Asia Pacific Consultation on Refugee Rights, Kuala Lumpur, 20-21 November 2008 [access]
- Organized by Forum Asia.
Beyond Humanitarianism in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Washington, DC, 19 November 2008 [access]
- Public event organized by the U.S. Institute of Peace.
Causes of Forced Migration and Systemic Responses: Human Rights of the Displaced in Ethical, Religious, and...
The UN Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW) and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have issued the report of the Expert Group Meeting on Good practices in legislation on violence against women (full text, pdf, 473 KB). The report provides guidelines and a model framework for legislati......
For reference, I posted a note on my other blog, Researching Refugees, about the UN's recent release of the Audiovisual Library of International Law. It may be of interest to readers here.
Posted in Web Sites &...
A letter from the Permanent Representative of Switzerland transmits the Montreux Document, a text containing rules and good practices relating to private military and security companies operating in armed conflict (A/63/467 - S/2008/636). The document is the outcome of a joint inititive by Switzerl......
The Arthur C. Helton Fellowship Program was established by the American Society of International Law (ASIL) in memory of Mr. Helton, who died in the Baghdad bombing of the UN Mission in August 2003. Applications are now being accepted and may continue to be submitted until 13 February 2009. More information and an online application are available on the ASIL web site.
Mr. Helton's last book...
The Final Document of the Diplomatic Conference on Cluster Munitions, held in Dublin from 19-30 May 2008 was transmitted to the 63rd session of the General Assembly as a document of the First Committee ( A/C.1/63/5). The document also contains the text of the Convention on Cluster Munitions which wa......
The report of the International Court of Justice has been issued (A/63/4). The ICJ, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, has two functions:
to pass judgments on disputes brought by States ("contentious cases"); and
to issue advisory opinions on legal questions from other organ......
Today, the Office of Legal Affairs launched the Audiovisual Library of International Law. This website has three main parts:
The Historic Archives presents documents, photos, and digital film footage relating to the UN role in the development of international law;
The Lecture Series contains lec......
The report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter, has been issued (A/63/278). This is the first report of the Rapporteur since his appointment in March 2008 and it presents his views on the mandate he holds and which issues should be addressed within the mandate.......
The Curricula vitae of candidates nominated by national groups for the five vacancies in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) have been transmitted (A/63/188 - S/2008/504). Other related documents are linked from the General Assembly page on Documents by Agenda-- Organizational, administrative ......
The report of the International Law Commission to the 63rd session of the General Assembly is now available (A/63/10). The report covers the 60th session of the Commission which was held from 5 May-6 June and 7 July-8 August 2008.......
The annual report of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has been issued (A/63/323). The report covers the main activities of the Court and developments of relevance to the relationship between the Court and the United Nations, during the period 1 August 2007 to 31 July 2008. ......
The Office of Legal Affairs Treaty Section has launched a new online version of the United Nations Treaty Collection. The new website is free and provides access to UN publications relating to treaties, including:
UN Treaty Series;
Status of Multilateral Treaties deposited with the Secretary-......
Report of the UN Commission on International Trade Law on the work of its 41st session held on 16 June-3 July 2008 was issued as document (A/63/17).......
Several glossaries have recently been issued:
Glossary of Humanitarian Terms (ReliefWeb, Aug. 2008) [text]
- Compilation of terms selected from other glossaries; see also their listing of other humanitarian glossaries.
People on the Move: Handbook of Selected Terms and Concepts (Hague Process on Refugees and Migration, July 2008) [text]
- Developed for the general public/civil society to raise...
The United Nations Juridical Yearbook has a new website. The Juridical Yearbook contains "documentary materials of a legal character concerning the United Nations and related intergovernmental organizations" and is an invaluable research tool. Each yearbook follows the same chapter structure. In ......
A new report of the Secretary-General on the Consideration of effective measures to enhance the protection, security and safety of diplomatic and consular missions and representatives has been issued (A/63/121). The report provides information on the status of ratification of, and accessions to,
......
A new report of the Secretary-General has an inventory of the current rule of law acitivites of the UN (A/63/64). The report on rule of law at the national and international levels serves as a directory to the work of 40 UN entities on their current activities and provides an overview of the capac......
The report of the Secretary-General on the Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs and Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council has been issued (A/63/98). This report outlines the progress made in updating these publications. The Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs cont......
The preliminary report of the Special Rapporteur on the protection of persons in the event of disasters has been issued (A/CN.4/598). The report provides some historic background and a discussion of the scope of the topic to be considered by the International Law Commission. ......
A new international treaty regulating the use of cluster munitions was adopted by delegations from 111 countries in Dublin, Ireland on 30 May 2008 and will open for signature in December in Oslo, Norway. The new Convention on Cluster Munitions will enter into force six months after at least 30 count......
The International Law Commission (ILC) is meeting in Geneva for its 60th session. The Commission will celebrate its 60th anniversary with a special commemorative event. The ILC has made all ILC documents, 1949-present, available on its website, select Research for helpful guidance or Search the ful......
The UN Office of Legal Affairs Codification Division has launched a pilot project of the Audiovisual Library of International Law. When complete, the Audiovisual Library will consist of three main components:
Historic archives of material related to the development of international law within t......
The fifth report on shared natural resources of Special Rapporteur Chusei Yamada, on Transboundary Aquifers, has been issued (A/CN.4/591). The report is submitted for the consideration of the International Law Commission and presents draft articles on transboundary aquifers for consideration. Lea......
The second report of the Secretary-General submitted pursuant to Security Council resolution 1757 (2007), on the subject of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, has been issued (S/2008/173). The report outlines progress since September 2007 in several areas, including, among others:
the locationof th......
Next week, UNESCO will host a meeting of experts on the topic Freedom of Information and Sustainable Development. The meeting will consider the fundamental right to access information held by public bodies. A new publication, Freedom of information: a comparative legal survey (2nd ed, full text, p......
The latest addition to the Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council has been issued. This sales publication (05.VII.1) provides a guide to the proceedings of the Security Council for the years 1989-1992, a period when the Council's practice expanded in the areas of conflict prevention, pe......
The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) has issued a new publication on the Convention on the Recognition on Enforcement on Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York, 1958). This one volume publication contains the text of the convention in all six official languages and also inc......
The fourth report on the effects of armed conflicts on treaties, by Mr. Ian Brownlie, Special Rapporteur, has been issued (A/CN.4/589). The report is issued for the consideration of the International Law Commission. The online Analytical Guide has a summary of the work on this topic with links to ......
The assessments of the President and the Prosecutor of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) have been transmitted by a document (S/2007/663). The reports detail the measures taken to implement the Completion Strategy. ......