During the first half of its sixty-ninth session, the International Law Commission’s Drafting Committee considered and provisionally adopted five additional draft articles, as well as a corresponding annex and a draft preamble, completing the Commission’s consideration of draft articles on a future convention for crimes against humanity. The new draft articles were proposed in the Third Report by Special Rapporteur on Crimes Against Humanity Sean Murphy on January 23, 2017, and covered a wide range of elements, including cooperation between States in extradition and mutual legal assistance, the resolution of disputes regarding the convention, and the rights of victims and witnesses.
Members of the Commission discussed the draft articles from May 1-9, 2017, and then referred them to the Drafting Committee, which discussed the draft articles from May 9-24. The Drafting Committee incorporated suggestions made by International Law Commission Members and the Special Rapporteur in response to concerns voiced by other Members and civil society organizations, and on May 26, 2017, adopted revised draft articles. Professor Leila Nadya Sadat, Harris Institute Director and chair of the Crimes Against Humanity Initiative, attended the ILC Sessions on this topic, as well as an NGO Workshop in Geneva convened by Amnesty International on May 6, 2017.
The Commission intends to conduct a first reading of the draft articles later this summer, and if a first reading is completed, the draft articles could be submitted to the Sixth Committee for comments.
The provisionally adopted draft articles are now available at this link.
A summary of the International Law Commission’s full work on crimes against humanity is available here.