The International law Commission was established by the General Assembly, in 1947, to undertake the mandate of the Assembly, under article 13 (1) (a) of the Charter of the United Nations to "initiate studies and make recommendations for the purpose of encouraging the progressive development of international law and its codification".
The election of the members of the Commission for a five year term beginning on 1 January 2017 took place at the seventy-first session of the General Assembly (3 November 2016).