The General Assembly,
Having considered chapter III of the report of the International
Law Commission on the work of its forty-sixth session, which contains
final draft articles of and commentaries on the law of the non-navigational
uses of international watercourses,
Noting that the International Law Commission decided to
recommend the draft articles to the General Assembly, and recommended
the elaboration of a convention by the Assembly or by an international
conference of plenipotentiaries on the basis of the draft articles,
Mindful of Article 13, paragraph 1 (a), of the Charter
of the United Nations, which provides that the General Assembly
shall initiate studies and make recommendations for the purpose
of encouraging the progressive development of international law
and its codification,
Believing that successful codification and progressive
development of the rules of international law governing the non-navigational
uses of international watercourses would assist in promoting and
implementing the purposes and principles set forth in Articles
1 and 2 of the Charter,
Taking into account the existence of bilateral or multilateral
agreements governing the non-navigational uses of international
watercourses, which should not be affected by the adoption of
a new international instrument unless the parties to those agreements
have otherwise decided,
Also taking into account the fact that, despite the existence
of a number of bilateral treaties and regional agreements, the
use of international watercourses is still based in part on general
principles and rules of customary law,
1. Expresses its appreciation to the International Law
Commission for its valuable work on the law of the non-navigational
uses of international watercourses, and to the successive special
rapporteurs for their contribution to that work;
2. Invites States to submit, not later than 1 July 1996,
written comments and observations on the draft articles adopted
by the International Law Commission;
3. Decides that, at the beginning of the fifty-first session
of the General Assembly, the Sixth Committee shall convene as
a working group of the whole, open to States Members of the United
Nations or members of specialized agencies, for three weeks from
7 to 25 October 1996, to elaborate a framework convention on the
law of the non-navigational uses of international watercourses
on the basis of the draft articles adopted by the International
Law Commission in the light of the written comments and observations
of States and views expressed in the debate at the forty-ninth
session;
4. Also decides that the Working Group of the Whole shall,
without prejudice to the rules of procedure of the General Assembly,
follow the methods of work and procedures outlined in the annex
to the present resolution, subject to any modifications which
it may deem appropriate;
5. Requests the Secretary-General to arrange for the presence
of the Special Rapporteur on the law of the non-navigational uses
of international watercourses as an expert during the debates
on the topic at its fifty-first session and to submit at that
session all relevant documentation;
6. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its
fifty-first session an item entitled "Convention on the law
of the non-navigational uses of international watercourses".
84th plenary meeting
9 December 1994
The draft articles prepared by the International Law Commission
shall be the basic proposal before the Working Group of the Whole.
The Working Group of the Whole shall start at once with a discussion
of the draft articles on an article-by-article basis, without
prejudice to the possibility of simultaneously considering closely
connected articles, the decisions on article 2 entitled "Use
of terms", being reserved for the concluding stages of the
work.
The Working Group of the Whole shall establish a drafting committee.
Once considered by the Working Group of the Whole, each article
or group of articles shall be referred to the drafting committee
for examination in the light of the discussion.
The drafting committee shall make recommendations to the Working
Group of the Whole in relation to each article or group of articles.
It shall also prepare and present to the Working Group of the
Whole, for its approval, a draft preamble and a set of final clauses.
The Working Group of the Whole shall endeavour to adopt all texts
by general agreement. Failing such an agreement within a reasonable
period of time, it will take its decisions in accordance with
the rules of procedure of the General Assembly.