Failure to pay dues - breach of principles of
international law
26 October 1999 - Press Communiqué 99/46
Failure by Member States of the United Nations to pay their dues transgresses principles
of international law, President Schwebel tells
United Nations General Assembly
THE HAGUE, 26 October 1999. The President of the International Court of Justice (ICJ),
Judge Stephen M. Schwebel, today told the United Nations General Assembly that the failure
by United Nations Member States to pay their dues "not only has the gravest effects
on the life of the Organization" but "transgresses the principles of free
consent and good faith . . . which are at the heart of international law and
relations".
"The financial resources of the Court cannot be divorced from those of the
Organization that provides them", President Schwebel stated, adding:
"The financial fabric of the United Nations must be repaired, most fundamentally by
renewed performance of the treaty obligations of the
Members of the United Nations to pay their assessments upon them, as determined by th[e]
General Assembly in the exercise of the authority deliberately and expressly entrusted to
it by the terms of the Charter".
He recalled that the binding character of those assessments had been affirmed by the Court
in 1962, when it held that "the exercise of the
power of apportionment creates the obligation . . . of each Member to bear that part of
the expenses which is apportioned to it by the General Assembly".
President Schwebel was addressing the representatives of United Nations Member States
gathered in New York on the occasion of the presentation of the 1998-1999 Report of the
Court, which is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.
A court which is far busier than ever before
During the period under review (1 August 1998-31 July 1999) the Court was seised of 18 new
contentious cases, "far more than has ever been filed within any 12-month period
before", President Schwebel noted, observing that "the range of issues raised
before the Court increasingly include[d] questions related to major international
crises" such as the hostilities in Kosovo and in the Congo.
President Schwebel termed the extent of recourse to the Court "immensely
encouraging" and pointed out that the process was continuing (Pakistan filed an
Application against India last month in respect of the shooting down of a Pakistani naval
aircraft and Chile has publicly announced its intention to bring to the Court the Pinochet
case against Spain). He acknowledged that increased recourse to the Court stretched its
human and financial resources but was hopeful that the trend would "promote wider
adherence to the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court".
Exploring new ways for the advisory function
Turning to the advisory function of the Court, President Schwebel suggested a broader use
of the mechanism by other international
tribunals. "In order to minimize . . . significant conflicting interpretations of
international law, there might be virtue in enabling
other international tribunals to request advisory opinions of the International
Court of Justice on issues of international law that arise
in cases before those tribunals that are of importance to the unity of international
law", he proposed.
"In respect of international tribunals that are organs of the United Nations, i.e.,
the international tribunals for the prosecution of war
crimes in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, no jurisdictional problem in their requesting
the Security Council to request advisory opinions on their behalf appears, should they
wish to do so", President Schwebel stated, adding that "there [was] room for the
argument that even international tribunals that are not United Nations organs such as the
International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, or the International Criminal Court when
established, might, if they so decide, request the General Assembly - perhaps through the
medium of a special committee established for the purpose - to request advisory opinions
of the Court".
Perspectives for the first century of the third millennium
President Schwebel recalled that "the principles for which the Court stands are
universal principles that merit universal support".
"As the Court enters the first century of the third millennium, it stands for
international law, not international lawlessness; for the peaceful
settlement of international disputes in conformity with international law, not with the
will of the more powerful party; for international
organization, not for international anarchy or for a State sovereignty which purports to
be above the law", he said.
"The century which is about to close is a century of great achievement and profound
loss, of extraordinary scientific and technological advance and of atavistic reversion to
barbarism . . . [it] is as marked by its invention of the concentration camp and the
refugee camp as it is by its invention of the airplane and of the exploration of
space", President Schwebel contended, but "today, 53 years after its creation,
the International Court of Justice has more than justified [the] perception . . . [that] a
world court can fundamentally foster peace through the adjudicated settlement of
international disputes and the development of the body of international law".
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The full text of President Schwebel's address to the General Assembly is available on the
Court's website and can be obtained by post upon request. The Annual Report is also
available on the Court's website.
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Website of the Court: http://www.icj-cij.org
Information Office:
Mr. Arthur Witteveen, First Secretary of the Court (tel: + 31 70 302 2336)
Mrs. Laurence Blairon, Information Officer (tel: + 31 70 302 2337)
E-mail address: information@icj-cij.org
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