YouSaid · the spoken record

Judge Higgins

lines on the record
21
first
2006-06-22
most recent
2006-06-22
sittings or episodes
1
sources
un-security-council

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  1. “We are all partners in the same magnificent enterprise - the enterprise spelled out in the Purposes and Principles in the United Nations Charter. The International Court of Justice stands ready to work alongside the Security Council in the fulfilment of these goals.”

    2006-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5474 (2006) · source

  2. “Recourse to the Court is one of the methods of dispute settlement envisaged by the Charter in Article 33. How can use of an envisaged Charter provision be unfriendly, any more than mediation or conciliation might be? I would mention also - and any State that has been before us would testify as to this - that our proceedings are always conducted in the Court in a manner conducive to the calming of passions and the discouragement of postures of enmity. I have so much appreciated that Denmark should have used this occasion to emphasize the need to strengthen international law. The fearful problems of today can be methodically addressed only by Member States acting with great restraint and by each United Nations organ fulfilling its respective responsibilities.”

    2006-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5474 (2006) · source

  3. “I am obliged to say that the Security Council has failed to make use of this provision for many years. This tool needs to be brought to life and made a central policy of the Security Council. Litigation before the Court is not a hostile act. This fact can be testified by the many friendly States that have been wise enough to know that the best way to avoid deterioration in their good relations, if that cannot be done by negotiations, is to have a dispute between them resolved by the Court. I could mention Slovakia v. Hungary, Indonesia v. Malaysia, Namibia v. Botswana, Malaysia v. Singapore and many other recent examples. These cases happen to have come to us by their joint agreement. But it is no more a hostile act even to come to us unilaterally.”

    2006-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5474 (2006) · source

  4. “The first discussion point which asks how the Council should develop a policy on certain peacekeeping matters, that the Council might like to consider whether it should develop a policy whereby, in all political disputes that threaten peace and security and where claims of legal entitlement are made, the Council would strongly indicate to the parties that they are expected to have recourse to the Court. Article 33 of the Charter provides that the Security Council may inform parties to settle their disputes by means which include judicial settlement, and Article 36, paragraph 3, states that in making recommendations for the settlement of disputes, "the Security Council should also take into consideration that legal disputes should as a general rule be referred by the parties to the International Court of Justice".”

    2006-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5474 (2006) · source

  5. “It is at the very heart of the general system for the maintenance of peace and security through its specific contribution to the peaceful settlement of disputes. What then can the Security Council do to mobilize this potential? Of course, there have been important special efforts to this end, and I might appropriately mention in particular the recent resolution adopted by the Special Committee on the Charter upon the Court's sixtieth anniversary. But the jurisdiction of the Court is based on consent. Thus, the bottom line is the will of States to use what is on offer. This is not the occasion for me to speak about the politico-legal issues associated with the various ways of establishing that jurisdiction. In the context of today's debate, I limit myself to saying the following.”

    2006-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5474 (2006) · source

  6. “The decision-making process of the Court is such that all of the judges are engaged in all of the cases, save in those occasional circumstances where the parties themselves request a reduced Bench, which we term a "chamber". It is not the Court of any region or any personalities. It is the Court of the United Nations. The bringing of individual criminals to accountability is very important. The creation of new tribunals and courts dedicated to this end is to be welcomed. Their work has my admiration. At the same time, the fundamentals of peace maintenance are not to be forgotten. The International Court of Justice is a principal organ of the United Nations and, as such, is part of the general system for the maintenance of international peace and security. Its role is thus not minor, nor is it at the margin.”

    2006-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5474 (2006) · source

  7. “Thus it is not for States to rewrite, challenge or approve of the way the Court functions. That is a given in the Statute, itself a component part of the Charter. Secondly, the Court is stated in the Charter to be the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. This authority accorded to the Court has served the United Nations well over the years. Then there is the fact that the Court is indeed the Court of all the Members, in the sense that it is composed of 15 judges elected by the entire United Nations membership - that is to say, by the Security Council and the General Assembly - judges of high expertise in international law who represent the different legal systems of the world.”

    2006-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5474 (2006) · source

  8. “Indeed, the possible need to take care of things on the ground may be foreseen in the judgment itself. Only last week, an agreement was announced on the remaining elements needed to implement the Court's judgment of 2002 in the Cameroon v. Nigeria case. What has been at stake for the States concerned is far from trivial, politically and economically. This negotiated outcome to the painstaking commitment to implement the Court's judgment has been a tribute to the skills of the Secretary-General and the dedication of the two countries. The Security Council will wish to know why the question of compliance with the Court's judgments is a relatively rare problem. The reasons, I think, are various. First, the Court is the embodiment of the United Nations, being a major organ thereof. The potency of that factor should not be underestimated.”

    2006-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5474 (2006) · source

  9. “The success in compliance has been as much true in cases hard fought by political adversaries as in cases brought jointly by States. Sometimes compliance is instantly achieved. That was the case in the hard-fought litigation of Qatar v. Bahrain, where the parties accepted that the Court's judgment would provide a new framework for peace in the Gulf. Sometimes some short-term assistance from the Security Council has assisted. Both parties requested the assistance of the United Nations Aouzou Strip Observer Group, established by the Security Council to oversee the Court's judgment in that case, and the withdrawal of the Libyan forces from the territory declared by the Court to belong to Chad followed very soon after. Some judgments take longer to implement.”

    2006-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5474 (2006) · source

  10. “The very detailed and objective findings of the Court in the recent case brought by the Congo against Uganda, for example, resolves at least some of the intractable issues of fact and law in the Great Lakes region. The Security Council, faced with the massive problems in its agenda, might be forgiven for wondering whether judgments by a Court with no enforcement powers of its own - indeed, the Charter provides that the enforcement of Court judgments lies ultimately with the Security Council - will, in fact, be complied with. The answer, surprising to many, is that out of nearly 100 contentious cases the Court has dealt with, no more than a handful have presented problems of compliance. Of this handful, the problems of compliance have mostly turned out to be temporary.”

    2006-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5474 (2006) · source

  11. “Bahrain dispute has allowed the resumption of friendly relations between those countries and has assisted stability in the Gulf more generally. In the Chamber case of Burkina Faso v. Mali, eruptions of fighting were brought to an end by the decision of the Court. The judgment of the Court in the Chad v. Libya case marked the conclusion of years of military activity and the same has been true of the Cameroon v. Nigeria case, to which Mr. Michel has already alluded. Sometimes, the cases come to the Court too late for it to assist in preventing the fighting. But here too, a judicial role can still play its part in conflict resolution.”

    2006-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5474 (2006) · source

  12. “The Court has been entrusted with many cases in which political passions have run high, and in which, indeed, some conflict is already occurring. All the evidence suggests that the Court's contribution in such disputes, once entrusted to them, has been both effective and significant. Further, it should not be thought that territorial and boundary disputes are one category and disputes relating to the use of force another. Disputes about entitlement to territory are, alas, not always peaceful. They can and do spill over into violence. Sometimes the Court can, in providing an impartial pronouncement on the underlying claims, stop high tensions from developing into military action. Its resolution of the Qatar v.”

    2006-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5474 (2006) · source

  13. “The Charter requires that disputes must be settled, without specifying required means, although it is clear that legal disputes should normally be referred to the International Court. Time has shown that very many disputes are, in fact, claims about perceived legal rights, even if those are both politically charged and diplomatically sensitive. The International Court has always been prepared to deal with legal issues arising in the wider context of highly political controversy. Those who do not know the work of the International Court may think that what we do is to settle boundaries and allocate maritime spaces, but that our judicial work is far from the world of military conflict and human misery. The truth is otherwise.”

    2006-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5474 (2006) · source

  14. “The second theme, which addresses the range of issues that have arisen in relation to institutions to insure there is no impunity for international crimes, only becomes necessary if such large-scale crimes have indeed occurred. Peacekeeping, international criminal structures and procedures and sanctions regimes are all important mechanisms for the maintenance of international peace and security within a rule-of-law framework. But sight must not be lost of the fact that if problems can be solved peacefully, these intractable contemporary problems could present themselves less frequently. There perhaps deserves to be more attention to the a priori, rather than to the post hoc alone. All said and done, we are speaking of disputes that threaten international peace.”

    2006-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5474 (2006) · source

  15. “The General Assembly, the Security Council and the International Court each have a responsibility to contribute to that phase of international relations. But a very particular responsibility has been assigned to the International Court. It is my purpose today to remind Member States that at least some of today's discussion problems may be resolved by an early recourse to third-party settlement. The prime objective of the United Nations must be to prevent those conflicts and post-conflict situations that raise the key rule of law questions with which the Council is grappling. It is unlawful behaviour that so often requires the contemplation of sanctions, whose efficacy and credibility is the subject of the third theme.”

    2006-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5474 (2006) · source

  16. “Each of the three themes is different, presenting distinctive issues, but there is within them a common theme. The problem of the rule of law vacuum matched by the collapse of communal justice systems, and the place of law vis-a-vis non-State actors are interrelated elements that clearly present challenges for the Security Council in its desire to fulfil its Charter functions, but acting always within the framework of international law. Those are extremely pertinent challenges, but I cannot but notice that they each relate to conflict or post-conflict situations. The Charter system, of course, envisages a system of settling disputes peacefully before intractable conflict and post-conflict situations arise.”

    2006-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5474 (2006) · source

  17. “But strengthening may also mean increasing the level of compliance with the rules of international law, and also ensuring compliance with decisions of international judicial bodies. There is a general day-to- day compliance with international law: our routine life depends upon treaties being honoured and normative customs being adhered to. Usually, all States find such compliance to be to their advantage. At the same time, we are all aware that when the stakes are very high there are eruptions of behaviour that clearly challenge the legal requirements laid down in the Charter. It can readily be seen that the first three themes highlighted for debate are of critical importance. If I may say so, they seem very well chosen and I look forward to hearing what Member States have to say on each of them.”

    2006-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5474 (2006) · source

  18. “In a broader sense, there has been a profound deepening of the law as it relates to jus ad bellum and jus in belIo, with the Covenant of the League of Nations, the Kellogg-Briand Pact and the United Nations Charter being important catalysts for the former and the Hague Peace Conferences, the 1949 Geneva Conventions and other more recent instruments relevant to the establishment of new judicial bodies having hugely important roles as regards the latter. The term "strengthening" in the discussion document clearly envisages the idea of embedding international law into many of the contemporary activities overseen by the Security Council. Sometimes, the content of those activities is notably different from the world of neat inter-State relations in which international law has classically operated.”

    2006-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5474 (2006) · source

  19. “There is now a well developed international legal framework for combating international terrorism. There are currently 13 universal instruments and seven regional instruments relating to the prevention and suppression of terrorism. There are treaties on the methods used by terrorists - bombings, hijackings, hostage-takings, nuclear material; on places likely to be targeted - aeroplanes, ships, fixed platforms; and on preventing the financing of terrorism.”

    2006-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5474 (2006) · source

  20. “Two meanings come to mind: first, the widening and deepening of the content of international law; and secondly, the fortifying of the mechanisms for securing compliance with or enforcement of international law. In fact, the discussion outline prepared by the presidency touches on both elements. In terms of the first meaning, the reach of international law has expanded to an extraordinary extent. The already known broad outlines of the law of peace - title to territory, jurisdiction, immunities, maritime spaces, the law of treaties, State responsibility - have all been shaped by very detailed provisions. And many other topics that were simply unheard of when the Security Council began its work are now established as part of the fabric of international law; space, environment, trade law and human rights are examples.”

    2006-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5474 (2006) · source

  21. “Judge Higgins: I greatly appreciate your invitation, Sir, to participate in this debate and the welcome that you and the Legal Counsel have so kindly extended. The International Court of Justice is pleased to make a contribution to this important day's reflective work in the Security Council. The theme of the Council's debate is "Strengthening international law", and let me begin with a few general observations on that concept. International law is, of course, the law that governs relations between States and between States and international organizations. It is the law of each and every one of us. In a world often divided by politics, it is our common language. What do we mean by "strengthening international law"?”

    2006-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5474 (2006) · source