Abstract

In the last quarter of the eighteenth century Jeremy Bentham proposed a codification of the
whole of international law, though in a utopian spirit. Since his time, numerous attempts at
codification have been made by private individuals, by learned societies and by Governments.
Intergovernmental regulation of legal questions of general and permanent interest may be said to
have originated at the Congress of Vienna (1814–15), where provisions relating to the regime of
international rivers, the abolition of the slave trade and the rank of diplomatic agents were
adopted by the signatory Powers of the Treaty of Paris of 1814. Since then, international legal
rules have been developed at diplomatic conferences on many other subjects, such as the laws of
war on both land and sea, the pacific settlement of international disputes, the unification of
private international law, the protection of intellectual property, the regulation of postal services
and telecommunications, the regulation of maritime and aerial navigation and various other
social and economic questions of international concern.

One of the principal achievements of the United Nations is its work in codifying and developing
international law. The Inter- national Law Commission, created in 1949, a subsidiary organ of
the General Assembly, is the chief agency of the United Nations for achieving these tasks. The
work that led to the International Law Commission was begun in the Resolution of the Assembly
of the League of Nations of 22 September 1924, which established the Committee of Experts
for the Progressive Codification of International Law, consisting of 17 members, for the
purpose of making recommendations as to which issues required to be addressed in international
law and the steps desirable to that end. The committee's work led to the League of Nations
Codification Conference of 1930, which dealt mainly with the issues of nationality laws,
territorial waters and state responsibility to damage caused to foreign nationals.

SYNOPSIS

Background

The International Law Commission was established by the General Assembly, in 1947, to
undertake the mandate of the Assembly, under article 13 (1) (a) of the Charter of the United
Nations to "initiate studies and make recommendations for the purpose of ... encouraging the
progressive development of international law and its codification. The work of the Commission
is regulated by its statute, which was initially approved by the General Assembly on November
21, 1947, and amended on December 12, 1950, December 3, 1955, and November 18, 1981.

It consists of 34 members (originally there were 15) who all must be experts on international
law, elected to the position by the General Assembly from a list of candidates nominated by
governments of member states in the UN.

Literature Review

I) Gotlieb, A. E., The International Law Commission [article] , Canadian Yearbook of

International Law, Vol. 4, pp. 64-80

This article covers the international institutions related with International Law. Author covers
ILC and complete explanation about the functions of the institution as Such strategies aim at
facilitating early warning, combating root causes, harmonizing international legal arena and
publishing reports to facilitate law across the globe.

II) Arnold pronto, Michael Wood, The International Law Commission [Journal], Oxford
University Press, Vol. 4.

This journal is a compilation of articles relating to workings, historical antecedents, functions,

origin, powers and other such governing criteria. The article by the author has displayed a
significant anomaly as to what is the impact of the international law commission on the legal
scenarios of the world.

Definition, Object and scope

The objective of the project is to analyze the purpose of ILC as to ways to promote innovative,
comprehensive and sustainable legal policies to function as a service exchange mechanism for
governments and organizations.
The Commission’s work on a topic usually involves some aspects of the progressive
development as well as the codification of international law, with the balance between the two
varying depending on the particular topic.
The researcher would be analyzing the functions, purposes, agendas and techniques of the ILC in
the current modern world.

Research questions

1. What is the impact of ILC on the legal stability in the world?

2. What are the methods and working manner of the ILC?
3. How did the International Law commission affect the earlier practices of international
law?

Hypotheses

The International Law Commission (ILC) mainly focuses on the methods that are to promote
international cooperation in the area of legal policies, as well as relevant research in these areas.
To this end, ILC will strive to analyze the legal developments that are to be incorporated and to
mend the legislative flaws by the international communities. ILC will broadly impact the
working practices of the international law.

Research methodology

The Research methodology followed in this project is doctrinal in nature and sources are mainly
primary sources but secondary sources couldbe use as well.

Tentative chapters

Chapter I Historical background

Chapter II Aims and functions

Chapter IIIOrganizational structure

Chapter IV Modern world and international policies

Bibliography

Books, journals and article:

1. Arnold pronto, Michael Wood, The International Law Commission [Journal], Oxford
University Press, Vol. 4.
2. Gotlieb, A. E., The International Law Commission [article] , Canadian Yearbook of
International Law, Vol. 4, pp. 64-80

Websites:

1. http://legal.un.org/ilc/work.shtml (official website of the UN)

2. Hein Online