United Nations Juridical Yearbook 2016
Pursuant to resolution 1814 (XVII) of 18 December 1962, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to publish a juridical yearbook which would include certain documentary materials of a legal character concerning the United Nations and related intergovernmental organizations as presented in an outline annexed to the resolution.
The United Nations Juridical Yearbook has since been published on an annual basis reviewing legal developments starting from 1963 (an early which prototype covered 1962 has also been included). Each volume will be made available on this website upon publication.
In 1972, the General Assembly further refined the publication's outline, which since then has been made up of three substantive parts, divided into eight chapters covering different legal themes together with a fourth part containing an extensive bibliography.
The United Nations Juridical Yearbook is produced by the Codification Division, Office of Legal Affairs. All documents published therein are supplied by the organizations concerned, with the exception of the legislative texts and judicial decisions in chapters I and VIII, which, unless otherwise indicated, are provided by Governments at the request of the Secretary-General. Recent volumes of this publication are available for purchase in hardcopy from United Nations Publications.
History of the United Nations Juridical Yearbook
In its resolution 176 (II) of 21 November 1947, the General Assembly considered that one of the most effective means of furthering the development of international law consisted in promoting public interest in this subject and using the media of education and publicity to familiarize the general public with the principles and rules that govern international relations. It further considered that greater knowledge of the aims, purposes and structure of the United Nations constituted another positive method of promoting the development of international law.
On 5 December 1958, the General Assembly, in its resolution 1291 (XIII), considered that the publication of a juridical yearbook might constitute a useful measure to encourage the development of international law. Accordingly, it requested the Secretary-General to prepare a report on the question of the publication of a United Nations juridical yearbook, which he presented to the Assembly during its fourteenth session in 1959. After having considered the Secretary-General's report, on 7 December, the General Assembly adopted resolution 1451 (XIV) in which it decided that a United Nations juridical yearbook should be published and requested the Secretary-General to prepare a detailed outline of such a publication.
Subsequently, on 18 December 1962, by its resolution 1814 (XVII), the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to publish a juridical yearbook which would include certain documentary materials of a legal character concerning the United Nations and related intergovernmental organizations as presented in an outline annexed to the resolution. In accordance with this resolution, the first published volume of the United Nations Juridical Yearbook included material relating to developments in 1963 (on the basis of a prototype covering activities in 1962).
Ten years later, on 18 December 1972, the General Assembly adopted resolution 3006 (XXVII), in which it made certain changes in the publication's outline. Pursuant to this outline, the United Nations Juridical Yearbook consists of four parts and eight chapters.