Gibson, Rajah, & Feighery: War Reparations and the UN Compensation Commission

Christopher S. Gibson (Suffolk Univ. - Law), Trevor M. Rajah (United Nations Compensation Commission), & Timothy J. Feighery (Arent Fox LLP) have published War Reparations and the UN Compensation Commission: Designing Compensation After Conflict (Oxford Univ. Press 2015). Here's the abstract:

The United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) is a claims reparation program created by the United Nations Security Council in May 1991, after the UN-authorized Allied Coalition Forces' military operations terminated the seven-month invasion and occupation of Kuwait by Iraq and liberated Kuwait. The UNCC was established with the objectives to receive and decide claims from individuals, corporations, and governments against Iraq as arising directly from Iraq's invasion and occupation of Kuwait; and to pay compensation for such claims.

Gulf War Reparations and the UN Compensation Commission: Designing Compensation After Conflict is the first collective work on the UNCC claims program by experts who have contributed to its progress, and who have assisted in paving the way for more informed research on the Commission and its jurisprudence. Given its unprecedented, serious and sustained effort within the international community, the two-decade long operations of the UNCC deserve considerable attention and in-depth analysis especially with respect to its impact on the development and progress of international law in the areas of State responsibility and reparations.

Caron: The United Nations Compensation Commission: Understanding an Institution and the Three Phases of its Work

David D. Caron (King's College London – Law) has posted The United Nations Compensation Commission: Understanding an Institution and the Three Phases of its Work (in War Reparation and the UN Compensation Commission: Designing Compensation After Conflict, T. Feighery, C. Gibson & T. Rajah eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The United Nations Compensation Commission ("UNCC") is by almost any standard one of the most significant international institutions addressing a disaster of massive proportions, the 1991 Gulf War. Almost 2.7 million claims from 80-plus countries were submitted to the UNCC. By 2007, all of the claims had been reviewed, over USDS2 billion had been awarded, and more than three-quarters of that total amount had actually been paid to the victims of that conflict. Yet, these accomplishments are often not known even in academic circles, and relatively little academic assessment of this institution has taken place. This chapter provides a historical and structural frame for understanding this important institution.

UNCC Governing Council's Sixty-Third Session

The Governing Council of the United Nations Compensation Commission, which was established by the Security Council to "process claims and pay compensation for direct losses and damage suffered by individuals, corporations, Governments and international organizations as a direct result of Iraq’s unlawful invasion and occupation of Kuwait (2 August 1990 to 2 March 1991)," will meet tomorrow, June 20, through Friday, June 22, for its sixty-third session. According to the UN press release, the Commission will discuss a number of issues including:

reports of the Executive Secretary on the activities of the secretariat since the last session in February 2007, on the distribution by Governments and international organisations of payments to successful claimants, the transparency of the distribution process, and the return of undistributed funds, and on corrections of awards pursuant to article 41 of the Provisional rules for claims procedure. The Council will also consider a report on the follow-up programme for environmental awards established by the Council to monitor the technical and financial aspects of the environmental remediation projects.