Source: https://opil.ouplaw.com/view/10.1093/law-oxio/e253.013.1/law-oxio-e253
Timestamp: 2019-05-23 04:55:30
Document Index: 728969543

Matched Legal Cases: ['Art.12', 'Art.21', 'Art. 25', 'Art 18', 'Art 18', 'Art 5', 'Art 5', 'Art 11', 'Art 13', 'Art 13', 'Art 17', 'Art 20', 'Art 18', 'Art 18', 'art\n1']

Oxford Public International Law: Arms Trade Treaty, 2nd April 2013 ((2013) 52 ILM 988), OXIO 253
Arms Trade Treaty, 2nd...
Arms Trade Treaty, 2nd April 2013 ((2013) 52 ILM 988), OXIO 253
The establishment of the Arms Trade Treaty Secretariat
The functions of the Arms Trade Treaty Secretariat
Art.12 Record keeping
Art.21 Signature, Ratification, Acceptance, Approval or Accession
Art. 25 Reservations
United Nations [UN]; Arms Trade Treaty Secretariat
1. The functions of the Arms Trade Treaty Secretariat.
2. The relationship of the Arms Trade Treaty Secretariat to the United Nations.
This headnote pertains to: Arms Trade Treaty, a Treaty which is the constituent instrument of an international organization.Jump to full text
The Arms Trade Treaty (‘ATT’ or ‘Treaty’) of 2 April 2013 constitutes an act relevant to the law of international organizations because it established an international secretariat within its text. Article 18 ATT established a secretariat to assist States Parties to the Treaty to ensure its effective implementation. The ATT Secretariat (‘Secretariat’) was a product of multilateral negotiation, and of a long process of engagement and negotiation with States Parties in order to establish a secretariat that would be able to function practically and smoothly. In addition, the Secretariat is a body that exists to support implementation of a treaty which, if implemented properly, will have broad and lasting effect on the arms trade globally.
The ATT was adopted by vote at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on 2 April 2013 as part of UNGA Resolution 67/234. In 2010, the UNGA decided to convene a United Nations (UN) Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty with the aim of elaborating a legally binding instrument on the highest possible common international standards for the transfer of conventional arms. A first diplomatic conference on the ATT in July 2012 failed to reach an agreement, and so a final diplomatic conference was convened for March 2013 (Getting it right: the pieces that matter for the Arms Trade Treaty, page 2). After nine working days of intensive negotiations, the final diplomatic conference ended without states reaching consensus on the text of the Treaty as required by the Conference’s rules of procedure (Adoption of a global Arms Trade Treaty: challenges ahead, page 2). The text of the Treaty was therefore put to vote in the UNGA, where it was adopted by a vote of 156–3, with 23 abstentions. The ATT entered into force six months after its fiftieth ratification, on 24 December 2014.
The 2013 Arms Trade Treaty established a secretariat to assist States Parties to the Treaty to ensure its effective implementation. [Art 18] Each State Party was bound to respect the functions and activities of the Secretariat.
The functions of the Secretariat were listed in the text of the Treaty as follows:
• receive, make available and distribute the reports as mandated by this Treaty;
• maintain and make available to States Parties the list of national points of contact;
• facilitate the matching of offers of and requests for assistance for Treaty implementation and promote international cooperation as requested;
• facilitate the work of the Conference of States Parties, including making arrangements and providing the necessary services for meetings under this Treaty;
• perform other duties as decided by the Conferences of States Parties. [Art 18(3)]
In addition, a number of provisions in the text of the ATT elaborated on the functions of the Secretariat:
• each State Party shall provide the Secretariat with its national control list, which the Secretariat will circulate among States Parties; [Art 5(4)]
• each State Party shall notify the Secretariat of designated national points of contact, and shall update the Secretariat in this regard; [Art 5(6)]
• States Parties are encouraged to report to other States Parties, through the Secretariat, on measures taken in addressing diversion of transferred arms; [Art 11(6)]
• each State Party shall provide the Secretariat with an initial report; [Art 13(1)]
• each State Party shall provide the Secretariat with an annual report concerning authorized or actual exports and imports of arms, which the Secretariat will circulate among States Parties; [Art 13(3)]
• the Secretariat shall convene the Conferences of States Parties; [Art 17(1)]
• any proposed amendments on the Treaty text shall be submitted to the Secretariat in writing, which the Secretariat will circulate among States Parties. [Art 20(2)]
The ATT established a secretariat to assist States Parties to the Treaty to ensure its effective implementation. [Art 18] Each State Party was bound to respect the functions and activities of the Secretariat. While the establishment of secretariats as treaty bodies is becoming more common, especially with regards to arms control treaties, many multilateral instruments have no secretariat.
The Secretariat was established as an independent body, with links to the UN. A standalone secretariat with UN administrative support has also been the model used for the support units associated with the Biological Weapons Convention and the Chemical Weapons Convention. As noted by commentators, the link to the UN is important because it allows the Secretariat to avoid duplication on a number of administrative and substantial issues, whilst retaining political independence and adhering to the principle of responsibility to States Parties.
An important element of the establishment of the Secretariat was the choice to host it in Geneva. It has been noted that this provides a good opportunity for a multi-stakeholder approach involving international organizations, NGOs, and think tanks in support of Treaty implementation. It also means that the Secretariat could draw on lessons learnt by existing treaty-based mechanisms located in Geneva, such as the Implementation Support Units for the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions and the 1997 Ottawa Convention Prohibiting Anti-Personnel Mines.
The Secretariat was established under Article 18 ATT. While the negotiation of the Treaty was certainly not without challenges, the establishment of a secretariat was not contentious in itself. A provisional secretariat was established following the adoption of the Treaty in December 2014 in order to cover the administrative aspects of the Treaty. At the final preparatory meeting for the first Conference of States Parties, a proposal for the format and framework of the Secretariat was made. In this proposal, it was noted that a large number of delegations had stressed the importance of maintaining a link between the Secretariat and the UN. The document proposed three different models: the option of a Secretariat attached to an institution of the UN; the option of a Secretariat outsourcing all support services to third party organizations; and the hybrid option of a Secretariat relying partly on the UN and partly on private organizations (ATT Secretariat: proposal by the facilitator, pages 2–3). Following the preparatory meeting discussions, and with a view to a decision being made at the first Conference of States Parties, the facilitator circulated a questionnaire covering the main aspects of the Secretariat (Secretariat of the Arms Trade Treaty facilitator's report, para 1). At the first Conference of States Parties, the facilitator then made the following recommendations:
• to establish a Management Committee to provide guidance to the Secretariat in its set-up phase and to allow a better ownership of decisions pertaining to the Secretariat by States Parties;
• to adopt a directive from States Parties to the Secretariat in order to elaborate on the concrete implications of the responsibilities given to the Secretariat by the Treaty and the expectations of States Parties in this regard;
• to establish a Secretariat of three staff members in charge of implementing substantive responsibilities as set out in the Treaty;
• to establish the Secretariat as an independent body within an existing structure—be it the UN or another structure—able to provide for support functions or allowing to outsource them easily (Secretariat of the Arms Trade Treaty facilitator's report, para 3).
As a result of substantial engagement with states throughout the process, the establishment of the Secretariat has garnered much support from States Parties to the Treaty.
The Treaty specified that the Secretariat ‘shall’ undertake all the functions listed in Article 18(3) ATT, meaning that it has no discretion to refuse any of them, although commentators suggest that ‘there may be some discretion to prioritize depending on its budget and financing structure’ (The Arms Trade Treaty regime in international institutional law, page 54). Note should be made of the final duty to perform other duties as decided by the Conference of States Parties, which is really a catch-all phrase, similar to that contained in Article VIII(D)(37) of the Chemical Weapons Convention (The Arms Trade Treaty regime in international institutional law, page 61).
While the core functions of the Secretariat were listed in the text of the ATT, it was in the Directive of the States Parties to the Secretariat of the Arms Trade Treaty (‘Directive’), agreed on at the first Conference of States Parties, that these functions were elaborated on, based on a recommendation by the facilitator. [Art 18(3)] The Directive noted that the Secretariat shall, among others, provide advice to States Parties for the implementation of the voluntary trust fund and the sponsorship programme; facilitate the matching of offers of and requests for assistance for Treaty implementation and promote international cooperation; and set up a website presenting the ATT and the activities of the Secretariat.
The Secretariat was officially established following the first Conference of States Parties to the Treaty, which took place in Cancun, Mexico from 24–27 August 2015. The Conference decided to designate Geneva, Switzerland as the seat of the Secretariat, as well as to appoint Mr Simeon Dumisani Dladla from South Africa as the first head of the Secretariat. Until the commencement of his duties as head of the Secretariat, the Conference had decided to entrust the Management Committee with administrative tasks, with support from the United Nations Development Programme.
One important achievement of the Secretariat has been its support to the Voluntary Trust Fund (VTF), which was established by the second Conference of States Parties in accordance with Article 16 ATT, and which aims to assist requesting states requiring international assistance to implement their Treaty obligations (Terms of Reference for the ATT Voluntary Trust Fund, para 1). In 2017, projects in both Côte d'Ivoire and Mauritius were approved for funding by the VTF.
As the Secretariat matures since taking up office on 1 March 2016, it will be important to follow how it executes its role as depository of reports by States Parties, since these reports form the bedrock of the arms trade regulation system.
Brian Wood The Arms Trade Treaty: Prospects and challenges as it ‘enters into force’ (International Peace Information Service Insights 2014) [https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/20141223_IPIS__ATT.pdf]
Elli Kytömäki ‘It’s Time for the Arms Trade Treaty to Prove Its Value’ (2015) Chatham House (accessed 12 August 2017) [https://www.chathamhouse.org/expert/comment/it-s-time-arms-trade-treaty-prove-its-value]
Sibylle Bauer, Paul Beijer, and Mark Bromley ‘The Arms Trade Treaty: Challenges for the first Conference of States Parties’ (2014) 2 SIPRI Insights on Peace and Security
William Thomas Worster ‘The Arms Trade Treaty regime in international institutional law’ (2015) 36(4) University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law [http://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/jil/vol36/iss4/4]
Treaties, States Parties and Commentaries (accessed 12 August 2017) [https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/Treaty.xsp?documentId=EF248C87D08DD8C0C1257C7D0033DA1D&action=OpenDocument]
Terms of Reference for the ATT Voluntary Trust Fund (24 August 2016) ATT/CSP2/2016/WP.3/Rev.1
Report on the ATT Secretariat’s Activities for 2016 (12 July 2016) ATT/CSP2/2016/INFO.1
Arms Trade Treaty First Conference of States Parties: Final Report (27 August 2015) ATT/CSP1/2015/6
Secretariat of the Arms Trade Treaty Facilitator's report (25 August 2015) ATT/CSP1/2015/WP.10
Directive of the States Parties to the Secretariat of the Arms Trade Treaty (25 August 2015) ATT /CSP1/CONF/3
Provisional Secretariat of the Arms Trade Treaty Report of activities (20 August 2015) ATT/CSP1/2015/INF.4
ATT Secretariat: proposal by the Facilitator (2 July 2015) TT/CSP1/2015/PM.2/WP.6
Convention on Cluster Munitions (3 December 2008) 2688 UNTS 39; UN Reg No I-47713
Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction (‘Ottawa Convention Prohibiting Anti-Personnel Mines’) (signed 18 September 1997, entered into force 1 March 1999) 2056 UNTS 211; UN Reg No I-35597
Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction (‘Chemical Weapons Convention’) (adopted 3 September 1992, entered into force 29 April 1997) 1974 UNTS 45; UN Reg No I-33757; [1997] ATS 3
Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction (‘Biological Weapons Convention’) (26 March 1975) 1015 UNTS 163; UN Reg No I-14860
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 67/234 B (2 April 2013) UN Doc A/RES/67/234 B
Future prospects for the Arms Trade Treaty: the Secretariat, treaty implementation and beyond (2015) Geneva Centre for Security Policy (accessed 20 August 2017) [http://www.gcsp.ch/Events/Future-Prospects-for-the-Arms-Trade-Treaty-The-Secretariat-Treaty-Implementation-and-Beyond]
Getting it right: the pieces that matter for the Arms Trade Treaty (2013) 169 OXFAM Briefing Paper
Adoption of a global Arms Trade Treaty: challenges ahead (Chatham House International Law Summary 2013)
Reporter(s): Sarah Swart
1. If the export is not prohibited under Article 6, each exporting State
Party, prior to authorization of the export of conventional arms covered under Article 2 (1) or of items covered under Article 3 or Article 4, under its jurisdiction and pursuant to its national control system, shall, in an objective and non-discriminatory manner, taking into account relevant factors, including information provided by the importing State in accordance with Article 8 (1), assess the potential that the conventional arms or items:
Article 13 Reporting