Cooperation Between The United Nations and Regional Institutions

Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter does not preclude regional organizations from taking regional actions in the maintenance of international peace and security. As long as such regional actions are taken consistent with the provisions of the United Nations Charter, regional organizations can play a pivotal role in the peaceful settlement of regional disputes. Enforcement measures must however be authorized first by the Security Council

International Criminal Law - How Long Will Some Miss the Missing Link

Presented on February 22, 2005, at the Franklin Thomas Backus School of Law, Case Western Reserve University, and sponsored by the Frederick K. Cox International Law Cente

Reflections on International Criminal Justice: Past, Present and Future

The present symposium is focusing on Building the ICC: Challenges and Opportunities, the Early Jurisprudence of the Court, the United States and the ICC in the Decades Ahead, and on Imagining Future Directions of the Court. In agreement with the organizers, my address today will be on the topic Reflections on International Criminal Justice: Past, Present and Future. This will allow me to analyze the subject matter in a broader and more philosophical perspective. Also on this occasion, my address will be very personal

The Arctic: An Opportunity to Cooperate and Demonstrate Statesmanship

The Article discusses in four distinct parts disputes relating to maritime boundaries in the Arctic; gaps in the legal regime in the Arctic; environmental and security concerns; and the administration of the Arctic. Regarding the first item, the Article maintains that the point of departure is that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea applies also in the Arctic. Overlapping claims by the coastal states are perfectly legitimate and thus should not be dramatized. What matters is how such differences are resolved. Referring to suggestions that there are gaps in the Arctic legal regime and that a new regime is needed, the Article asserts that this argumentation is misleading as UNCLOS already applies. However, the regime needs strengthening. Several conclusions are presented concerning the environment and security, partly based on experiences from a conference organized by the Nordic Council of Ministers on September 9-10, 2008 at Ilulissat in Greenland: Common Concern for the Arctic. With respect to the administration of the Arctic, the Article maintains that the Arctic Council should be maintained and further developed as an indispensable tool for the coordination of policy decisions. The Article concludes by suggesting that the Arctic actually offers an opportunity for states concerned and in particular the Arctic coastal states to demonstrate that they are able to cooperate actively in a constructive manner. One way of ascertaining that added political impetus is injected into the process would be to organize the 2011 Arctic Council meeting at the level of heads of state and government

Exposición inaugural del Asesor Jurídico de las Naciones Unidas.

El objetivo de este Congreso es promover el rol del derecho en las relaciones internacionales asistiendo a la comunidad internacional a hacer frente a los desafíos del mundo actual en su proyección hacia el futuro