Charter Committee considers maintenance of international peace and security, dispute settlement, rationalization of United Nations procedures.

Charter Committee considers maintenance of international peace and security, dispute settlement, rationalization of United Nations procedures

Proposals for the maintenance of internationalpeace and security, peaceful settlement of disputes and the rationalization of existing United Nations procedures were the focus of the deliberations of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization at its 1987 session (5-27 February, New York).

In a concluding statement, CommitteeChairman Andrzej W. Kakolecki (Poland) said that "modest but promising progress' had been made by the Committee in 1987 and that sterile and fruitless debate had been avoided.

A constructive discussion of the rationalizationof existing procedures of the United Nations had taken place, and discussion of the Romanian proposal on the resort to a commission of good offices had led to a promising new development as well, he said.

A number of constructive proposalshad been submitted concerning the maintenance of international peace and security, Mr. Kakolecki further observed.

Maintenance of international peace and security

Under the item on maintenance ofinternational peace and security, the Committee considered a revised working paper--submitted by Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand and Spain-- containing a draft declaration on the prevention and removal by the United Nations of disputes, situations which may lead to international friction or give rise to a dispute and matters which may threaten the maintenance of peace and security.

Several paragraphs of the Westernpaper were provisionally accepted, including one paragraph stating that the Security Council should consider "encouraging and, where appropriate, endorsing efforts at the regional level to prevent or remove a dispute, situation or a matter in the region concerned' as well as a paragraph stating that the Security Council should, at an early stage, consider making use of Charter provisions for requesting an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on any legal question.

Another provisionally accepted textconcerning the role of the Secretary-General, asked him to consider approaching the States directly concerned in a dispute, situation or matter in an effort to prevent it from becoming a threat to the maintenance of international peace and security. The Secretary-General was also to consider making full use of his right to bring, when necessary on a confidential basis, disputes, situations or matters to the attention of the Security Council at as early stage as he deems appropriate.

Another working paper, put forwardby Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic and Poland, was reviewed, dealing with the "lasting validity of the purposes and principles' of the Charter and providing a general framework for defining the role of States in maintaining international peace and security. It listed steps to be taken by States to implement more effectively Charter objectives and principles and covered the role of the Security Council and other principal organs of the United Nations in the prevention and removal of threats to peace.

In relation to the paper, the viewwas expressed that the strengthening of the United Nations should become an integral part of the process of establishing a comprehensive system of international security and that the contribution of the United Nations towards the consolidation of world peace should be increased.

Some representatives felt that thepaper was over-ambitious. The remark was made in particular that it treated issues related to disarmament, a question, which besides raising controversial issues, was currently under discussion in other appropriate forums. Also, it was stressed that by concentrating on disarmament and the question of non-use of force, equally important non-military aspects of State conduct might be overlooked.

Those favouring inclusion of the disarmamentissue said it was vital to formulate a general, non-technical provision concerning the efforts taken by States for disarmament and thus for peace.

Dispute settlement

The Working Group reported "tangibleprogress' on a Romanian proposal for establishing a commission of good offices, mediation or conciliation within the United Nations.

The Romanian paper defined resortto such a commission as "a procedure at the disposal of States and of the competent organs of the Organization for the peaceful settlement of international disputes in accordance with the provisions of the United Nations Charter'.

Such a commission, the paperstated, might be set up for each particular case, through agreement of States parties to a dispute, or, with their agreement, on the basis of a recommendation of the Security Council or of the General Assembly or following contacts by the parties to a dispute with the Secretary-General.

At the end of the discussion, theRomanian delegation circulated a revised version of its working paper.

The Working Group also revieweda progress report of the Secretary-General on the draft handbook on the peaceful settlement of disputes between States.

The Working Group reviewed aworking paper submitted in 1986 by France and the United Kingdom on the rationalization of certain United Nations procedures.

The Working Group reported thatsome delegations felt the title of the working paper, which dealt only with General Assembly procedures, was misleading. Some wanted the rationalization effort to extend to other principal organs such as the Security Council, and to encompass such questions as how to promote compliance with the decisions of the International Court of Justice; how to safeguard the independence of the Secretary-General and the Secretariat; and how to enhance the political will of the Member States to give effect to resolutions in the economic and social field.

At the concluding stage of the dicussion,a revised working paper was circulated by the co-sponsors.

Others felt such problems could notbe resolved through rationalization of existing procedures, and that the focus must be on the General Assembly procedures, which were most in need of streamlining.

Photo: The Special Committee on the UN Charter made "modest but promising progress' at its 1987 session.