On December 4, 2024, the General Assembly accepted the Sixth Committee’s recommendation and adopted Resolution 79/122, creating a formal process to elaborate a treaty on crimes against humanity.
The Resolution was adopted without a vote and only the Russian Federation disassociated.
What’s next? The Resolution establishes a timeline for treaty negotiations, with the goal of creating a broadly supported instrument by 2029. Intersessionals will be held in 2025; preparatory committees in 2026 and 2027; and diplomatic conferences in 2028 and 2029, with the possibility of holding an additional session if necessary.
For more discussion on the Resolution and this historic moment, see Professor Leila Nadya Sadat’s analysis here. Professor Sadat is the Director of the Crimes Against Humanity Initiative and James Carr Professor of International Criminal Law at WashU Law. Her model treaty on crimes against humanity ultimately served as the inspiration for the draft treaty under consideration by States today.