The fifty-sixth session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights took place in Geneva from March 20 to April 28,2000, under the chairmanship of Ambassador Shambhu Ram Simkhada of Nepal. The delegations of fifty-three member states and ninety-one observer states werejoined by 1760 representatives of 224 nongovernmental organizations. The Commission ultimately adopted one hundred resolutions and decisions, three-fourths of them by consensus.

The International Law Commission held its fifty-second session in Geneva from May 1 to June 9, 2000, and from July 10 to August 18, 2000, under the chairmanship of Ambassador Chusei Yamada of Japan. The Commission elected Professor Djamchid Momtaz of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Kamil E. Idris of Sudan to fill the vacancies left by the death of Doudou Thiam of Senegal and the election of Awn Al-Khasawneh of Jordan to the International Court of Justice.