What kind of meeting records does the First Committee of the General Assembly have?

The pattern of documentation has changed over time. For more information about the First Committee documentation, please see the page on Main Committees of the General Assembly in our UN Documentation Research Guide. For information on the difference between summary and verbatim records, see the section on Meeting Records (both linked to below). 

History of the types of meeting records allocated to the 1^st Committee

Timeline:

1946

Summary records of the 1^st Committee meetings are published as official records.

1947

A/498, p.3, 19 November 1947 - In the Third Annual Budget and the Working Capital Fund of the United Nations: Report of the 5^th Committee, the 5^th Committee made the following recommendations:

“The Fifth Committee understood that with the present resources at his disposal, the Secretary-General would at most be able to make written verbatim records for only one of the main committees of the General Assembly, and of the Security Council and its commissions.

The Fifth Committee recommends therefore that the Secretary-General be authorized to provide this service for one Main Committee at a time, a committee which, in the opinion of the General Committee, has the most important items on its agenda, and requests the Secretary-General to approach the Economic and Social Council and the Trusteeship Council to see whether they are disposed, in view of financial stringencies, to agree for the present to dispense with verbatim records of their meetings.”

The 5^th Committee also approved the following:

“(a) That verbatim records of the plenary meetings of the General Assembly be distributed in the working languages in mimeograph form (with opportunity for correction by delegations);

(b) That summary records of the plenary meetings of the General Assembly be translated and printed in the official languages;”

1948

43^rd meeting of the General Committee, (3^rd session, 22 September 1948), p.1-2

“The Chairman drew the attention of the Committee to a note by the Secretary-General in which it was pointed out that, as a result of the decision taken by the Fifth Committee at the second session of the General Assembly, only one team of verbatim reporters was available to cover committee meeting. In the absence of any objections, the Chairman would propose that that service should be assigned to the First Committee.

It was decided to recommend that verbatim records should be provided for the First Committee.”

1949

A/C.5/291, 14 April 1949 - Official Records of the 3^rd session of the General Assembly, Pt. II. Fifth Committee, Annexes.

“The Official Records of the General Assembly are recorded in two forms. The plenary meetings and the meetings of one main committee are recorded verbatim in working languages. These same meetings and those of all other committees of the Assembly are recorded in summary form. The Summary Records are incorporated in the Official Records which are published in the five official languages.”

1967

A/BUR/167, 12 September 1967 - Organization of the 22nd regular session of the General Assembly: memorandum by the Secretary-General, paragraph 5.

“The Secretary-General suggests that the First Committee be provided with verbatim services and that the verbatim records be the official records of that Committee. The summary records would remain the official records of all other Main Committees. The Secretary-General further suggests that the debates of the Special Political Committee be transcribed from sound recordings upon request, with priority in the distribution given to the records of the First Committee.”

A/6840, 22 September 1967 – Organization of the 22^nd regular session, adoption of the agenda and allocation of items: 1^st report of the General Committee, paragraph 5.

 “5. On the proposal of the Secretary-General, the General Committee recommends to the General Assembly that the First Committee should be provided with verbatim services and that the verbatim records should be the official records of that Committee. The General Committee further recommends that the debates of the Special Political Committee be transcribed upon request, with priority in the distribution given to the records of the First Committee.”

 A/PV.1564, 23 September 1967 – 1564^th plenary meeting of the General Assembly, paragraphs 6-8.

“6. The President (translated from French): the General Committee also recommends to the Assembly, in paragraph 5 of its report, that verbatim records be provided for the First Committee, and that verbatim records be the official records of that committee.

7. The General Committee further recommends that the debates of the Special Political Committee be transcribed, on request, from sound recordings of the meetings, with priority in the distribution given to the records of the First Committee.

8. If there is no objection, I shall take it that the Assembly adopts that recommendation.

It was so decided.”

Meeting records of the 1^st Committee - summary

Symbols of meeting records of the 1^st session meetings of the 1^st Committee: