The United Nations Compensation Commission.

As the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) closed its books at the end of the millennium, it had succeeded in making payments totalling nearly $5 billion to approximately 1.5 million claimants. The Commission also commenced making the first payments to Governments and corporations. By the end of 2000, it expects to have paid out an additional $3.5 billion and thereby complete payment of all compensation awarded to individual claimants seeking less than $100,000. However the bulk of the larger and more complex claims. At its most recent session in March 2000, the UNCC Governing Council awarded over $964 million to 403 of these claimants.

UNCC is a subsidiary organ of the Security Council and was established in 1991 to process claims and pay compensation for losses resulting from Iraq's invasion and occupation of Kuwait. The Council established Iraq's legal responsibility for such losses in resolution 687 (1991) of 3 April 1991:

"Iraq ... is liable under international law for any direct loss, damage, including environmental damage and the depletion of natural resources, or injury to foreign Governments, nationals and corporations, as a result of Iraq's unlawful invasion and occupation of Kuwait."

"The Commission is not a court or an arbitral tribunal before which the parties appear; it is a political organ that performs an essentially fact-finding function of examining claims, verifying their validity, evaluating losses, assessing payments and resolving disputed claims; it is only in this last respect that a quasi-judicial function may be involved."

There days after resolution 687 (1991) was adopted, Iraq wrote to the United Nations Secretary-General and the Security Council President to accept its terms. The framework for UNCC was outlined in a report of the Secretary-General dated 2 May 1991, which stated:

The United Nations Compensation Fund and the UN Compensation Commission set up to administer it were formally established by the Security Council on 20 May 1991 under resolution 692 (1991). UNCC comprises the Governing Council, the Panels of Commissioners and the Secretariat.

The Governing Council is the policy-making organ of the Commission. It is composed of representatives of the current members of the Security Council. It establishes the criteria for the compensability of claims, the rules and procedures that govern the processing of the claims, the guidelines regarding the administration and financing of the Fund, and the...