United Nations Programme of Assistance in the Teaching, Study, Dissemination and Wider Appreciation of International Law : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly

The General Assembly,

Recalling paragraph 13 of its 44/28 of 4 December 1989 and paragraph 1 of section IV of the annex to its resolution 45/40 of 28 November 1990,

Taking note with appreciation of the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the United Nations Programme of Assistance in the Teaching, Study, Dissemination and Wider Appreciation of International Law and the guidelines and recommendations on future implementation of the Programme within the framework of the United Nations Decade of International Law, which were adopted by the Advisory Committee on the Programme and are contained in section III of that report,

Bearing in mind that the encouragement of the teaching, study, dissemination and wider appreciation of international law is one of the main objectives of the United Nations Decade of International Law, as declared in its 44/23 of 17 November 1989 and further expanded in section IV of the programme for the activities for the first term (1990-1992) of the Decade, which is contained in the annex to resolution 45/40,

Considering that international law should occupy an appropriate place in the teaching of legal disciplines at all universities,

Noting with appreciation the efforts made by States at the bilateral level to provide assistance in the teaching and study of international law,

Convinced, nevertheless, that States and international organizations and institutions should be encouraged to give further support to the Programme and increase their activities to promote the teaching, study, dissemination and wider appreciation of international law, in particular those activities which are of special benefit to persons from developing countries,

Reaffirming its resolutions 2464 (XXIII) of 20 December 1968, 2550 (XXIV) of 12 December 1969, 2838 (XXVI) of 18 December 1971, 3106 (XXVIII) of 12 December 1973, 3502 (XXX) of 15 December 1975, 32/146 of 16 December 1977, 36/108 of 10 December 1981 and 38/129 of 19 December 1983, in which it stated or recalled that in the conduct of the Programme it was desirable to use as far as possible the resources and facilities made available by Member States, international organizations and others, as well as its resolutions 34/144 of 17 December 1979, 40/66 of 11 December 1985, 42/148 of 7 December 1987 and 44/28 of 4 December 1989 in which it expressed or reaffirmed the hope that, in appointing lecturers for the seminars to be held within the framework of the fellowship programme in international law, sponsored jointly by the United Nations and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, account would be taken of the need to secure representation of major legal systems and balance among various geographical regions,

1.         Approves the guidelines and recommendations contained in section III of the report of the Secretary-General, and adopted by the Advisory Committee on the United Nations Programme of Assistance in the Teaching, Study, Dissemination and Wider Appreciation of International Law, in particular those designed to achieve the best possible results in the administration of the Programme within a policy of maximum financial restraint;

2.         Authorizes the Secretary-General to carry out in 1992 and 1993 the activities specified in his report, including the provision of:

(a)        A minimum of fifteen fellowships each in 1992 and 1993, at the request of Governments of developing countries;

(b)        A minimum of one scholarship each in 1992 and 1993 under the Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe Memorial Fellowship on the Law of the Sea, subject to the availability of new voluntary contributions made specifically to the fellowship fund;

(c)        Assistance in the form of a travel grant for one participant from each developing country, who will be invited to the regional courses to be organized in 1992 and 1993; and to finance the above activities from provisions in the regular budget, when appropriate, as well as from voluntary financial contributions earmarked for each of the activities concerned, which would be received as a result of the requests set out in paragraphs 14, 15 and 16 below;

3.         Expresses its appreciation to the Secretary-General for his constructive efforts to promote training and assistance in international law within the framework of the Programme in 1990 and 1991, in particular for the organization of the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh sessions of the International Law Seminar, held at Geneva from 5 to 22 June 1990 and 3 to 21 June 1991, respectively, and for the participation of the Office of Legal Affairs of the Secretariat and its Codification Division in the conduct of the fellowship programme in international law sponsored jointly by the United Nations and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, as well as for the activities related to the award of the Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe Memorial Fellowship on the Law of the Sea;

4.         Requests the Secretary-General to consider the relative advantages of using available resources and voluntary contributions on regional, subregional or national courses as against courses organized within the United Nations system;

5.         Welcomes, in particular, the joint efforts described in the report of the Secretary-General, and undertaken by the Codification Division of the Office of Legal Affairs and the secretariat of the Programme as well as by the International Court of Justice to publish in a single volume in all official languages of the Organization, and within the existing overall level of appropriations, the summaries of the Judgments and advisory opinions of the Court (1949-1990) as provided by the Registry of the Court, and to update this publication in subsequent years;

6.         Invites interested States to consider the option of financing the translation and publication of the Judgments of the Court;

7.         Welcomes the efforts undertaken by the Office of Legal Affairs of the Secretariat to bring up to date the United Nations Treaty Series and the United Nations Juridical Yearbook;

8.         Expresses its appreciation to the United Nations Institute for Training and Research for its participation in the Programme, particularly for its efforts in the organization of regional courses and in the administration of the fellowship programme in international law jointly sponsored and conducted by the United Nations and the Institute;

9.         Expresses its appreciation to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization for its participation in the Programme, and in particular for the publication of International Law: Achievements and Prospects, which constitutes an important effort to support the teaching, study, dissemination and wider appreciation of international law, and notes that as reflected in the report of the Secretary-General, it may be expected that any request to translate and publish this work in Spanish or any other language would have a greater chance of being favourably examined were it to be made on a regional basis;

10.       Also expresses its appreciation to the Government of Namibia for its willingness to co-sponsor the regional training and refresher course of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research for southern African countries, held at Windhoek from 12 to 22 February 1991;

11.       Further expresses its appreciation to the Hague Academy of International Law for the valuable contributions it has made to the Programme by enabling international law fellows under the sponsorship of the United Nations and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research to attend its annual international law courses and by providing facilities for seminars organized under the fellowship programme in international law in conjunction with the Academy courses;

12.       Notes with appreciation the contributions made by the Hague Academy of International Law to the teaching, study, dissemination and wider appreciation of international law, and calls upon Member States and interested organizations to give favourable consideration to the appeal of the Academy for a continuation of, and, if possible an increase in their financial contributions in order to enable the Academy to carry on with the above-mentioned activities, in particular the summer courses, regional courses and programmes of the Centre for Studies and Research in International Law and International Relations;

13.       Urges all States, and relevant international organizations, whether regional or universal, to make all possible efforts to implement the goals and carry out the activities contemplated in section IV of the programme for the activities for the first term (1990-1992) of the United Nations Decade of International Law, dealing with the encouragement of the teaching, study, dissemination and wider appreciation of international law and contained in the annex to its resolution 45/40;

14.       Requests the Secretary-General to continue to publicize the Programme and periodically to invite Member States, universities, philanthropic foundations and other interested national and international institutions and organizations, as well as individuals, to make voluntary contributions towards the financing of the Programme or otherwise to assist in its implementation and possible expansion;

15.       Reiterates its request to Member States and to interested organizations and individuals to make voluntary contributions, inter alia, for the International Law Seminar, for the fellowship programme in international law sponsored jointly by the United Nations and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research and for the Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe Memorial Fellowship on the Law of the Sea, and expresses its appreciation to those Member States, institutions and individuals which have made voluntary contributions for this purpose;

16.       Urges in particular all Governments to make voluntary contributions with a view to covering the amount needed for the financing of the daily subsistence allowance for up to twenty-five participants in each regional course organized by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, thus alleviating the burden on prospective host countries and making it possible for the Institute to continue to organize the regional courses;

17.       Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its forty-eighth session on the implementation of the Programme during 1992 and 1993 and, following consultations with the Advisory Committee on the United Nations Programme of Assistance in the Teaching, Study, Dissemination and Wider Appreciation of International Law, to submit recommendations regarding the execution of the Programme in subsequent years;

18.       Decides to appoint twenty-five Member States, six from Africa, five from Asia, three from Eastern Europe, five from Latin America and the Caribbean and six from Western Europe and other States, as members of the Advisory Committee on the United Nations Programme of Assistance in the Teaching, Study, Dissemination and Wider Appreciation of International Law, for a period of four years beginning on 1 January 1992;

19.       Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its forty-eighth session the item entitled "United Nations Programme of Assistance in the Teaching, Study, Dissemination and Wider Appreciation of International Law".