Until OxIMUN 2012

Delegate Centre - Committees

Quick Links: Joint General Assembly - Notes on Legal Committee - Notes on ICJ - Notes on Crisis

This is the full list of committees for OxIMUN 2012. Clicking on each committee will provide you with guidance on the level of difficulty - moderate, advanced, or expert. This information is a recommendation only, and if delegates feel passionate about a particular area then we encourage them to attend that committee. After chair allocations take place, more information will be provided about the specific chairs for each committee, as well as the topics of debate.

General Assembly Committees and Councils:

• Economic and Financial (ECOFIN)
  Difficulty: Advanced
• Social, Cultural, and Humanitarian (SOCHUM)
  Difficulty: Moderate
• Special, Political and Decolonisation (SPECPOL)
  Difficulty: Moderate
• Legal Committee
  Difficulty: Expert
• Human Rights Council (UNHRC)
  Difficulty: Moderate

United Nations Committees:

• United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
  Difficulty: Moderate
• World Health Organisation (WHO)
  Difficulty: Moderate
• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
  Difficulty: Advanced
• Conferences of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-18)
  Difficulty: Moderate

Principal Organs:

• International Court of Justice (ICJ)
  Difficulty: Expert
• Security Council (SC)
  Difficulty: Advanced
• Historic Security Council (HSC)
  Difficulty: Expert

Regional/Non-UN Bodies:

• Group of Twenty (G-20)
  Difficulty: Advanced
• Council of the European Union (EU)
  Difficulty: Expert
• The Leage of Arab States (LAS)
  Difficulty: Advanced
• Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
  Difficulty:Advanced
• Cabinet Crisis (CC)
  Difficulty: Expert

Joint General Assembly

The committees and sub-committees (as listed above) of the General Assembly will come together on Sunday afternoon for a plenary session. Some resolutions which were passed by the individual committees will be scrutinised once more by the General Assembly of the United Nations as a whole. This is the chance to prove your worth in front of 200 people and convince the whole community.

Notes on Legal Committee, ICJ and Crisis:

Sixth Committee of the General Assembly: Legal Committee

We will be simulating this rather uncommon Committee at OxIMUN 2012. The United Nations General Assembly Sixth Committee (Legal) is the primary forum for the consideration of abstract legal questions in the General Assembly. The Committee is led by a chairman assisted by vice-chairmen. Examples of treaties and resolutions that have been negotiated, as a whole or in part, at the Sixth Committee include: the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998), the de jure Draft Articles on the Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts (2001), and the United Nations Declaration on Human Cloning (2005).

This Committee allows delegates who have perhaps already taken part in many previous MUNs debating practical issues to consider the theoretical aspect to oft-used terms (e.g. sovereignty, right, terrorism, threat) from the persepective of their assinged country. This allows for the formulation of new or improved definitions and directives to guide the work of the General Assembly and United Nations system as a whole. Students of Law, Philosophy, and Diplomacy are encouraged to apply. More information on resolutions passed by the Committee can be found on the official site, here.

International Court of Justice (ICJ)

At OxIMUN 2012, law students and/or delegates, ideally with previous ICJ experience, will have the opportunity to participate in this challenging simulation of the ICJ: the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. The Court functions to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by states and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by duly authorized international organs and specialized agencies.

Cabinet Crisis (CC)

This is a very different sort of committee to the others. Delegates do not represent whole nations but act as individuals in the government of a state. Events take place in real time and actions have immediate consequences. A dangerous mixture of diplomacy and interpersonal politics are at play, and the danger is not always where it seems...