Mr President

Delegates and observers,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I will start by conveying to you, Mr President, my Government’s congratulations for your election to conduct the workings of the Conference, an acknowledgement of your achievements both in the personal and the professional fields.  Likewise, I would like to mention the gratefulness of all members of our delegation towards the people and the Government of Italy.   We have had a warm welcome in this beautiful city, the actual cradle of the system of law in force in several domestic societies, including mine.
 
Mr President: It is our view that the Conference bringing us together today will be the last great rendezvous  of the international community of this century and, indeed, of this millenium which is about to conclude.

It is by no means a coincidence that this meeting takes place in the middle of significant anniversaries that are closely related to the matters we will be dealing with.  Before the end of the present year the world community will be celebrating fifty years of the solemn proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the adoption of the Genocide Convention.  In the regional plane, just a few weeks ago we remembered in the Americas the adoption of an instrument our peoples and citizens are very proud of, namely the American Declaration of Rights and Duties of Man, approved by the States members of the Inter-American System in Bogota on April 29, 1948.

Moreover, the next year will witness two important anniversaries: on one hand, we shall have the Centenary of the First Hague Peace Conference, in which important decisions concerning the codification of the laws and customs of war were taken. On the other hand, the world will celebrate the fifty years of the adoption of the four Geneva Conventions, basic pillars of modern International Humanitarian Law.  In 1999 the United Nations Decade for International Law, timely proclaimed by the General Assembly following an initiative from the Non Aligned Movement  - of which Colombia currently holds the presidency -  also comes to and end.

Among these events, the convening of this conference by the General Assembly stands out.  It is charged with the task of defining the terms of the constituent instrument of an organ whose absence has been rightly considered as one major institutional deficiency of the international legal order, namely a criminal court of a permanent nature.  This Court will be called to perform vital tasks, such as administering justice on behalf of all the peoples of the world, applying existing rules of substantive international criminal law and processing individuals responsible for the most serious crimes of international concern.  To use the wording of the famous opening sentence in the San Francisco Charter, we could very well declare that in this year of 1998 and in this eternal city we, the peoples of the United Nations, have decided that the moment for the establishment of such a court has finally come.

This Conference has the task of adopting the Statute of the International Criminal Court and has also the responsibility to ensure that this instrument provides a proper legal basis for a fair, independent and effective tribunal.  We believe that the Draft Statute before the Conference is a good point of departure to achieve that aim.  Therefore, we would like to express our deep gratitude to the International Law Commission, whose work on this topic has to a large extent paved the way leading us to this point.

Mr President,
In the view of the Colombian Government, the jurisdiction of the ICC to be created should comprise the most serious crimes of international concern, recognised as such in general international law.   In this context, the Statute must include clear and precise rules governing the conditions under which the international trial mechanism to be set up would enter to play a role, given the fact that such a mechanism seeks to complement rather than to substitute for, domestic systems of administration of justice.

Lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to announce a formal initiative concerning the text of Article 108 of the Draft Statute, relating to the settlement of disputes.  The Republic of Colombia, faithful to its well known tradition of compliance with and respect for international law, considers that international adjudication is an ideal method for the peaceful settlement of disputes of a legal nature between States.  Consequently, we propose bestowing on The International Court of Justice, principal judicial organ of the United Nations, the task of resolving disputes which may arise between States Parties to the Statute relating to interpretation or application of  its provisions, other than those relating to the scope of the jurisdiction of the Criminal Court.  The latter should, no doubt, be resolved by the very court we intend to set up.

Mr President, honourable delegates
I said above that this Conference has not only a precise mandate but also a main responsibility.  Let me now add that all those who have the privilege to participate in it have also a very daring challenge: to ensure that the legitimate expectations and the longing for justice of the peoples who have suffered the effects of heinous crimes like genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity are fulfilled, so that citizens of all nations may have the certainty that in the future atrocities like the ones which have taken place in different moments throughout the present century will not go unpunished.
We all have to meet this challenge.