97

A 2—4

representative from each of eighteen member States, which do not at present include New Zealand. Mrs Franklin D. Roosevelt has been Chairman since its inception. The first two sessions of the Commission were concerned with the approach it should adopt towards its basic task, the preparation of an International Bill of Human Rights. It became established that the term International Bill of Human Rights, or " Bill of Rights," covered three documents, an International Declaration on Human Rights, an International Covenant on Human Rights, and measures of implementation. After its second session the Commission circulated to Governments for their comments a draft declaration, a draft covenant, and the report of a working group oh implementation. The New Zealand Government took this opportunity to set forth their views on the various sections of the Bill of Rights, and their comments, along with the comments of other interested Governments, came before the third session of the Commission on Human Rights, held at Lake Success from 24 May to 18 June, 1948. The third session of the Commission on Human Rights adopted a draft Declaration of Human Rights and made some progress with a draft covenant ; but it gave no time to the problem of implementation. The Economic and Social Council was accordingly informed that the Commission's work on the Bill of Rights was not complete. The declaration was, the report of the Commission said, part only of the Bill, and completion of a covenant containing measures of implementation was essential. There was doubt in the minds of some members of the Commission on Human Rights as to whether the declaration should, in view of its intimate relationship with the other parts of the Bill of Rights, be adopted alone by the General Assembly. It was expected that this problem would be discussed by the Economic and Social Council when it considered the report of the Commission on Human Rights at its seventh session in July and August, 1948. The Council found, however, that there was no time to consider this report, and it was transmitted to the General Assembly along with statements of position by members of the Council. The report of the third session of the Commission on Human Rights thus came intact before the Third Committee of the General Assembly. In a general debate the New Zealand delegate (Mrs Newlands) suggested reasons why action on the declaration should not be precipitate. She pointed out the intrinsic complications and difficulties attached to the programme of the Commission on Human Rights. Members of the United Nations were not uniform in the stages of their economic and social development, in their internal structures, and in the historical backgrounds from which they drew their philosophical ideas. " Sufficient