PRINCIPAL of the Norman Manley Law School, Stephen Vasciannie, has been elected by his colleagues to serve as the Rapporteur for the 62nd Session of the United Nations International Law Commission, now meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.

Professor Vasciannie and other members of the Bureau of the International Law Commission for the current session, were elected by acclamation at a meeting on Monday, May 4.

The International Law Commission is a panel of 34 public international lawyers drawn from the different regional groupings of the United Nations.

The Commission, which is in its 62nd year of operations, advises the United Nations on the codification and progressive development of different areas of international law.

At its current session, the commission will examine, among other things, expulsion of aliens, the law concerning humanitarian assistance in times of disaster, immunity for Heads of State and other governmental officials, treaties over time, the most favoured nation clause, the concept of aut dedere aut judicare (ie, the duty to extradite or prosecute persons in certain circumstances), and reservations to treaties.

The role of the Rapporteur is to ensure that proper records are kept concerning the deliberations of the Commission and, where necessary, co-ordination of the work of specialists presenting reports on various topics before the Commission.

The chairman of the current session of the Commission is Madam Xhue of China, while John Dugard of South Africa is the deputy chairman.