessary risk—Principle, established in Judgement No. 402 of the Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour Organisation, of the liability of an international organization for requiring staff members to work in unsafe conditions 294
  19. Legal background for the United Nations position with respect to nationality and place of birth in the United Nations laissez passer—Articles 100 and 105, paragraph 2, of the Charter of the United Nations—Article VII, sections 24 and 25, of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations 296
  20. United Nations policy on the acquisition or retention of United States permanent resident status—Basic rationale for such a policy—Administrative instruction ST/AI/294 of 16 August 1982 297
  21. Concept of acquired rights under the United Nations Staff Regulations, the Regulations of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund and the statute of the International Civil Service Commission and in the jurisprudence of the administrative tribunals of the United Nations, ILO and the World Bank 298
  22. Liability of the United Nations for claims involving off-duty acts of members of peace-keeping forces—Determination of "off-duty" versus "on-duty" status 300
  23. Use of deadly physical force by United Nations security officers—Relevance of the standards of permissible conduct applicable to a private person under section 35.30 of the New York Penal Law 301
  24. Venue of future meetings of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination—Article 8, paragraph 6, and article 10 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination—Established rules and practices of the United Nations regarding conferences and meetings as embodied in General Assembly resolutions 31/140 and 40/243—Authority of the States parties to the Convention in matters relating to the operation of the Convention 302
  25. Interpretation of the provisions of article 39, paragraph 2 (c), of the International Cocoa Agreement, 1980 304
  26. Article 29, paragraphs 2 and 7, of the Sixth International Tin Agreement 305
  27. Question whether there is an established procedure in international commodity agreements regarding the appointment of executive directors—Scope of application of the special vote requirement provided for in the 1984 International Sugar Agreement—Procedure to be followed by an international organization with a weighted voting system in order to suspend the rule on roll-call to appoint the Executive Director by secret ballot 307
  28. Applicability of the New York firearm licensing requirements to United Nations security officers carrying pistols within and outside the Headquarters district—Article III, section 7, of the 1947 Agreement between the United Nations and the United States of America regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations—Options available to reduce the financial and administrative burdens imposed on the United Nations by the current firearm licensing requirements 309
  29. Request by a Member State that the United Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations look to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of that State as its exclusive point of contact within the Government of the State in question—Discretion of every Member State in this respect—Request by that same State that the Centre send to the indicated office of the Ministry a copy of any communication from the Centre asking for information or assistance from firms or business organizations of that country—Inviolability and integrity of the Organization's correspondence—Article II, sections 3 and 4, of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations 317
  30. Request of the host State for ceilings on, or reductions in, the size of missions accredited to the United Nations—Absence of precedent on the matter—Relevant rules and principles of international law as reflected in article 11, paragraph 1 of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, article 14 of the 1975 Vienna Convention on the Representation of States in their Relations with International Organizations of a universal Character and article V, section 15 (2), of the 1947 Agreement between the United Nations and the United States of America regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations—Remedies against any misuse of the freedom of the sending State in determining the composition of its mission 319
  31. Departure tax on purchase of air tickets—Provision of article II, sections 7 (a) and 8, of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations—The nature of the tax in question is to be decided by reference to the incidence of the tax 321
  32. Conditions and procedures for the issuance of residence permits to foreign residents in a Member State—The charging of fees for the issuance of residence permits is incompatible with article II, section 7 (a), and article V, section 18 (d), of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations 322
  33. Customs user fee to be introduced by the customs service of a Member State—United Nations officials have generally been accorded the same treatment by customs service as diplomats—Nature of the user fee—Provisions of article II, sections 7 (a) and 8, and article VI, section 22 (a), of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations 323
  34. Implementation of the obligation of the United Nations and the specialized agencies to make provision for the settlement of disputes of a private character—Practice followed in this respect by the Organization in question 324
  35. Question of the application of the United States Foreign Missions Act, 1982, to real estate transactions of international organizations 325
  36. Question whether a Member State is exempted from real estate taxes on apartments purchased by its Permanent Mission to the United Nations for the exclusive use of the diplomatic staff of the mission—Applicability to permanent missions in New York, by virtue of article V, section 15, of the Agreement between the United Nations and the United States of America regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations, and of article 23, paragraph 1, of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations—Position of the United States of America on the matter 327
  37. Question whether article VIH, section 27, of the Interim Arrangement on Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations concluded between the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Swiss Federal Council applies to the settlement of disputes between the host State and members of permanent missions, notwithstanding the granting to those members of a status analogous to the status of members of diplomatic missions 328
B. Legal opinions of the secretariats of intergovernmental organizations related to the United Nations  
  1. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations  
      Appearance of a staff member before a professional disciplinary body in a country to which he is assigned 330
  2. United Nations Industrial Development Organization  
    (a) Applicability to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization of the United Nations Financial and Staff Rules—Power of the Director-General to amend those Rules 331
    (b) Exclusive authority of the Director-General to appoint staff 334
    (c) Proposed United Nations Association of Political Scientists 337
    (d) Exemption of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and its staff from contributions to the social security system of a member State—Ordinance by the Federal Republic of Germany 339

Part Three. Judicial decisions on questions relating to the United Nations and related intergovernmental organizations

Chapter VII. Decisions and Advisory Opinions of International Tribunals View PDF file
  International Chamber of Commerce Court of Arbitration  
    Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations v. BEVAC Company: Arbitral award (Case No. 5003/JJA) of 29 July 1986  
      Dispute arose in connection with a purchase contract— Conditions governing the sale as stipulated in the "Request for bids and purchase orders, general conditions"—Settlement of disputes arising in connection with the contract—Rules of Conciliation and Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce—Law applicable in the case 347
Chapter VIII. Decisions of national tribunals View PDF file
  Austria  
    Poole v. the Government of the Republic of Austria. Overruling of court decision by Ministry of Justice of 28 August 1986  
      Article XII, section 27 (h), of UNIDO Headquarters Agreement— Freedom of UNIDO officials to acquire or maintain within Austria immovable property under the same conditions applicable to Austrian nationals—Order of the administrative authorities of a district court of Vienna charging an official of UNIDO the registration fee in the land register—Application by the official to the court, requesting exemption from the fee—Decision from the President of the Provincial Court for Civil Matters ("Landesgericht fuer Zivilrechtssachen, Wien"), denying exemption in view of the official's nationality not being Austrian—Overruling of the President of the Provincial Court for Civil Matters by the Federal Ministry of Justice 350

Part Four. Bibliography

Bibliography View PDF file
Legal bibliography of the United Nations and related intergovernmental organizations  
A. International organizations and international law in general 356
  1. General 356
  2. Particular questions 358
B. United Nations 359
  1. General 359
  2. Particular organs 361
      General Assembly 361
      International Court of Justice 362
      Regional economic commissions 365
      Secretariat 365
      Security Council 365
      United Nations Forces 365
  3. Particular questions or activities 366
      Collective security 366
      Commercial arbitration 366
      Consular relations 368
      Definition of aggression 369
      Diplomatic relations 369
      Disarmament 369
      Domestic jurisdiction 370
      Environmental questions 370
      Financing 372
      Human rights 372
      International administrative law 375
      International criminal law 376
      International economic law 377
      International terrorism 378
      International trade law 379
      International waterways 380
      Intervention 381
      Law of the sea 382
      Law of treaties 386
      Law of war 387
      Maintenance of peace 389
      Membership and representation 389
      Namibia 390
      Natural resources 390
      Non-governmental organizations 392
      Outer space 392
      Peaceful settlement of disputes 395
      Political and security questions 395
      Progressive development and codification of international law (general) 396
      Recognition of States 397
      Refugees 398
      Right of asylum 398
      Rule of law 398
      Self-defence 399
      Self-determination 399
      State responsibility 400
      State sovereignty 401
      State succession 402
      Technical cooperation 402
      Trade and development 402
      Use of force 404
C. Intergovernmental organizations related to the United Nations 405
    Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 405
    General Agreement on Tariffs and Trades 406
    International Civil Aviation Organization 406
    International Labour Organization 408
    International Maritime Organization 408
    International Monetary Fund 408
    International Telecommunication Union 409
    United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 409
    World Bank 410
    International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes 410
    World Health Organization 411
    World Meteorological Organization 411
    World Intellectual Property Organization 411