COLLOQUIUM MARKING FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF WORLD COURT TO BE HELD NEXT WEEK IN THE HAGUE
Press Release
ICJ/545
UNITAR/688
COLLOQUIUM MARKING FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF WORLD COURT TO BE HELD NEXT WEEK IN THE HAGUE
19960412 Geneva, 12 April (UNITAR) -- The Judges of the International Court of Justice will meet with eminent scholars of the Court and the Legal Advisers of more than 30 countries for a two-and-a-half day colloquium, from 16 to 18 April, to mark the Court's fiftieth anniversary and to consider ways of meeting the challenges of the future. Entitled "Increasing the Effectiveness of the Court", the colloquium is jointly organized by the Court and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).The colloquium will conclude with a ceremonial sitting of the Court, to be attended by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and the President of the United Nations General Assembly, Diogo Freitas do Amaral (Portugal), as well as other dignitaries.
Taking place at the Peace Palace, in The Hague, the colloquium will cover a range of topics, including means to strengthen the role of the Court as the principal judicial organ of the United nations, the relationship between the Court and other international tribunals, increasing the efficiency and appeal of the Court, contributions of the Court to the resolution of international tension and equipping the Court to deal with developing areas of international law. More practical matters, such as modernizing the Court's business; elimination problems in the preparation of cases; methods of selecting Judges; the role of Ad Hoc Judges; and financing, administering and making known the work of the Court, will also be canvassed during 12 working sessions, each addressed by prominent speakers and commentators, followed by discussion with participants.
The principal aim of the colloquium is to provide an opportunity for dialogue between the Judges of the World Court, users of the Court and scholars who have studied and written extensively on the Court and its practices. It is hoped that concrete proposals for the future will result from the meeting, the proceeding of which will be published by Kluwer Law International.
The opening plenary session will be chaired by Judge Christopher G. Weeramantry, Chairman of the Colloquium Programme Committee. Participants will be welcomed by Marcel Boisard, Acting Executive Director of UNITAR, and opening addresses will be delivered by Judge Mohammed Bedjaoui, President of
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the Court, and Hans Corell, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs. The closing plenary session will be chaired by Sir Robert Jennings, former Judge and President of the World Court. Shabtai Rosenne, former Ambassador of Israel and leading scholar of the Court, will make the closing address, followed by an analysis and overview of the proceedings by Thomas Franck, Director, Center for International Studies, New York University School of Law.
Support for the colloquium has been provided by the Ford Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Minister for Development Cooperation of the Netherlands, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom, the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Austria, Australia, the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand.
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