Day 5 of UN Treaty negotiations: Debate over draft text concludes followed by discussion over practicalities for future Session VI
Author: ECCJ, Belgium, Published on: 22 October 2019
The 5th and final day of the Fifth Session of the Treaty negotiations begun with discussions of the final draft provisions, including “Implementation” (Article 14); “Relations with Protocols” (Article 15); “Settlement of Disputes” - either between States or about interpretation or application of the Treaty - (Article16); “Signature, Ratification, Acceptance, Approval and Accession” (Article 17); as well as “Entry into Force” (Article 18)...
With regard to Article 16 on “Settlement of Disputes” between States as related to the interpretation of the Treaty, the draft provisions allow for 'negotiation or by any other means of dispute settlement acceptable to the parties to the dispute' as well as submission to the International Court of Justice (ICJ)...
The final informal Session concerning the future of the process was not recorded or publicly streamed and will not form part of the official report...
The EU opted to endorse and support the draft recommendations and conclusions...
Regarding the future deliberations, Brazil sought to propose sessions without civil society involvement, referring to 'inter-state' negotiations and ultimately 'state-only negotiations', sentiments seconded by China.