Mr. Chairman,

1.  I have the honour to make this statement on behalf of Group of 77 and China on agenda item 142: Administration of justice at the United Nations.

2.  The Group wishes to thank Mr. Weicheng Lin, former Secretary of the Joint Appeals Board and Joint Disciplinary Committee, for introducing the report of the Secretary-General on the "Outcome of the work of the Joint Appeals Board during 2007 and 2008 and between January and June 2009 and statistics on the disposition of cases and work of the Panel of Counsel", contained in document A/64/292. We also wish to thank the Assistant Secretary-General, United Nations Ombudsman, Mr. John Barkat, for introducing the report of the Secretary-General on the "Activities of the Office of the United Nations Ombudsman and Mediation Services" contained in document A/64/314, the first joint report for the entities covered by the integrated Office of the Ombudsman, and the Vice-Chairman of the ACABQ, Mr. Collen Kelapile, for the introduction of the Committee's report under this agenda item (A/64/508).

Mr. Chairman,

3. The Group of 77 and China attaches great importance to the issue of the administration of justice, which is an integral part of an effective human resources management system, and as such, we firmly support the reforms approved by General Assembly resolutions 61/261, 62/228 and 63/253.

4. After numerous delays in the process, we are pleased to see that finally the system is in place. In that regard, we acknowledge the fact that elections were held at the beginning of the year, leading to the constitution of the Tribunals, both the United Nations Dispute Tribunal and the United Nations Appeals Tribunal.

5. We note the report before us today will be the last report on the work of the Joint Appeals Board and the Joint Disciplinary Committees. The Group expects as per the recommendation of the ACABQ that the General Assembly will be provided, in the future, with information regarding those aspects of the staff administration that gave rise to a large number of appeals. We would also seek additional information on the issue of accountability of officials who caused financial losses to the Organization, as highlighted by the ACABQ in paragraph 7 of its report, during the informal consultations and we agree with the ACABQ on the need for the Office of the Ombudsman to expeditiously develop the guidelines needed to become fully operational.

Mr. Chairman,

6. The Group appreciates the information provided by the Secretariat and looks forward to discussing these issues, in particular the systemic issues raised by the Ombudsman in his report, as well as the backlog of cases before the new system and the issue of the entitlements of the judges, as mentioned by the ACABQ in paragraph 12 of its report.

7. Finally, Mr. Chairman, let me assure you that the Group of G77 and China will engage constructively in the discussions on this item.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.