THE HAGUE: International law is more important than ever at a time when even core countries in the global system are calling it into question, the UN secretary-general said on Friday.<\/p>\n
Marking the 80th anniversary of the International Court of Justice, the UN\u2019s top court, Antonio Guterres said: \u201cToday, violations of international law are unfolding before our eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is precisely because the international system is under such strain that adherence to international law matters more than ever \u2014 especially in this era of changing power relations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe force of law must always prevail over the law of force.\u201d<\/p>\n
Guterres was speaking at a special sitting of the world court at the sumptuous Peace Palace in The Hague, also attended by Dutch King Willem-Alexander.<\/p>\n
He noted that as the court \u2014 which settles disputes between states \u2014 turned 80, it was busier than ever. The ICJ has been in the headlines, notably for a case brought by South Africa against Israel, alleging that its campaign in Gaza is in breach of the UN Genocide Convention.<\/p>\n
It also last year issued a landmark environmental ruling last year, obliging states to tackle climate change and paving the way for reparations if they failed to do so.<\/p>\n
But institutions such as the ICJ that uphold international law are increasingly \u201cquestioned and challenged,\u201d said the UN leader.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd this erosion is not happening at the margins of the international system,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is happening at its core \u2014 including by states entrusted with unique responsibilities for the maintenance of international peace and security.\u201d<\/p>\n
Guterres also recalled that the decisions of the ICJ are binding, even though it has no power to enforce them \u2014 which critics say is a sign of weakness.<\/p>\n
For example, the ICJ ordered Russia to halt its invasion of Ukraine just weeks after tanks rolled over the border \u2014 to no avail.<\/p>\n
\u201cRespect for those decisions is not optional. It is a UN Charter obligation,\u201d said Guterres.<\/p>\n
With the world in chaos, the UN secretary-general said humanity faced a stark choice: \u201cA future governed by the rule of law, or a future driven by raw power.\u201d<\/p>\n
ICJ president Yuji Iwasawa noted \u201ctroubling signs\u201d of countries calling into question the value of multilateralism.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn some cases, the role of law itself has been openly questioned,\u201d he said. \u201cThese trends place great pressure on the system we serve and remind us that the international rule of law cannot be taken for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE HAGUE: International law is more important than ever at a time when even core countries in the global system are calling it into question, the UN secretary-general said on Friday. Marking the 80th anniversary of the International Court of Justice, the UN\u2019s top court, Antonio Guterres said: \u201cToday, violations of international law are unfolding …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":96552,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96538"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96538\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96554,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96538\/revisions\/96554"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}