WG on Review of Mandates - 18th March AM - AB

The main topic this morning was the rights and obligations of mandate holders.
Suzanne Radi, director of special procedures, presented the "Reglement régissant le statut et les droits et obligations élémentaires des personnalités au service de l'ONU, non fonctionaires du Secrétariat et des experts en mission", which was adopted by the General Assembly in resolution 56/280 on March 27th, 2002.
Delegations then took the floor, some arguing that this reglement does not include obligation for states welcoming experts, which was regrettable (Germany) and some asking what has been concretly done to implement the resolution since 2002.The other main source of concern was the accountability of mandate holders, and what measures would be taken in case of improper conduct. Suzanne Radi answered that the appointing authority (such as the HRC) should be responsible for terminate the mandate in such cases.
After this discussion, Algeria on behalf of African Union presented its proposal of a new Code of Conduct document for mandates holders, which is supposed to be more specific than the forementionned Reglement and hence give more credibility to the mandate holders. The delegate insists that this new measure will not threaten the experts' independance, which is one of the main critics adressed against this Code of Conduct. The two documents (Reglement + CoC) should be complementary and have the same status, as soon as the CoC is adopted by the General Assembly.