CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en" dir="ltr"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" /> <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge" /> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="https://www.un.org/ola/profiles/panopoly/themes/unite_one_five/favicon.ico" type="image/vnd.microsoft.icon" /> <meta name="generator" content="Drupal 7 (https://www.drupal.org)" /> <link rel="canonical" href="https://www.un.org/ola/en" /> <link rel="shortlink" href="https://www.un.org/ola/en" /> <title>OFFICE OF LEGAL AFFAIRS |</title> <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="https://www.un.org/ola/sites/www.un.org.ola/files/css/css_Sbxo2bAooL-cya_xprnCQp0lONXsnKWaWmCC_tbwtlY.css" media="all" /> <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="https://www.un.org/ola/sites/www.un.org.ola/files/css/css_CwEioEJtEq0_-tDJ1f4k3905j4AQH13kulPIUB7ec-o.css" media="all" /> <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="https://www.un.org/ola/sites/www.un.org.ola/files/css/css_WRSbY7j1z-dQ9iGVl1BHnSk26w8ijM9k_JrXDoPbMqY.css" media="all" /> <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="https://www.un.org/ola/sites/www.un.org.ola/files/css/css_6NjV4n5QbA6mHFKvP2NtRHdWZ3rdIYemAw-ZnjOvv00.css" media="all" /> <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Roboto:400,100,100italic,300,300italic,400italic,500,500italic,700,700italic,900,900italic" media="all" /> <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Roboto+Condensed:400,700" media="all" /> <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Droid+Sans" media="all" /> <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Source+Sans+Pro:300,400,600,700" media="all" /> <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="//maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/font-awesome/4.1.0/css/font-awesome.min.css" media="all" /> <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/earlyaccess/notonaskharabic.css" media="all" /> <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/earlyaccess/droidarabickufi.css" media="all" /> <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="https://www.un.org/ola/sites/www.un.org.ola/files/css/css_YbEsc90BH1UETbpyXBB6MYCzs4dcgWhKzevS5wgLuKc.css" media="all" /> <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/bootstrap@3.4.1/dist/css/bootstrap.min.css" media="all" /> <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@unicorn-fail/drupal-bootstrap-styles@0.0.2/dist/3.3.1/7.x-3.x/drupal-bootstrap.min.css" media="all" /> <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="https://www.un.org/ola/sites/www.un.org.ola/files/css/css_ULNv_L9k0h-v9OAa9B-DNw01wX_5e6n1b38tsuYGGWI.css" media="all" /> <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="https://www.un.org/ola/sites/www.un.org.ola/files/css/css_PxsPpITToy8ZnO0bJDA1TEC6bbFpGTfSWr2ZP8LuFYo.css" media="all" />   <script src="https://www.un.org/ola/profiles/panopoly/libraries/respondjs/respond.min.js?s1egj8"></script> <script src="https://www.un.org/ola/sites/www.un.org.ola/files/js/js_1llt-gMhEYyB1iUrUNNFv553qFTKGAbfxXIBx5feVMU.js"></script> <script src="https://www.un.org/ola/sites/www.un.org.ola/files/js/js_CwA9uD2kYGc1ubylea-Ul8iN5PWYS40GWBA4ue9Bo4w.js"></script> <script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/bootstrap@3.4.1/dist/js/bootstrap.min.js"></script> <script src="https://www.un.org/ola/sites/www.un.org.ola/files/js/js_l3p0CYIlj5_st5viyokPkBRlaRCPA65FFKqS0sFh0qo.js"></script> <script src="https://www.un.org/ola/sites/www.un.org.ola/files/js/js_V8ov63UpXJBY_Tsjk1iFZORjqDq1ybIXCCWdF7jcOl0.js"></script> <script src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-TBGN27W06Z"></script> <script>window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments)};gtag("js", new Date());gtag("set", "developer_id.dMDhkMT", true);gtag("config", "G-TBGN27W06Z", {"groups":"default","cookie_domain":".www.un.org","page_path":location.pathname + location.search + location.hash});</script> <script src="https://www.un.org/ola/sites/www.un.org.ola/files/js/js_hWTr7807-pX4WflLzOIG2bU3hYWR4wclbMvSPTzK1XQ.js"></script> <script src="https://www.un.org/ola/sites/www.un.org.ola/files/js/js_b_k6qlHMky_qNw8OI1KC-LTy0t1ZeRTblT6fEzpawS0.js"></script> <script>jQuery.extend(Drupal.settings, {"basePath":"\/ola\/","pathPrefix":"en\/","setHasJsCookie":0,"ajaxPageState":{"theme":"unite_one_five","theme_token":"qpyVbuVD_2MD17MKrMwY-BWDqzY9PoV1Md11T5wMFWc","js":{"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/contrib\/flexslider\/assets\/js\/flexslider.load.js":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/panopoly\/panopoly_widgets\/panopoly-widgets.js":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/panopoly\/panopoly_widgets\/panopoly-widgets-spotlight.js":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/themes\/bootstrap\/js\/bootstrap.js":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/libraries\/respondjs\/respond.min.js":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/contrib\/jquery_update\/replace\/jquery\/2.1\/jquery.min.js":1,"misc\/jquery-extend-3.4.0.js":1,"misc\/jquery-html-prefilter-3.5.0-backport.js":1,"misc\/jquery.once.js":1,"misc\/drupal.js":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/contrib\/jquery_update\/replace\/ui\/ui\/minified\/jquery.ui.core.min.js":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/contrib\/jquery_update\/replace\/ui\/ui\/minified\/jquery.ui.widget.min.js":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/contrib\/jquery_update\/replace\/ui\/ui\/minified\/jquery.ui.tabs.min.js":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/contrib\/jquery_update\/replace\/ui\/ui\/minified\/jquery.ui.accordion.min.js":1,"https:\/\/cdn.jsdelivr.net\/npm\/bootstrap@3.4.1\/dist\/js\/bootstrap.min.js":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/panopoly\/panopoly_images\/panopoly-images.js":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/contrib\/entityreference\/js\/entityreference.js":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/panopoly\/panopoly_admin\/panopoly-admin.js":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/panopoly\/panopoly_magic\/panopoly-magic.js":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/panopoly\/panopoly_theme\/js\/panopoly-accordion.js":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/contrib\/caption_filter\/js\/caption-filter.js":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/contrib\/lightbox2\/js\/lightbox.js":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/libraries\/jquery.imagesloaded\/jquery.imagesloaded.min.js":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/libraries\/flexslider\/jquery.flexslider-min.js":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/contrib\/google_analytics\/googleanalytics.js":1,"https:\/\/www.googletagmanager.com\/gtag\/js?id=G-TBGN27W06Z":1,"0":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/libraries\/superfish\/jquery.hoverIntent.minified.js":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/libraries\/superfish\/sfsmallscreen.js":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/libraries\/superfish\/supposition.js":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/libraries\/superfish\/superfish.js":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/contrib\/superfish\/superfish.js":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/themes\/unite_one_five\/bootstrap\/bootstrap.min.js":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/themes\/unite_one_five\/bootstrap\/respond.min.js":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/themes\/unite_one_five\/js\/script.js":1},"css":{"modules\/system\/system.base.css":1,"misc\/ui\/jquery.ui.theme.css":1,"misc\/ui\/jquery.ui.accordion.css":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/contrib\/calendar\/css\/calendar_multiday.css":1,"modules\/field\/theme\/field.css":1,"modules\/node\/node.css":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/panopoly\/panopoly_admin\/panopoly-admin.css":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/panopoly\/panopoly_admin\/panopoly-admin-navbar.css":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/panopoly\/panopoly_core\/css\/panopoly-dropbutton.css":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/panopoly\/panopoly_magic\/css\/panopoly-magic.css":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/panopoly\/panopoly_magic\/css\/panopoly-modal.css":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/panopoly\/panopoly_theme\/css\/panopoly-featured.css":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/panopoly\/panopoly_theme\/css\/panopoly-accordian.css":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/panopoly\/panopoly_theme\/css\/panopoly-layouts.css":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/panopoly\/panopoly_widgets\/panopoly-widgets.css":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/panopoly\/panopoly_widgets\/panopoly-widgets-spotlight.css":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/contrib\/radix_layouts\/radix_layouts.css":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/features\/uw_f_document_search\/uw_f_document_search.css":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/features\/uw_f_settings\/css\/uw_f_settings.css":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/features\/uw_f_superfish_menu\/uw_f_superfish_menu.css":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/contrib\/views\/css\/views.css":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/contrib\/caption_filter\/caption-filter.css":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/contrib\/ckeditor\/css\/ckeditor.css":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/contrib\/ctools\/css\/ctools.css":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/contrib\/lightbox2\/css\/lightbox.css":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/contrib\/panels\/css\/panels.css":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/contrib\/flexslider\/assets\/css\/flexslider_img.css":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/libraries\/flexslider\/flexslider.css":1,"modules\/locale\/locale.css":1,"https:\/\/fonts.googleapis.com\/css?family=Roboto:400,100,100italic,300,300italic,400italic,500,500italic,700,700italic,900,900italic":1,"https:\/\/fonts.googleapis.com\/css?family=Roboto+Condensed:400,700":1,"https:\/\/fonts.googleapis.com\/css?family=Droid+Sans":1,"https:\/\/fonts.googleapis.com\/css?family=Source+Sans+Pro:300,400,600,700":1,"\/\/maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com\/font-awesome\/4.1.0\/css\/font-awesome.min.css":1,"https:\/\/fonts.googleapis.com\/earlyaccess\/notonaskharabic.css":1,"https:\/\/fonts.googleapis.com\/earlyaccess\/droidarabickufi.css":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/libraries\/superfish\/css\/superfish.css":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/libraries\/superfish\/css\/superfish-smallscreen.css":1,"https:\/\/cdn.jsdelivr.net\/npm\/bootstrap@3.4.1\/dist\/css\/bootstrap.min.css":1,"https:\/\/cdn.jsdelivr.net\/npm\/@unicorn-fail\/drupal-bootstrap-styles@0.0.2\/dist\/3.3.1\/7.x-3.x\/drupal-bootstrap.min.css":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/themes\/unite_one_five\/bootstrap\/bootstrap.min.css":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/themes\/unite_one_five\/css\/style.css":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/themes\/unite_one_five\/css\/style-sft.css":1,"profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/panopoly\/panopoly_images\/panopoly-images.css":1}},"lightbox2":{"rtl":"0","file_path":"\/ola\/(\\w\\w\/)public:\/","default_image":"\/ola\/profiles\/panopoly\/modules\/contrib\/lightbox2\/images\/brokenimage.jpg","border_size":10,"font_color":"000","box_color":"fff","top_position":"","overlay_opacity":"0.8","overlay_color":"000","disable_close_click":1,"resize_sequence":0,"resize_speed":400,"fade_in_speed":400,"slide_down_speed":600,"use_alt_layout":0,"disable_resize":0,"disable_zoom":0,"force_show_nav":0,"show_caption":1,"loop_items":0,"node_link_text":"View Image Details","node_link_target":0,"image_count":"Image !current of !total","video_count":"Video !current of !total","page_count":"Page !current of !total","lite_press_x_close":"press \u003Ca href=\u0022#\u0022 onclick=\u0022hideLightbox(); return FALSE;\u0022\u003E\u003Ckbd\u003Ex\u003C\/kbd\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E to close","download_link_text":"","enable_login":false,"enable_contact":false,"keys_close":"c x 27","keys_previous":"p 37","keys_next":"n 39","keys_zoom":"z","keys_play_pause":"32","display_image_size":"original","image_node_sizes":"()","trigger_lightbox_classes":"","trigger_lightbox_group_classes":"","trigger_slideshow_classes":"","trigger_lightframe_classes":"","trigger_lightframe_group_classes":"","custom_class_handler":0,"custom_trigger_classes":"","disable_for_gallery_lists":true,"disable_for_acidfree_gallery_lists":true,"enable_acidfree_videos":true,"slideshow_interval":5000,"slideshow_automatic_start":1,"slideshow_automatic_exit":1,"show_play_pause":1,"pause_on_next_click":0,"pause_on_previous_click":1,"loop_slides":0,"iframe_width":600,"iframe_height":400,"iframe_border":1,"enable_video":0,"useragent":"Mozilla\/5.0 (Linux; Android 10; K) AppleWebKit\/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome\/131.0.0.0 Mobile Safari\/537.36"},"CToolsModal":{"modalSize":{"type":"scale","width":".9","height":".9","addWidth":0,"addHeight":0,"contentRight":25,"contentBottom":75},"modalOptions":{"opacity":".55","background-color":"#FFF"},"animationSpeed":"fast","modalTheme":"CToolsModalDialog","throbberTheme":"CToolsModalThrobber"},"panopoly_magic":{"pane_add_preview_mode":"automatic"},"flexslider":{"optionsets":{"slideshow":{"namespace":"flex-","selector":".slides \u003E li","easing":"swing","direction":"horizontal","reverse":false,"smoothHeight":false,"startAt":0,"animationSpeed":600,"initDelay":0,"useCSS":true,"touch":true,"video":false,"keyboard":true,"multipleKeyboard":false,"mousewheel":0,"controlsContainer":".flex-control-nav-container","sync":"","asNavFor":"","itemWidth":0,"itemMargin":0,"minItems":0,"maxItems":0,"move":0,"animation":"fade","slideshow":false,"slideshowSpeed":"7000","directionNav":true,"controlNav":false,"prevText":"Previous","nextText":"Next","pausePlay":false,"pauseText":"Pause","playText":"Play","randomize":false,"thumbCaptions":false,"thumbCaptionsBoth":false,"animationLoop":true,"pauseOnAction":true,"pauseOnHover":false,"manualControls":""}},"instances":{"flexslider-1":"slideshow"}},"better_exposed_filters":{"views":{"panopoly_news":{"displays":{"panel_pane_3":{"filters":{"field_featured_categories_tid":{"required":false}}}}},"news_article":{"displays":{"page":{"filters":[]}}},"speeches_list":{"displays":{"page":{"filters":[]}}},"homepage_articles":{"displays":{"block":{"filters":[]}}}}},"googleanalytics":{"account":["G-TBGN27W06Z"],"trackDomainMode":1,"trackUrlFragments":1},"UWOFAccessibilityIcons":{"pdfIcon":{"icon_alt":"PDF","icon_class":"fa-file-pdf-o","css_rules":".uw_f_document_search_title a[href$=\u0027.pdf\u0027], .view-display-id-list_news_articles a[href$=\u0027.pdf\u0027], .pane-content .fieldable-panels-pane p a[href$=\u0027.pdf\u0027], .field a[href$=\u0027.pdf\u0027], .pdf-link, a.pdf-link"},"docIcon":{"icon_alt":"Word document","icon_class":"fa-file-word-o","css_rules":".uw_f_document_search_title a[href$=\u0027.doc\u0027], .uw_f_document_search_title a[href$=\u0027.docx\u0027], .pane-content .fieldable-panels-pane p a[href$=\u0027.doc\u0027], .pane-content .fieldable-panels-pane p a[href$=\u0027.docx\u0027], .field a[href$=\u0027.doc\u0027], .field a[href$=\u0027.docx\u0027], .doc-link, a.doc-link"},"xlsIcon":{"icon_alt":"Excel document","icon_class":"fa-file-excel-o","css_rules":".uw_f_document_search_title a[href$=\u0027.xls\u0027], .uw_f_document_search_title a[href$=\u0027.xlsx\u0027], .pane-content .fieldable-panels-pane p a[href$=\u0027.xls\u0027], .pane-content .fieldable-panels-pane p a[href$=\u0027.xlsx\u0027], .field a[href$=\u0027.xls\u0027], .field a[href$=\u0027.xlsx\u0027], .xls-link, a.xls-link"},"pptIcon":{"icon_alt":"Power Point document","icon_class":"fa-file-powerpoint-o","css_rules":".uw_f_document_search_title a[href$=\u0027.ppt\u0027], .uw_f_pptument_search_title a[href$=\u0027.pptx\u0027], .pane-content .fieldable-panels-pane p a[href$=\u0027.ppt\u0027], .pane-content .fieldable-panels-pane p a[href$=\u0027.pptx\u0027], .field a[href$=\u0027.ppt\u0027], .field a[href$=\u0027.pptx\u0027], .ppt-link, a.ppt-link"},"externalIcon":{"icon_alt":"Opens a new window","icon_class":"fa-external-link","css_rules":".field a[target=\u0027_blank\u0027], .pane-content .fieldable-panels-pane p a[target=\u0027_blank\u0027]"}},"urlIsAjaxTrusted":{"\/ola\/":true},"superfish":{"1":{"id":"1","sf":{"animation":{"opacity":"show","height":"show"},"speed":"fast"},"plugins":{"smallscreen":{"mode":"window_width","breakpointUnit":"px","accordionButton":"2","title":"Main menu"},"supposition":true}}},"bootstrap":{"anchorsFix":"0","anchorsSmoothScrolling":"0","formHasError":1,"popoverEnabled":1,"popoverOptions":{"animation":1,"html":0,"placement":"right","selector":"","trigger":"click","triggerAutoclose":1,"title":"","content":"","delay":0,"container":"body"},"tooltipEnabled":1,"tooltipOptions":{"animation":1,"html":0,"placement":"auto left","selector":"","trigger":"hover focus","delay":0,"container":"body"}}});</script> </head> <body class="html front not-logged-in no-sidebars page-node page-node- page-node-418 node-type-panopoly-landing-page panopoly-landing-page region-content i18n-en" > <div id="skip-link"> <a href="#main-content" class="element-invisible element-focusable">Skip to main content</a> </div> <div class="un-top"> <div class="header-container container"> <div class="welcome"> <span class="welcome-top pull-left"> <a href="https://www.un.org/en" class="navbar-brand un-brandbar-welcome-lr">Welcome to the United Nations</a> </span> </div> <div class="language-switcher un-no-padding un-sm-padding "> <button type="button" class="navbar-toggle collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#language-switcher"> <span class="sr-only">Toggle navigation</span> <span class="icon-bar blue-icon-bar"></span> <span class="icon-bar blue-icon-bar"></span> <span class="icon-bar blue-icon-bar"></span> </button> <div class="language-title visible-xs-inline"><a href="javascript:void(0)" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#language-switcher">Language:</a></div> <div class="navbar-collapse collapse un-collapsed-language-bar un-no-padding un-sm-padding" id="language-switcher"> <div role="navigation"> <div class="region region-language"> <div id="block-locale-language" class="block block-locale"> <div class="content"> <div class="block-content"> <ul class="language-switcher-locale-url"><li class="en first active"><a href="/ola/en" class="language-link active" xml:lang="en" lang="en">English</a></li> <li class="fr last"><a href="/ola/fr" class="language-link" xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Français</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div>  </div>  <div class="un-top-overlay"></div> <header id="navbar" class="navbar container navbar-default"> <div class="container"> <div class="navbar-header"> <div id="site-banner" class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="uwof-header-container"> <div class="uwof-un-and-agency-container"> <div class="uwof-un-container"> <div class="uwof-logo"> <a href="https://www.un.org/en"><img src="/ola/profiles/panopoly/themes/unite_one_five/images/UN-logo.svg" alt="UN logo" /></a> </div> <div class="uwof-un-name "> <a href="https://www.un.org/en"><img src="/ola/profiles/panopoly/themes/unite_one_five/images/UN-text-EN.svg" alt="United Nations" /></a> </div> </div>  <div class="uwof-agency-container "> <div class="uwof-site-name"> <a href="/ola/en" title="OFFICE OF LEGAL AFFAIRS">OFFICE OF LEGAL AFFAIRS</a> </div> </div>  </div>  <div class="uwof-search-container"> <div class="region region-header"> <div id="block-search-form" class="block block-search"> <div class="content"> <div class="block-content"> <form class="form-search content-search" action="/ola/" method="post" id="search-block-form" accept-charset="UTF-8"><div><div> <h2 class="element-invisible">Search form</h2> <div class="input-group"><input title="Enter the terms you wish to search for." placeholder="Search" class="form-control form-text" type="text" id="edit-search-block-form--2" name="search_block_form" value="" size="15" maxlength="128" /><span class="input-group-btn"><button type="submit" class="btn btn-primary"><span class="icon glyphicon glyphicon-search" aria-hidden="true"></span> </button></span></div><div class="form-actions form-wrapper form-group" id="edit-actions"><button class="element-invisible btn btn-primary form-submit" type="submit" id="edit-submit" name="op" value="Search">Search</button> </div><input type="hidden" name="form_build_id" value="form-6GE9MvPZF6H-i9XNXhRVw3O4l4vgvWPYRFADdPiflDw" /> <input type="hidden" name="form_id" value="search_block_form" /> </div> </div></form> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div>  </div>  </div>  </div>  <button type="button" class="navbar-toggle pull-left" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#navbar-collapse"> <span class="sr-only">Toggle navigation</span> <span class="icon-bar"></span> <span class="icon-bar"></span> <span class="icon-bar"></span> </button> <div class="navbar-collapse collapse" id="navbar-collapse"> <nav class="navigation"> <div class="region region-navigation"> <div id="block-superfish-1" class="block block-superfish"> <div class="content"> <div class="block-content"> <ul id="superfish-1" class="menu sf-menu sf-main-menu sf-horizontal sf-style-none sf-total-items-5 sf-parent-items-4 sf-single-items-1"><li id="menu-8280-1" class="first odd sf-item-1 sf-depth-1 sf-no-children"><a href="/ola/en" title="" class="sf-depth-1">Home</a></li><li id="menu-8286-1" class="middle even sf-item-2 sf-depth-1 sf-total-children-3 sf-parent-children-0 sf-single-children-3 menuparent"><a href="#" title="" class="sf-depth-1 menuparent nolink" tabindex="0">Who we are</a><ul class="sf-megamenu"><li class="sf-megamenu-wrapper middle even sf-item-2 sf-depth-1 sf-total-children-3 sf-parent-children-0 sf-single-children-3 menuparent"><ol><li id="menu-8570-1" class="first odd sf-item-1 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children"><a href="/ola/en/content/our-staff" title="" class="sf-depth-2">Our staff</a></li><li id="menu-7761-1" class="middle even sf-item-2 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children"><a href="/ola/en/history" title="" class="sf-depth-2">History</a></li><li id="menu-7767-1" class="last odd sf-item-3 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children"><a href="/ola/en/mission" title="" class="sf-depth-2">Our Mission</a></li></ol></li></ul></li><li id="menu-6657-1" class="middle odd sf-item-3 sf-depth-1 sf-total-children-7 sf-parent-children-0 sf-single-children-7 menuparent"><a href="#" title="Menus for Divisions pages" class="sf-depth-1 menuparent nolink" tabindex="0">What we do</a><ul class="sf-megamenu"><li class="sf-megamenu-wrapper middle odd sf-item-3 sf-depth-1 sf-total-children-7 sf-parent-children-0 sf-single-children-7 menuparent"><ol><li id="menu-6669-1" class="first odd sf-item-1 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children"><a href="/ola/en/content/div-olc" title="Office of the Legal Counsel Assistant Secretary-General for Legal Affairs: Mr. Stephen Mathias --------------------------------------------------- United Nations Headquarters Room No. S-3624 New York, NY 10017 ousgo@un.org " class="sf-depth-2">Office of the Legal Counsel</a></li><li id="menu-7845-1" class="middle even sf-item-2 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children"><a href="/ola/en/content/div-gld" title="Ms. Kathryn Alford Director United Nations Headquarters S-36 New York, NY 10017" class="sf-depth-2">General Legal Division</a></li><li id="menu-6999-1" class="middle odd sf-item-3 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children"><a href="/ola/en/content/div-cod" title="The Codification Division Mr. Huw Llewellyn Director United Nations Headquarters Room No. DC2-0570 New York, NY 10017 Fax: (+1)(212)963-1963" class="sf-depth-2">Codification Division</a></li><li id="menu-7005-1" class="middle even sf-item-4 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children"><a href="/ola/en/content/div-doalos" title="Mr. Vladimir Jares Director United Nations Headquarters New York, NY 10017 E-mail: doalos@un.org" class="sf-depth-2">Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea</a></li><li id="menu-7008-1" class="middle odd sf-item-5 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children"><a href="/ola/en/content/div-itld" title="Ms. Anna Joubin-Bret Director UNCITRAL Secretariat Vienna International Centre P.O. Box 500 A-1400 Vienna, Austria Tel: (+43)(1)26060-4060 or 4061 Fax: (+43)(1)26060-5813 E-mail: uncitral@uncitral.org" class="sf-depth-2">International Trade Law Division</a></li><li id="menu-7011-1" class="middle even sf-item-6 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children"><a href="/ola/en/content/div-treaty" title="Mr. David K. Nanopoulos Acting chief United Nations Headquarters Room No. DC2-0520 New York, NY 10017 Fax: (+1)(212)963-3693" class="sf-depth-2">Treaty Section</a></li><li id="menu-7869-1" class="last odd sf-item-7 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children"><a href="/ola/en/content/legal_advisers" title="Information for Legal Advisers" class="sf-depth-2">Legal Advisers</a></li></ol></li></ul></li><li id="menu-6678-1" class="middle even sf-item-4 sf-depth-1 sf-total-children-5 sf-parent-children-0 sf-single-children-5 menuparent"><a href="#" title="Stories and speeches" class="sf-depth-1 menuparent nolink" tabindex="0">What is happening</a><ul class="sf-megamenu"><li class="sf-megamenu-wrapper middle even sf-item-4 sf-depth-1 sf-total-children-5 sf-parent-children-0 sf-single-children-5 menuparent"><ol><li id="menu-6684-1" class="first odd sf-item-1 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children"><a href="/ola/en/content/MSS/speeches" title="Legal Counsel's Speeches" class="sf-depth-2">Speeches by the Legal Counsel</a></li><li id="menu-6681-1" class="middle even sf-item-2 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children"><a href="/ola/en/content/news-articles-list" title="The Legal Counsel missions" class="sf-depth-2">Our Stories</a></li><li id="menu-7876-1" class="middle odd sf-item-3 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children"><a href="/ola/en/content/videos/mss" title="" class="sf-depth-2">Legal Counsel's videos</a></li><li id="menu-9325-1" class="middle even sf-item-4 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children"><a href="/ola/en/content/gender-parity" class="sf-depth-2">Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women</a></li><li id="menu-9976-1" class="last odd sf-item-5 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children"><a href="/ola/en/2024-Meeting-of-Legal-Advisers" class="sf-depth-2">Informal Meeting of Legal Advisers</a></li></ol></li></ul></li><li id="menu-6687-1" class="last odd sf-item-5 sf-depth-1 sf-total-children-8 sf-parent-children-0 sf-single-children-8 menuparent"><a href="#" title="Links to Legal Resources" class="sf-depth-1 menuparent nolink" tabindex="0">Other Legal Resources</a><ul class="sf-megamenu"><li class="sf-megamenu-wrapper last odd sf-item-5 sf-depth-1 sf-total-children-8 sf-parent-children-0 sf-single-children-8 menuparent"><ol><li id="menu-7031-1" class="first odd sf-item-1 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children"><a href="https://treaties.un.org/" title="The Treaty Section of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs is responsible for two key areas of work: - The discharge of the depositary functions of the Secretary-General of the United Nations under more than 560 multilateral treaties; and - The registration and publication of treaties and international agreements under Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations." class="sf-depth-2">UN Treaty Collection</a></li><li id="menu-7857-1" class="middle even sf-item-2 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children"><a href="/ola/en/content/ola-publications" title="" class="sf-depth-2">OLA Publications</a></li><li id="menu-7866-1" class="middle odd sf-item-3 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children"><a href="/ola/en/content/GA_RulesOfProcedure" title="Rules of Procedure of the GA" class="sf-depth-2">Rules of Procedure - GA</a></li><li id="menu-7872-1" class="middle even sf-item-4 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children"><a href="/ola/en/content/un_icc_cooperation" title=" Nations - International Criminal Court Cooperation " class="sf-depth-2">UN - ICC Cooperation</a></li><li id="menu-7025-1" class="middle odd sf-item-5 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children"><a href="https://www.un.org/en/about-us/un-charter" title="" class="sf-depth-2">The UN Charter</a></li><li id="menu-7034-1" class="middle even sf-item-6 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children"><a href="http://legal.un.org/avl/intro/introduction.html?tab=2" title="A virtual training and research centre in international law" class="sf-depth-2">Audiovisual Library of International Law</a></li><li id="menu-7037-1" class="middle odd sf-item-7 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children"><a href="https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/" title="A principle of governance in which all persons, institutions and entities, public and private, including the State itself, are accountable to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced and independently adjudicated, and which are consistent with international human rights norms and standards." class="sf-depth-2">The Rule of Law</a></li><li id="menu-7040-1" class="last even sf-item-8 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children"><a href="https://www.un.org/en/our-work/uphold-international-law" title="To establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained." class="sf-depth-2">UN Upholding International Law</a></li></ol></li></ul></li></ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> </header> <div class="main-container container"> <div class="row"> <section class="col-sm-12"> <a id="main-content"></a> <h1 class="page-header">Welcome to the Office of Legal Affairs</h1> <div class="region region-content"> <div id="block-system-main" class="block block-system"> <div class="content"> <div class="block-content"> <div class="panel-display brenham-flipped clearfix radix-brenham-flipped" > <div class="container-fluid"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-12 radix-layouts-header panel-panel"> <div class="panel-panel-inner"> </div> </div> </div> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-8 radix-layouts-content panel-panel"> <div class="panel-panel-inner"> <div class="region region-contentmain sidebar"><div class="panel-pane pane-views-panes pane-panopoly-news-panel-pane-3" > <h2 class="pane-title"> Recent events </h2> <div class="pane-content"> <div class="view view-panopoly-news view-id-panopoly_news view-display-id-panel_pane_3 view-dom-id-13ef21155afeba6521bc462a1a3b5a36"> <div class="view-content"> <div id="flexslider-1" class="flexslider optionset-slideshow"> <ul class="slides"><li> <div class="views-field views-field-field-featured-image"> <div class="field-content listing-image"></div> </div><div class="flex-caption"><a href="/ola/en/news/informal-meeting-legal-advisers-21-and-22-october-2024">Informal Meeting of Legal Advisers, 21 and 22 October 2024</a></div></li> <li> <div class="views-field views-field-field-featured-image"> <div class="field-content listing-image"><ul><li><a href="https://www.un.org/ola/sites/www.un.org.ola/files/styles/panopoly_image_full/public/images/ts-group5-sm.jpg?itok=nJ9L7FMK" rel="lightbox[field_featured_image][]" title=""><img class="panopoly-image-full img-responsive" src="https://www.un.org/ola/sites/www.un.org.ola/files/styles/panopoly_image_full/public/images/ts-group5-sm.jpg?itok=nJ9L7FMK" alt="Treaty Event 2024" /></a></li> </ul></div> </div><div class="flex-caption"><a href="/ola/en/news/states-take-significant-strides-strengthening-multilateral-treaty-framework-during-2024-treaty">States take significant strides in strengthening the multilateral treaty framework during the 2024 Treaty Event</a></div></li> <li> <div class="views-field views-field-field-featured-image"> <div class="field-content listing-image"><ul><li><a href="https://www.un.org/ola/sites/www.un.org.ola/files/styles/panopoly_image_full/public/images/mss_last_web_0.jpg?itok=avveyPlC" rel="lightbox[field_featured_image][]" title=""><img class="panopoly-image-full img-responsive" src="https://www.un.org/ola/sites/www.un.org.ola/files/styles/panopoly_image_full/public/images/mss_last_web_0.jpg?itok=avveyPlC" alt="" /></a></li> </ul></div> </div><div class="flex-caption"><a href="/ola/en/news/miguel-de-serpa-soares-leaves-organization-and-stephen-mathias-appointed-acting-legal-counsel">Miguel de Serpa Soares leaves the Organization and Stephen Mathias is appointed Acting Legal Counsel</a></div></li> <li> <div class="views-field views-field-field-featured-image"> <div class="field-content listing-image"><ul><li><a href="https://www.un.org/ola/sites/www.un.org.ola/files/styles/panopoly_image_full/public/images/xxi-10-maldives-signing-small.jpg?itok=XgJhcJG5" rel="lightbox[field_featured_image][]" title=""><img class="panopoly-image-full img-responsive" src="https://www.un.org/ola/sites/www.un.org.ola/files/styles/panopoly_image_full/public/images/xxi-10-maldives-signing-small.jpg?itok=XgJhcJG5" alt="The Maldives sign the BBNJ Agreement" /></a></li> </ul></div> </div><div class="flex-caption"><a href="/ola/en/news/maldives-sign-bbnj-agreement">The Maldives to sign the BBNJ Agreement</a></div></li> <li> <div class="views-field views-field-field-featured-image"> <div class="field-content listing-image"><ul><li><a href="https://www.un.org/ola/sites/www.un.org.ola/files/styles/panopoly_image_full/public/images/cambodia-2024-web_0.jpg?itok=aShddXUj" rel="lightbox[field_featured_image][]" title="The UN Legal Counsel meets with the Prime Minister of Cambodia, H.E. Mr. Hun Manet"><img class="panopoly-image-full img-responsive" src="https://www.un.org/ola/sites/www.un.org.ola/files/styles/panopoly_image_full/public/images/cambodia-2024-web_0.jpg?itok=aShddXUj" alt="The UN Legal Counsel meets with the Prime Minister of Cambodia, H.E. Mr. Hun Manet" title="The UN Legal Counsel meets with the Prime Minister of Cambodia, H.E. Mr. Hun Manet" /></a></li> </ul></div> </div><div class="flex-caption"><a href="/ola/en/news/legal-counsel-visits-phnom-penh-cambodia">Legal Counsel visits Phnom Penh, Cambodia</a></div></li> </ul></div> </div> <div class="view-footer"> <style> <![CDATA[/* ><!]]>*/ </style> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="panel-separator"></div><div class="panel-pane pane-views pane-news-article" > <h2 class="pane-title"> List of events </h2> <div class="pane-content"> <div class="view view-news-article view-id-news_article view-display-id-page view-dom-id-0a4a01758696b3e1542306188bbb13f6"> <div class="view-content"> <div class="table-responsive"> <table class="views-table cols-0 table table-hover table-striped" > <tbody> <tr class="odd views-row-first"> <td class="views-field views-field-title" > <h4><a href="/ola/en/news/informal-meeting-legal-advisers-21-and-22-october-2024">Informal Meeting of Legal Advisers, 21 and 22 October 2024</a></h4> </td> <td class="views-field views-field-field-featured-image" > </td> </tr> <tr class="even"> <td class="views-field views-field-title" > <h4><a href="/ola/en/news/states-take-significant-strides-strengthening-multilateral-treaty-framework-during-2024-treaty">States take significant strides in strengthening the multilateral treaty framework during the 2024 Treaty Event</a></h4> </td> <td class="views-field views-field-field-featured-image" > <a href="https://www.un.org/ola/sites/www.un.org.ola/files/styles/panopoly_image_featured/public/images/ts-group5-sm.jpg?itok=2M_mSr0b" rel="lightbox[field_featured_image][]" title=""><img class="panopoly-image-full img-responsive" src="https://www.un.org/ola/sites/www.un.org.ola/files/styles/panopoly_image_full/public/images/ts-group5-sm.jpg?itok=nJ9L7FMK" alt="Treaty Event 2024" /></a> </td> </tr> <tr class="odd views-row-last"> <td class="views-field views-field-title" > <h4><a href="/ola/en/news/miguel-de-serpa-soares-leaves-organization-and-stephen-mathias-appointed-acting-legal-counsel">Miguel de Serpa Soares leaves the Organization and Stephen Mathias is appointed Acting Legal Counsel</a></h4> </td> <td class="views-field views-field-field-featured-image" > <a href="https://www.un.org/ola/sites/www.un.org.ola/files/styles/panopoly_image_featured/public/images/mss_last_web_0.jpg?itok=vEwO_11w" rel="lightbox[field_featured_image][]" title=""><img class="panopoly-image-full img-responsive" src="https://www.un.org/ola/sites/www.un.org.ola/files/styles/panopoly_image_full/public/images/mss_last_web_0.jpg?itok=avveyPlC" alt="" /></a> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> </div> <div class="text-center"><ul class="pagination"><li class="active"><span>1</span></li> <li><a title="Go to page 2" href="/ola/en/homepage?page=1">2</a></li> <li><a title="Go to page 3" href="/ola/en/homepage?page=2">3</a></li> <li><a title="Go to page 4" href="/ola/en/homepage?page=3">4</a></li> <li><a title="Go to page 5" href="/ola/en/homepage?page=4">5</a></li> <li><a title="Go to page 6" href="/ola/en/homepage?page=5">6</a></li> <li><a title="Go to page 7" href="/ola/en/homepage?page=6">7</a></li> <li><a title="Go to page 8" href="/ola/en/homepage?page=7">8</a></li> <li><a title="Go to page 9" href="/ola/en/homepage?page=8">9</a></li> <li class="pager-ellipsis disabled"><span>…</span></li> <li class="next"><a title="Go to next page" href="/ola/en/homepage?page=1">next ›</a></li> <li class="pager-last"><a title="Go to last page" href="/ola/en/homepage?page=35">last »</a></li> </ul></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="col-md-4 radix-layouts-sidebar panel-panel"> <div class="panel-panel-inner"> <div class="panel-pane pane-menu-tree pane-main-menu" > <h2 class="pane-title"> Who we are </h2> <div class="pane-content"> <div class="menu-block-wrapper menu-block-ctools-main-menu-1 menu-name-main-menu parent-mlid-8286 menu-level-1"> <ul class="menu nav"><li class="first leaf menu-mlid-8570"><a href="/ola/en/content/our-staff" title="">Our staff</a></li> <li class="leaf menu-mlid-7761"><a href="/ola/en/history" title="">History</a></li> <li class="last leaf menu-mlid-7767"><a href="/ola/en/mission" title="">Our Mission</a></li> </ul></div> </div> </div> <div class="panel-separator"></div><div class="panel-pane pane-views pane-speeches-list sidebar" > <h2 class="pane-title"> Legal Counsel's speeches </h2> <div class="pane-content"> <div class="view view-speeches-list view-id-speeches_list view-display-id-page superfish view-dom-id-da13bce61f5ac4be1906ff22cf286890"> <div class="view-content"> <div class="table-responsive"> <table class="views-table cols-2 table table-hover table-striped" > <thead> <tr> <th class="views-field views-field-title" > </th> <th class="views-field views-field-field-publication-date active" > <a href="/ola/en/homepage?order=field_publication_date&sort=asc" title="sort by " class="active"><span class="icon-after icon glyphicon glyphicon-chevron-down" data-toggle="tooltip" data-placement="bottom" title="sort ascending" aria-hidden="true"></span> </a> </th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr class="odd views-row-first"> <td class="views-field views-field-title" > <a href="https://www.un.org/ola/sites/www.un.org.ola/files/documents/2024/11/sm-20241021-lameeting.pdf" target="_blank">Opening remarks at Informal Meeting of the Legal Advisers</a> </td> <td class="views-field views-field-field-publication-date active" > <span class="date-display-single">Oct 22 2024</span> </td> </tr> <tr class="even"> <td class="views-field views-field-title" > <a href="https://www.un.org/ola/sites/www.un.org.ola/files/documents/2024/07/mss-ilc-opening-02072024.pdf" target="_blank">Opening statement at the 75th session of the International Law Commission</a> </td> <td class="views-field views-field-field-publication-date active" > <span class="date-display-single">Jul 11 2024</span> </td> </tr> <tr class="odd views-row-last"> <td class="views-field views-field-title" > <a href="https://www.un.org/ola/sites/www.un.org.ola/files/documents/2024/06/mss-20240612-flao-unhq.pdf" target="_blank">Opening remarks on the 2024 annual meeting of the Field Legal Advisers and Legal Officers</a> </td> <td class="views-field views-field-field-publication-date active" > <span class="date-display-single">Jun 27 2024</span> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> </div> <ul class="pager"><li class="pager-previous"> </li> <li class="pager-current">1 of 27</li> <li class="pager-next"><a title="Go to next page" href="/ola/en/homepage?page=1">next ›</a></li> </ul> <div class="more-link"> <a href="/ola/en/ola-speeches-list"> Read more </a> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="panel-separator"></div><div class="panel-pane pane-panopoly-news-rss" > <div class="pane-content"> <a href="/ola/en/news/rss" class="feed-icon" title="Subscribe to News from OFFICE OF LEGAL AFFAIRS"><img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.un.org/ola/misc/feed.png" width="16" height="16" alt="Subscribe to News from OFFICE OF LEGAL AFFAIRS" /></a> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </section> </div> </div> <div class="uwof-footer section-fluid footer-fluid"> <footer class="footer container dark"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-12"> <div class="pull-left flip footer-brand en"> <a href="/" title="Home"> <span class="site-name"></span></a> </div> <div class="pull-right flip donate"> <a href="https://www.un.org/en/about-us/how-to-donate-to-the-un-system" class="btn btn-default btn-reverse dark" role="button" id="donate_button">Donate</a> </div> <div class="pull-right flip social-media" role="navigation"> <ul class="nav list-inline"> <li class="list-inline-item facebook"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/unitednations" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span class="icon-text">facebook</span></a></li> <li class="list-inline-item twitter"><a href="https://twitter.com/un" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span class="icon-text">twitter</span></a></li> <li class="list-inline-item youtube"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/unitednations" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span class="icon-text">youtube</span></a></li> <li class="list-inline-item flickr"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/un_photo/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span class="icon-text">flickr</span></a></li> <li class="list-inline-item instagram"><a href="https://instagram.com/unitednations" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span class="icon-text">instagram</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div class="row footer-links"> <div class="divider"></div> <div class="col-md-12"> <div class="pull-right flip"> <div id="block-menu-menu-footer-links" class="block block-menu nav" role="navigation" aria-label="Footer Corporate Links Menu"> <div class="region region-footer"> <div id="block-menu-menu-footer" class="block block-menu"> <h2 class="block-title">Footer</h2> <div class="content"> <div class="block-content"> <ul class="menu nav"><li class="first leaf"><a href="//www.un.org/en/site-index" title="">A-Z Site Index</a></li> <li class="leaf"><a href="https://www.un.org/en/contact-us-0" title="">Contact</a></li> <li class="leaf"><a href="https://www.un.org/en/about-us/copyright" title="">Copyright</a></li> <li class="leaf"><a href="https://www.un.org/en/about-us/frequently-asked-questions" title="">FAQ</a></li> <li class="leaf"><a href="https://www.un.org/en/about-us/fraud-alert" title="">Fraud Alert</a></li> <li class="leaf"><a href="https://www.un.org/en/about-us/privacy-notice" title="">Privacy Notice</a></li> <li class="last leaf"><a href="https://www.un.org/en/about-us/terms-of-use" title="">Terms of Use</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </footer> </div> <script src="https://www.un.org/ola/sites/www.un.org.ola/files/js/js_racKGeBrQitrQ-Q2MGU_AeIdieL6-HlkGU3VbcGp7lY.js"></script> <script src="https://www.un.org/ola/sites/www.un.org.ola/files/js/js_MRdvkC2u4oGsp5wVxBG1pGV5NrCPW3mssHxIn6G9tGE.js"></script> </body> </html>