Chapter VI. Selected legal opinions of the Secretariats of the United Nations and related intergovernmental organizations

UNITED NATIONS

JURIDICAL YEARBOOK

Extract from:

Chapter VI. Selected legal opinions of the Secretariats of the United Nations and related

intergovernmental organizations

1990

Part Two. Legal activities of the United Nations and related intergovernmental

organizations

Copyright (c) United Nations

CONTENTS (continued)

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Tribunal's competence to hear the complaint of an official employed

by the organization that has not recognized the Tribunal's juris-

diction — The administrative arrangements provided for in its

Agreement with the World Intellectual Property Organization do

not impair its distinct legal identity 247

C. DECISIONS OF THE WORLD BANK ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL

Decision No. 93 (25 May 1990): Wahie v. International Bank for Recon-

struction and Development

Applicant's contention that the Respondent should restore her light to

expatriate benefits upon renunciation by the Applicant of her

duty station country citizenship and resumption of G-4 visa sta-

tus — Staff rules 6.13 and 6.14 concerning expatriate benefits

— Tribunal's understanding of the rationale behind the system

of expatriate benefits and its approach to citizenship 248

CHAPTER VI. SELECTED LEGAL OPINIONS OF THE SECRETARIATS OF THE

UNITED NATIONS AND RELATED INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

A. LEGAL OPINIONS OF THE SECRETARIAT OF THE UNITED NATIONS (ISSUED

OR PREPARED BY THE OFFICE OF LEGAL AFFAIRS)

1.

Flag etiquette code to be followed on naval vessels provided by a

troop-contributing country to the United Nations Observer Group in

Central America — Practice concerning the use of the United

Nations flag on vessels, pursuant to the 1958 Geneva Convention on

the High Seas, status agreements concluded between the United

Nations and host countries and the United Nations Flag Code and

Regulations 252

2.

Invitation to the United Nations to observe presidential elections in a

Member State — General rule that the Organization does not moni-

tor elections in Member States — Basis for the Secretary-General's

authority to send observer teams 254

3.

Questions whether the United Nations Children's Fund or the

UNICEF Greeting Card Operation could be a shareholder in a print-

ing company and whether UNICEF staff members could serve on

the board of directors of the company — Incompatibility of these

activities with the character and status of the United Nations, of

which UNICEF is a subsidiary organ 256

4.

Advisability of the United Nations entering into a profit-making

joint venture with a private publishing firm — Purpose of the current

commercially oriented activities of the United Nations — Participa-

tion in a profit-oriented commercial joint venture could put the status

and character of the Organization in question 257

5.

Question whether the United Nations Development Programme

could become a founding member of a corporate body under the

national law of a Member State — Character of United Nations

activities in the territories of Member States — Submission of

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UNDP to the national law of the corporate body could be construed

to constitute a waiver of the privileges and immunities to which

UNDP is entitled 259

6. Possible collaboration between the United Nations Centre for

Human Settlements (HABITAT) and National Committees for

UNCHS for fund-raising purposes — Precedents of the relationship

of the United Nations Children's Fund and the United Nations

Development Fund for Women with the National Committees —

Tenns of reference of UNCHS 260

7.

Claim by the Tokyo Energy Analysis Group that its copyright on the

"OLSC", a software component used in a United Nations software

program entitled "ENERPLAN", would be infringed by the Depart-

ment of Technical Cooperation for Development's modification of

ENERPLAN — Copyright and software protection under the Uni-

versal Copyright Convention and the Beme Convention for the Pro-

tection of Literary and Artistic Works — Copyrightability of com-

puter software under United States law 263

8. Award of the 1988 Nobel Peace Prize to the United Nations Peace-

keeping Forces — Practical and legal obstacles to the exercise by the

United Nations Peace-keeping Forces of the right to nominate candi-

dates provided for by the Special Regulations governing the award

of the Prize 269

9. Question of the status of the United Nations Council for Namibia

after Namibian independence 270

10.

Legal status of the International Trade Centre and applicability to the

Centre of General Assembly resolutions regarding the participation

of the Palestine Liberation Organization in United Nations meetings

— Use of the designation "Palestine" in place of the designation

"PLO"

271

11.

Question whether the Trade and Development Board may adopt a

resolution on economic problems arising from the Gulf crisis in the

light of Article 12 of the Charter of the United Nations 272

12.

Execution of projects funded by the United Nations Development

Programme in the framework of its developmental cooperation

and technical assistance activities — Arrangements for project

execution between UNDP and other United Nations entities form-

ing part of the Organization — Implications of articles VI and VII

of the Standard Basic Executing Agency Agreement from the

viewpoint of the United Nations in cases where the Department of

Technical Cooperation for Development executes UNDP projects

— Clarification of the meaning of the term "accountability" in

the Agreement in the context of project implementation by an

executing agency to UNDP 274

13.

Legal status of the United Nations Development Programme—Ques-

tion whether UNDP has the capacity to acquire real property 276

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