REMARKS OF SECRETARY-GENERAL TO FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY SESSION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW COMMISSION
Press Release
SG/SM/6279
L/2834
REMARKS OF SECRETARY-GENERAL TO FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY SESSION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW COMMISSION
19970707 GENEVA, 4 July (UN Information Service) -- Following are the remarks made today by Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the forty-ninth session of the International Law Commission held at Geneva.As you celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of your Commission, I congratulate you on the great achievements of the Commission regarding the progressive development of international law and its codification.
As the United Nations undertakes major reform efforts, we remain guided by our common heritage and commitment to the principles and purposes on which the Organization is founded. That foundation is the law.
It is the idea that the behaviour of States and the relations between them shall be governed by one law, equal and applicable to all.
We are living through a remarkable period in the advancement of international law. Great strides have been made in refining its writ, expanding its reach and enforcing its mandate. The challenges of the future, in areas such as narcotics, disease, crime and international terrorism, are increasingly recognized as transnational challenges. As that recognition has grown, so too has the realization that international law is a viable tool in the global effort to meet the challenges.
For the past 50 years, the International Law Commission has been in the forefront of meeting those challenges. It has succeeded greatly in setting forth basic rules in most of the key areas in international law. These rules have, in turn, served as the basis for global treaties, governing State activities in many areas. Indeed, some of the treaties drafted by the Commission, such as those regulating diplomatic matters, laid the very foundation of the practice of international relations.
The occasion of the Commission's fiftieth anniversary provides an opportunity not only to celebrate its achievements, but also to evaluate the state of international law and to project its work into the next millennium.
The General Assembly has requested the Secretary-General to make appropriate arrangements to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the
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Commission through a colloquium on the progressive development and codification of international law, to be held this autumn during the consideration of the report of the Commission in the Sixth Committee (Legal). Arrangements have been made by the Secretariat for the holding of the colloquium.
Let us all join together as servants of the peoples of the United Nations in achieving the goals and objectives of our Charter. I have no doubt that you will all rise to the challenge.
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