The UN General Assembly Resolution on the Rule of Law Resolution: Ambition Meets Pragmatism

On 16 December 2009, the UN General Assembly, upon recommendation by the Sixth Committee, adopted its annual resolution on the ‘rule of law at the national and international levels.’1 Surprising as it may sound, this was only the fourth time that the General Assembly considered this topic, as the agenda item had only been introduced in fall 2006 by the delegations of Liechtenstein and Mexico as a follow- up to the substantive references made to the rule of law in the 2005 World Summit Outcome. Obviously, the General Assembly had previously worked on rule of law issues, in particular under its Charter mandate relating to the codification and progressive development of international law. But until the introduction of the generic agenda item in 2006, the Assembly’s work on the rule of law was primarily driven by subject-specific initiatives, in particular the elaboration of international conventions. The new item provided an opportunity for the General Assembly to discuss the issue more broadly and to strengthen the coordination and coherence of United Nations activities in furtherance of the rule of law in a holistic manner.