General Assembly Sixth Committee – Legal
New Challenges of Humanitarian Law
As one of the main committees of the General Assembly Legal prepares a resolution that could be adopted by the GA on the plenary session. In its actions Legal follows the competencies of the GA but only on the issues connected with public international law. Accordingly, the final paper written by Legal delegates and adopted by the Committee this year can contain non-binding recommendations to States on the general principles of cooperation in the scope of intergovernmental and governmental regulation for private military companies as well as initiatives to conduct studies, recommendations to promote international political cooperation. Besides, it can urge for the development and codification of international law and so forth. Above all, it is in delegates power to attempt to elaborate a draft of a new treaty on this issue that could probably serve as an encouragement for States to activate the process of negotiations on implementing new practices of military companies usage.
List of countries:
Afghanistan, Angola, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, India, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lithuania, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Ukraine, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Venezuela.
Chairperson of the General Assembly Sixth Committee – Legal
Name: Olga Bystrova
Major: Public policy
Hometown: Moscow, Russia
Favourite MUN experience: Global MUN 2009
Address to future delegates:
Honorable prospective delegates,
I appreciate your decision about applying for EMIMUN 2012 and I am glad to invite you to take part in Legal debates.
The theme chosen for Legal this year is a very important and intricate one. Seats of tension that appeared around the world in recent years have raised a moot issue for international humanitarian law (IHL). The number of private military and security companies used in armed conflicts instead of armed forces has increased significantly and it is a challenge for IHL as there is an open question about the way the Fourth Geneva Convention should be applied to the staff of those companies. In whole, a number of measures should be found in order to establish best practice to assist States to fulfill their obligations and to ensure respect for IHL.
Our goal is to find out the most debatable points of the matter and propose possible solutions to the problem. It is also necessary to clarify the obligations of the States that employ private military companies. I can assure you I will do my best to make the discussion at your EMIMUN 2012 high-quality and gripping.
Looking forward to seeing you in Dubai this January.
Best regards,
Olga Bystrova
Useful links:
Official documents
- the Fourth Geneva Convention
- United Nations Mercenary Convention
- The Montreux Document on Private Military and Security Companies
- UK practices: “Private Military Companies: Options for Regulation”
UN News Center
- Outsourcing to private security contractors threatens rights, UN panel warns, 14 September 2011
- UN experts on mercenaries seek stronger regulation of private security companies, 26 July 2010
- UN body urges support for treaty regulating private military, security companies, 30 April 2010
International Committee of the Red Cross initiatives
Investigative journalism
