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STATEMENT BY MS AMANDA CHONG, COUNSELLOR (LEGAL), PERMANENT MISSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE TO THE UNITED NATIONS, ON AGENDA ITEM 87, ON RESPONSIBILITY OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, SIXTH COMMITTEE, 21 OCTOBER 2026

21 October 2026

A concise summary of the main points regarding this article.

Madam Chair,

1                  Singapore participated actively in the debate generated by the International Law Commission’s work on this topic in 2011, 2014, 2017, 2020, and 2023. Singapore expresses its appreciation for the two recent reports of the Secretary-General in documents A/81/83 and A/81/222. Singapore’s position on this issue remains the same: we do not support moving to work on a convention based on the draft articles on this topic. As some time has passed since the Sixth Committee’s last consideration of this topic in 2023, I will briefly reiterate Singapore’s views.

2                  First, Singapore is not convinced that the draft articles, taken as a whole, embody the consensus view on the law relating to the responsibility of international organisations. The recent report of the Secretary-General states that there were no references to the draft articles in the decisions of international courts, tribunals and other bodies between 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2025, which show that these articles have not been cited as a reflection of existing law by courts and tribunals.

3                  Second, Singapore notes that there has been no consensus reached on elaborating on a convention based on the articles on responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts, which were a significant source of inspiration for the draft articles on the responsibility of international organisations. Since there continues to be no consensus, we remain of the view that it would not be appropriate to elaborate a convention based on the existing draft articles.

4                  Singapore values the Commission’s contribution to progressive development of the law in the form of these draft articles and its commentaries. However, given the lack of significant developments on the question of the form that might be given to the draft articles and few written comments received by the Secretary-General, Singapore maintains the view that it is not necessary for the item to remain on the provisional agenda of future sessions of the General Assembly. Singapore would nonetheless be prepared to consider any views that other delegations may have on appropriate ways forward for this agenda item.

5                  Thank you for your attention.