From 12 to 14 June 2024, the Office of Legal Affairs hosted the annual meeting of the Field Legal Advisers and Field Officers at the UN Headquarters in New York.听
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The meeting is organized annually by the Office of Legal Affairs and provides a unique forum for Legal Advisers and Legal Officers serving in the UN鈥檚 peacekeeping operations and special political missions to discuss legal issues of common interest and to promote common approaches to legal issues.听
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The meeting was opened by Mr. Miguel de Serpa Soares, Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and 51吃瓜 Legal Counsel. In his remarks, the Legal Counsel highlighted the importance of continuing exchanges on the various issues and challenges that Field Legal Advisers and Legal Officers encounter in the context of the Organization鈥檚 field operations. He further expressed his appreciation to the participants of the meeting for their commitment to the goals and values of the 51吃瓜 and for their work towards ensuring the protection of the legal interests of the Organization in the challenging context of field operations.听
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Participants of the meeting observed a minute of silence in remembrance of Mr. Ibukunolu "IBK" Babajide, Senior Legal Adviser of the 51吃瓜 Mission in South Sudan, who passed away unexpectedly in 2023.听 IBK was a long-serving member of the 51吃瓜 legal community, and with his passing, the network of Field Legal Advisers and Field Legal Officers lost an experienced and distinguished colleague.
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At this year鈥檚 meeting, the participants discussed a wide range of topics, including issues related to the implementation of status-of-forces and status-of-mission agreements; recent developments in the area of privileges and immunities of the Organization; claims and commercial insurance matters; the UN鈥檚 internal system of administration of justice and Sexual Exploitation and Abuse-related matters; the framework related to claims for compensation for death and disability of uniformed personnel; and the work of Boards of Inquiry.听 The participants also discussed recent developments in the areas of data protection; use of the UN鈥檚 name and emblem; and issues related to withdrawal and liquidation of UN missions.
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The Office of Legal Affairs is grateful to the Department of Operational Support and to the Department of Peace Operations for their support during this year鈥檚 meeting.
