Director-General's opening remarks at high-level meeting between UNOG, the Council of Europe and the OSCE

Mr. Chairman
Excellencies
Ladies and Gentlemen:


It is a pleasure to be with you today for our 14th high-level annual meeting. I appreciate this opportunity to say a few words about the United Nations’ approach to the rule of law and draw your attention to work underway on our part in this area. Colleagues from the wider United Nations family, which is well represented here today, will add their perspectives throughout the discussion.

Our exchanges are indeed timely. Only a few weeks ago, we marked the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and the many other camps that fell to the allied forces in the winter and spring of 1945. The United Nations was created to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war and to ensure that the horrors of these camps would never re-occur. Enhancing the rule of law – at national, regional and international levels – is central to honouring those commitments and is therefore at the heart of the United Nations’ efforts.

An important direction of the construction of a new world pattern concerns the further development of international law. We should not regard it as dogma – established once and for all. Just like national legislation, international law should follow life. In particular, the need to develop approaches to humanitarian disasters shows that international law needs improvement to fill the definite vacuum that exists there.

The United Nations Secretary-General announced in 2004 that strengthening the rule of law, in particular in conflict and post-conflict societies, would be a priority for the remainder of his tenure. The Security Council has welcomed this decision, and the United Nations are currently engaged in examining existing structures and resources with a view to developing the Organization’s future activities in this area. Part of this review concerns implementation at the field level, where coordination of efforts among all partners is essential. I look forward to our exchanges on that subject under agenda item 3.

The work of the United Nations in conflict and post-conflict societies has yielded important lessons on the implementation of transitional justice measures and the rule of law. In his report on the subject of 23 August 2004, the Secretary-General outlined a number of these experiences and made practical proposals on how to further strengthen our work in this area. As pointed out in the report, agreeing to a shared definition of what constitutes “the rule of law” remains a basic challenge, particularly at the field level. For the United Nations, “the rule of law” refers to a principle of governance in which all persons, institutions and entities, public and private, including the State itself, are accountable to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced and independently adjudicated, and which are consistent with international human rights norms and standards. The rule of law determines, at once, our goals and our methods. Clear, agreed definitions are critical at the operational level. We are making the Secretary-General’s report on the subject available here today for your reference, and under agenda item 2, we will elaborate further.

It is important to keep in mind that rule of law issues cut across all areas of our work. Establishing and strengthening the rule of law is critical to conflict prevention, peace building and to sustainable development and it must therefore be mainstreamed as a central element in all our efforts.

In December 2004, the Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change submitted its report: “A more secure world: our shared responsibility”, wherein it highlighted the importance of addressing the current threats and challenges with preventive strategies. Strengthening the rule of law – at all levels – is central to meeting that challenge of prevention, particularly when it comes to some of the most urgent threats to peace and security, such as terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. I will come back to this in greater detail later on in our discussions.

As you are aware, the Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel also referred to cooperation with regional organizations, emphasizing that – in their view – the United Nations’ ability to become more proactive in preventing and responding to threats would be strengthened by making fuller and more productive use of the provisions of Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter. In particular, the Panel recommended that consultations and cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations be expanded – and could be formalized in an agreement – covering such issues as meetings of the heads of the organizations, more frequent exchange of information and early warning, co-training of civilian and military personnel, and exchange of personnel within peace operations. I have no doubt that these proposals, among others, will spark further thinking on how to strengthen our collaboration.

Next month, the Secretary-General will issue his report on the High-Level Panel report and on the Millennium Development Goals. This report will make a contribution to the high-level discussions of the General Assembly in September, where progress in the implementation of the commitments of the Millennium Declaration, adopted by world leaders in 2000, will be discussed. As the Secretary-General underscored in his Munich address on Sunday, this report will be a blueprint for the most far-reaching reform of the international security system since the establishment of the United Nations in 1945. It will therefore also include further thinking on how to strengthen the rule of law, which is vital to addressing threats to our collective security and to realizing the Millennium Development Goals.

Mr. Chairman
Ladies and Gentlemen:

The Sixth High-Level Meeting between the United Nations and Regional Organizations is planned for the middle of this year. At the previous meeting, in July 2003, it was suggested that follow-up and preparation for the meetings be made more effective. Consequently, preparations for the meeting are already underway, and a number of the organizations that are here today are associated with these preparations. I hope that our exchanges may feed into that preparatory process, thus making a valuable contribution to the planned high-level meeting.

Today’s deliberations form an important part of our collective efforts to further develop and strengthen our collaboration. I look forward to an open, frank and focused dialogue.

Mr. Chairman: thank you very much.