UN General Assembly president urges states to keep international law fit for future challenges

Khalilur Rahman, president of the UN General Assembly, has urged states to keep international law effective as global challenges change, telling the Assembly’s Sixth Committee that the rules must remain clear and serve their purpose in the decades ahead. [1]

Addressing the committee on 15 October, Rahman said states faced a twofold task: preserving rules built over eight decades while ensuring they continued to meet future needs. He called the Sixth Committee, which handles legal matters, an important forum for that work, and said the choices made today would shape whether international law remained “a living force”.

Rahman also called for more predictable planning, timely documentation and better time management in the committee’s work, while cautioning that efficiency should not weaken its distinctive role. He said states should use available tools to prevent conflict and that the UN’s main committees should communicate with one another.

The committee concluded its debate on universal jurisdiction, a principle that can allow states to prosecute certain crimes even when they were committed elsewhere. Delegates differed over how it should be applied. Zambia said it was complementary to the primary responsibility of the state where a crime occurred or the alleged perpetrator’s state of nationality. Mozambique called for its use to promote accountability while respecting state sovereignty and equality.

Tanzania’s representative said there had been no meaningful progress in preventing misuse of the principle since African states first raised the issue at the General Assembly’s 64th session, 17 years ago. Venezuela called for clearer definitions and safeguards; the Republic of the Congo stressed its role in prosecuting war crimes.

The committee also began discussions on the additional protocols to the Geneva Conventions. Canada, speaking for Australia and New Zealand, called for existing humanitarian law to be respected and highlighted a 2025 declaration on protecting humanitarian personnel, which the UN report said had been endorsed by more than 130 states. [1]