Information Note.

Information Note

In connection with the fifty-seventh session of the International Law Commission, to be held at the Palais des Nations at Geneva from 2 May to June and from 4 July to 5 August 2005, the United Nations Office at Geneva is organizing its forty first annual International Law Seminar from to 22 July 2005.

Objective

The Seminar is intended to enable students at the postgraduate level or young university teachers specialized in international law and lawyers at the beginning of their career, whose work involves questions of international law, to widen their knowledge both of the work of the International Law Commission and of the codification and development of international law. It also provides an opportunity for lawyers representing different legal systems and cultures to engage in an exchange of views regarding items on the agenda of the Commission.

Participation and organization

There will be a maximum of 24 participants who should be not less than 24 and not more than 38 years of age on 1 January 2005 from various Member States of the United Nations, As well as attending the meetings of the Commission, the participants will be expected to take an active part in the discussions which follow lectures given by members of the Commission, officials of the United Nations or Specialized Agencies in Geneva and other speakers invited for the occasion,

The working languages will in principle be English, French and Spanish, but k is possible that simultaneous interpretation may not be available for all sessions. It is therefore desirable that the candidates have a sufficient knowledge of two of the working languages. The Library of the United Nations Office at Geneva will be at their disposal, as well as its Cyberspace.

While participation in the Seminar is ftee, the United Nations is unable to assume either travel costs or living expenses;of participants. However, a limited number of fellowships will be made available to participants, particularly from developing countries (travel and/or subsistence expenses), depending on the amount of voluntary contributions received from Governments.

Programme

Subject to the adoption of the Agenda at the beginning of its fifty-seventh session, the International Law Commission is expected to deal with the following topics: "Reservations to treaties"; "Diplomatic Protection"; "Unilateral Acts of States"; "Responsibility of international organizations0; "Shared natural resources"; "International liability for injurious consequences arising out of acts not prohibited by international law (International liability in case of loss from transboundary harm arising out of hazardous activities)"; "Fragmentation of international law: difficulties arising from the diversification and expansion of international law". The Commission considered the selection of new topics for inclusion in the Commission's current programme of work and decided to include two new topics, namely "Expulsion of aliens" and "Effects, of armed conflicts on treaties".

In order that participants be prepared to take an active part in the discussions of the Seminar., they are advised to consult in advance the available documentation on the work of the International Law Commission, in particular the Reports on the work of ks fifty-fourth, fifty-fifth and fifty-sixth sessions (General Assembly Official Records, Supplement No. 10 (A/57/10. A/58/10 and A/59/1Q)). Internet WEB Site (https://www.un.org/law/ilc/index.htm.).