Contents
Conciliation
Conciliation in the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes
International instruments which have contributed to the evolution and development of conciliation as an independent method of peaceful settlement of international disputes includes:
- the Charter of the United Nations (its Article 33, paragraph 1, mentions conciliation among the peaceful means for the settlement of disputes to which Member States shall resort),
- the 1970 Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations (refers to conciliation),
- the 1982 Manila Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes (refers to conciliation)
- the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties,
- the 1969 International Convention relating to Intervention on the High Seas in Cases of Oil Pollution Casualties,
- the 1975 Vienna Convention on the Representation of States in their Relations with International Organizations of a Universal Character,
- the 1978 Vienna Convention on Succession of States in respect of Treaties,
- the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,
- the 1983 Vienna Convention on Succession of States in Respect of State Property, Archives and Debts,
- the 1948 American Treaty of Pacific Settlement (the Pact of Bogotá),
- the 1957 European Convention for the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes,
- the 1964 Protocol to the OAU Charter on the Commission of Mediation, Conciliation and Arbitration (as amended in 1970)
- the 1981 Treaty Establishing the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States
- the 1928 Geneva General Act for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes as revised in 1949,
- the 1962 Protocol Instituting a Conciliation and Good Offices Commission to be Responsible for Seeking the Settlement of Any Disputes which May Arise between States Parties to the Convention against Discrimination in Education,
- the 1985 Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, and
- the 1986 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties between States and International Organizations or between International Organizations.
Functions of Conciliation in the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes
“The task of the Conciliation Commission shall be to elucidate the questions in dispute, to collect with that object -stipulates the art. 15, para. 1 of the 1949 Revised Geneva General Act for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes- all necessary information by means of enquiry or otherwise, and to endeavour to bring the parties to an agreement. It may, after the case has been examined, inform the parties of the terms of settlement which seem suitable to it, and lay down the period within which they are to make their decision.”
Composition of Conciliation in the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes
“1. A list of conciliators consisting of qualified jurists shall be drawn up and maintained by the Secretary-General of the United Nations. To this end, every State which is a Member of the United Nations or a party to the present Convention -stipulates the annex on conciliation of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties- shall be invited to nominate two conciliators, and the names of the persons so nominated shall constitute the list.
The term of a conciliator, including that of any conciliator nominated to fill a casual vacancy, shall be five years and may be renewed. A conciliator whose term expires shall continue to fulfil any function for which he shall have been chosen under the following paragraph.
“2. When a request has been made to the Secretary-General under article 66, the Secretary-General shall bring the dispute before a conciliation commission constituted as follows:
- “one conciliator of the nationality of that State or of one of those States, who may or may not be chosen from the list referred to in paragraph 1; and
- “one conciliator not of the nationality of that State or of any of those States, who shall be chosen from the list.
“The State or States constituting the other party to the dispute shall appoint two conciliators in the same way. The four conciliators chosen by the parties shall be appointed within sixty days following the date on which the Secretary-General receives the request.
“The four conciliators shall, within sixty days following the date of the last of their own appointments, appoint a fifth conciliator chosen from the list, who shall be chairman.
“If the appointment of the chairman or of any of the other conciliators has not been made within the period prescribed above for such appointment, it shall be made by the Secretary-General within sixty days following the expiry of that period. The appointment of the chairman may be made by the Secretary-General either from the list or from the membership
of the International Law Commission. Any of the periods within which appointments must be made may be extended by agreement between the parties to that dispute.
“Any vacancy shall be filled in the manner prescribed for the initial appointment.”
Conciliation in general
Conciliation as a choice of compulsory procedure
Conciliation as an optional procedure
Binding recommendations of Conciliation
Some treaties created a conciliation procedure whose recommendations are compulsory and binding. For example, “Member States undertake to accept the conciliation procedure -provides paragraph 3 of article 14 of the 1981 Treaty establishing the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States -referred to in the preceding paragraph as compulsory. Any decisions or recommendations of the Conciliation Commission in resolution of the dispute shall be final and binding on the Member States”.
Non-binding recommendations of Conciliation
Conciliation: recommendations for parties to consider in good faith
“The Commission shall render -provides the 1985 Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer- a final and recommendatory award, which the parties shall consider in good
faith”
Conciliation relation to inquiry
Conciliation resort to under regional agencies or arrangements
Rules of procedures of Conciliation
In relaltion to the outcome of the conciliation process, for example:
“The recommendations in the report of the Commission shall not be binding on the parties to the dispute – said the 1975 Vienna Convention on the Representation of States in their Relations with International Organizations of a Universal Character in its article 85, paragraph 7-unless all the parties to the dispute have accepted them. Nevertheless, any party to the dispute may
declare unilaterally that it will abide by the recommendations in the report so far as it is concerned.”
Termination of Conciliation
“The conciliation proceedings are terminated when a settlement has been reached, when the parties have accepted or one party has rejected the recommendations of the report -stipulates the article 8 of the annex to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea- by written notification addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, or when a
period of three months has expired from the date of transmission of the report to the parties.”
“The report of the Commission, including any conclusions stated therein regarding the facts or questions of law, shall not be binding upon the parties – stipulates the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties in paragraph 6 of its annex- and it shall have no other character than that of recommendations submitted for the consideration of the parties in order to facilitate
an amicable settlement of the dispute.”
United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL): rules on Conciliation
Conciliation
Conciliation in the U.S. Labor Law
Note: find out more about this topic in the American legal encyclopedia.
Conciliation
Embracing mainstream international law, this section on conciliation explores the context, history and effect of the area of the law covered here.
Conciliation
Conciliation
Resources
See Also
- Labor Law
Resources
See Also
- Arbitration
- Court of Conciliation
- Mediation
- Pre-trial conference
- Settlement
Resources
See Also
Further Reading
- Information related to conciliation in the Max Planck Encyclopedia of International Law(MPEPIL), Germany, United Kingdom
Resources
Further Reading
- The entry “conciliation” in the Parry and Grant Encyclopaedic Dictionary of International Law (currently, the Encyclopaedic Dictionary of International Law, 2009), Oxford University Press
Resources
See Also
- Mediation
- Labor Law
Resources
See Also
- Mediation
- Labor Law
Resources
See Also
Further Reading
- H BlixH Blix ‘The Principle of Peaceful Settlement of DisputesÂ’ in MK Nawas and ors (eds) The Legal Principles Governing Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States (Sijthoff Leiden 1966) 45-68.
- L Lloyd ‘Le réglement pacifique des conflitsÂ’ (2000) 31 Études internationales 709-26. VY Ghebali ‘La gestion des conflits internationaux par la Société des Nations: rétrospective critiqueÂ’ (2000) XXXIÉtudes internationales 675-90.
- R Jennings ‘Reflections on the Term “Dispute”’ in RSJ Macdonald (ed) Essays in Honour of Wang Tieya (NijhoffDordrecht 1994) 401-5.
- IW Zartman (ed) Peacemaking in International Conflict: Methods & Techniques (2nd edn United States Institute of Peace Washington DC 2007).
- H Neuhold ‘Das System friedlicher Streitbeilegung der Vereinten NationenÂ’ in F Cede and L Sucharipa-Behrmann(eds) Die Vereinten Nationen: Recht und Praxis (Manz Wien 1999) 57-68.
Conciliation in the International Trade Union Rights Area
Definition of Conciliation provided by ITUC-CSI-IGB: An attempt by a neutral third party, a conciliator, to aid the settling of an industrial dispute by improving communications, offering advice and interpreting issues to bring the disputing parties to a point where they can reconcile their differences. The conciliator does not take as active a role as a mediator or an arbitrator.
See arbitration, mediation
Resources
Trade Union Topics
- Trade Union Act
- Trades Union Congress (TUC)
- Trade Union Density
- Definition of Trade Union
- Socialist Coalition
- Socialist Party
- Legislative Power
- Trade unions in Europe
- Trades Union Act
- Cartism
- Poor Law
- Combination Acts