GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND OTHER
INTERNATIONAL BODIES
1. Resolutions
Decisions
Recommendations
Directives
2. Rules of Procedure
3. Summary Records
RESOLUTIONS
Resolutions of the main bodies of international organizations are usually of two types, depending on whether they are binding or not, i. e. decisions or recommendations.
Decisions are taken on issues relating to an organization's internal activities, such as: 1) adoption of rules of procedure, 2) approval of the budget and distribution of expenditures among its members, 3) admission to and expulsion from membership, 4) elections to its bodies, etc. In all international organizations decisions on procedural matters are binding on all member states.
As for resolutions on substantive questions, they are generally recommendations. For example, in accordance with Article 10 of the United Nations Charter, resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly are recommendations. This does not, however, affect the political and moral force of General Assembly resolutions.
Many resolutions of the General Assembly, such as those concerned with the internal working of the United Nations Organization, have a full "legal effect" in that they are binding upon both I he members and the organs of the Organization. These resolutions create obligations and legal situations which did not exist before. "Recommendations" of the General Assembly addressed to members who have voted against them have, however, a "legal effect" only in the sense that they may constitute a "subsidiary means for the determination of rules of law" capable of being used by an international court. They are not in themselves sources of law. Their value, even as means for the determination of rules of international law, depends upon the degree of objectivity surrounding the circumstances in which they were adopted. In particular, it depends upon the extent to which they can be regarded as expressions of the "juridical conscience" of humanity as a whole.
A significant number of General Assembly resolutions have been framed in the form of a declaration or a charter (e. g. the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States, 1974), and these have contributed in due course to the adoption of conventions on the same subject matter. For instance, the Declaration of 1963 on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination paved the way for the Convention of 1965 on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
Resolutions of the UN General Assembly and of the Security Council are published on a yearly basis. They are set out under general heading indicating the questions under consideration. The questions are arranged according to the date on which they were first taken up in the year under review, and under each question the resolutions appear in chronological order.
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Each resolution is followed by the result of the vote. Decisions are usually taken without a vote, but in cases where a vote has been recorded, it is given immediately after the decision.
There exists a special system of symbols to identify the United Nations documents. The Symbols of the UN documents are composed of capital letters combined with figures. Mention of such a symbol indicates reference to the UN document.
The Arabic and Roman numerals identifying each resolution indicate, respectively, the number of the resolution and the number of the session at which it was adopted. Resolutions of the UN General Assembly as well as of the Security Council are numbered in the order of their adoption.
The capital letters "S" and "ES" before the number of the resolution refer it to a special or extraordinary session respectively. Resolutions can easily be identified by their names, as well.
As to their composition resolutions are generally made up of two parts: the preamble and the operative part.
RULES OF PROCEDURE
The course of procedure at any conference varies with the importance or degree of complexity of the matters under discussion. Rules of procedure are framed at the outset for guidance. Where, as often happens, committees are set up to discuss particular items on the agenda, these in turn appoint a chairman, frame if necessary rules of procedure, and in addition to a secretary or secretaries, often appoint a "reporter, to prepare the report to be furnished to the plenary body.
As regards conferences held under the auspices of the United Nations, no general rules of procedure have been framed applicable to all such conferences. There does not seem to be any regular practice with respect to the adoption and publication of rules of procedure at these conferences.
SUMMARY RECORDS
At all important international conferences care should be taken of the preparation of a record of the proceedings. It used to be the practice for a process-verbal to be prepared by the secretary or secretaries on the occasion of each sitting setting forth the date, hour and place of a meeting, the names of the plenipotentiaries and their staffs, and the states represented. This would be followed by a statement of the deliberations carried on and the conclusions reached, and the hour at which the sitting closed. There would also be attached any draft projects which might have come under consideration, declarations made, etc. The process-verbal would be signed by all the plenipotentiaries present, and usually by the president and secretary-general or secretaries. Sometimes it was read at the following sitting and adopted, but is was more usual first to submit proofs to the plenipotentiaries for any necessary amendments, in which case, the president would state the fact of agreement at the next sitting and pronounce its adoption, whereupon it would be signed. The original would be preserved by the government of the state in which the conference was held, which would supply copies to the representatives of the others.
In recent years, practice has become both less regular and less formal. Adoption of records by the conference and their signature by the president are unusual, although they are normally submitted to the plenipotentiaries before being drawn up in final form by the secretary-general or secretaries, whose signatures may then be added. Drafts, declarations, etc. are often circulated as conference documents and are not always appended to the daily record of proceedings.
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The term "process-verbal", formerly a summary of the proceedings and conclusion of an international conference, is more often used now to denote the record of the terms of some agreement reached between the parties, to record an exchange or deposit of ratifications, or to effect a minor alteration to a convention or treaty. It is generally not subject to ratification.
Most international organizations provide for the maintenance of either verbatim or summary records of the deliberations of all formal representative organs. Verbatim or summary records are always useful for future reference, as they may be helpful in clarifying the meaning of certain provisions of a treaty. Whenever possible they should be kept and published. Such records are however not necessarily maintained for expert groups, nor for closed or informal meetings of representative organs.
The preparation of the official (summary) records of the conference constitutes the main duties of the secretariat of the conference. The duties comprise also the arrangement of all matters of routine, and such other duties as may be assigned to it. Translations of speeches and documents are often required, and communications may have to be issued to the press.
The proceedings of the conference, and the results arrived at, are on important occasions sometimes recorded in a Final Act.
ASSIGNMENTS
I. Read the text and answer the checkup questions.
1. What are the two types of resolutions of the main bodies of international organizations? 2. What decisions are binding on all member states? 3: What kind of political and legal effect do resolutions of the UN General Assembly have? 4. When and how are Rules of procedure framed? 5. What does the term "proces-verbal" imply?
II. Complete the following sentences with the required information from the above text.
1. Decisions are taken on issues relating to....
2. As for resolutions on substantive questions, they are generally....
3. In all international organizations decisions on procedural matters are....
4. The course of procedure at any conference varies with the importance or degree of complexity....
5. It used to be the practice for a proces-verbal to be prepared by....
III. Study the texts in exhibits 30 to 38, point out words and phrases pertaining to the formal style.
EXHIBIT 30
RESOLUTION
RESOLUTION
