Naujienos

Jungtinių Tautų Generalinėje Asamblėjoje lapkričio 6 dieną įvykusiame Tarptautinio Teisingumo Teismo (TTT) metinės veiklos ataskaitos aptarime Lietuva pasisakė už pagrindinės JT teisminės institucijos, užtikrinančios teisės viršenybę tarptautiniu lygiu, vaidmens stiprinimą.

Nors visos JT narės savaime yra ir TTT statuto šalys, tačiau jo privalomąją jurisdikciją šiuo metu yra pripažinusios tiktai 68 Jungtinių Tautų narės. Lietuva privalomąją Teismo jurisdikciją pripažino rugsėjį.

Lietuvos nuolatinio atstovo JT pavaduotoja Rita Kazragienė paragino to dar nepadariusias valstybes pasekti Lietuvos pavyzdžiu ir pripažinti vienintelio universalaus tarptautinio teismo sprendimų privalomumą.

Ji pažymėjo, jog tokio pobūdžio pripažinimas neatsiejamas nuo Lietuvos konstitucinių principų bei teisinės tradicijos ir praeityje padėjo šaliai ginti savo interesus Teisme.

Tarptautinis Teisingumo Teismas, vadovaudamasis tarptautine teise, sprendžia valstybių jam pateiktus tarptautinius ginčus ir teikia konsultacines išvadas teisiniais klausimais, dėl kurių į jį kreipiasi tokią teisę turinčios Jungtinių Tautų institucijos ir specializuotos agentūros.

Statement of the Republic of Lithuania

on the Agenda item 71

“Report of the International Court of Justice”

at the Sixty-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly

New York, 6 November 2012

Mr President,

Allow me to begin by thanking Judge Peter Tomka, President of the International Court of Justice, for introducing the Court’s annual report last week.

As it is evident from the report, the Court made significant efforts during the last period in ensuring both the competence and efficiency in its judicial activities. We note with appreciation that notwithstanding the wide variety of legal topics and growing factual, legal and procedural complexity, the Court has successfully coped with its workload and delivered four important judgements, as well as handed down an advisory opinion. Moreover, it managed to clear its backlog of cases, thus providing room for hearing of new cases in a timely manner.

Mr President,

The greater role of the Court is largely dependent on the members of the international community.

One of the primary features of the domain in which the Court operates – the international law – is that it is driven by the willingness of the States, the main actors of the international community, and relies upon their voluntary acceptance of commitments. The same applies to their choice of means for peaceful settlement of disputes, if the need arises. The Court itself is one of such means or, as the President of the Court put it in his introduction, a “forum of choice”.

We see a great opportunity in the current session of the General Assembly to advance the reliance on the Court. The Court’s fundamental role in maintaining and strengthening the legitimacy of international relations was manifested during both the High-level meeting on the Rule of Law and the General Debate of the General Assembly, as they focused on the themes pertinent to the purpose and activities of the Court. We hope that this momentum will continue to build-up and translate into more decisive actions and we think it is significant to assist the growing importance of the international justice.

Mr President,

Lithuania is pleased to contribute to the strengthening of the role of the Court.

During this year’s United Nations Treaty Event, Lithuania deposited with the Secretary General its declaration recognizing the jurisdiction of the Court as compulsory under the paragraph 2, Article 36 of the Statute of the Court, bringing the total number of the States that have done so to 68. It also deposited instruments of accession to the Optional Protocols to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations concerning the Compulsory Settlement of Disputes, which were added to the long list of treaties, in respect to which Lithuania had already recognized the Court‘s jurisdiction.

This was a logical step for my country, as it links with long standing legal tradition rooted to the Permanent Court of International Justice, the judicial body of the League of Nations. Basing its statehood on the right of the self-determination of its people, the Lithuanian State had no choice but to follow the ideas of the rule of law and peaceful settlement of disputes in its international relations. International justice provided at least titular security guarantees for the young nation. Not surprisingly Lithuania was one of the first to accept the compulsory jurisdiction of the Permanent Court when it signed the optional clause of the Permanent Court’s statute in 1922.

This faith of the Lithuanian government in reliance on international justice was rewarded in full. The Lithuanian State defended its legitimate place among the independent nations and successfully stood up for its interests in all three cases before the Permanent Court. The three cases, all of them related to different aspects of the territorial rearrangements that followed World War I, provide much valuable material for both historical examination of the international relations in Europe between the two world wars and legal analysis of the Permanent Court’s judgments as well as the development of international law in general.

Not less importantly, the recent recognition of the compulsory Jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice was a constitutional requirement, as it follows constitutional principles of Lithuania that necessitate respect for universally recognized principles and norms of international law and contribution to the creation of the international order based on law and justice.

Mr President,

Lithuania accepted compulsory jurisdiction of the Court September this year and invites all States yet not having done so to join the voluntary system of compulsory settlement of disputes by peaceful means and in accordance with international law.

Thank you.