Mr. President, Your Excellencies, Distinguished Representatives, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my high honour to convey the Secretary-General of the United Nations' most sincere congratulations on the occasion of this great achievement. I have just spoken to him. He is on his way to Rome.

Allow me to begin by congratulating all the participants in the Conference and, in particular, the President, Mr. Giovanni Conso, the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole, Ambassador Philippe Kirsch, and the Chairman of the Drafting Committee, Professor Cherif Bassiouni. Your guidance and leadership have brought this Conference to its successful completion.

Distinguished Representatives,

Through your collective efforts you have created a Statute that will establish the international criminal court that has long been recognized as the missing link in the international legal system. You have deliberated with great care and patience and have negotiated through very difficult passages. That you had to overcome great obstacles was not a surprise. The questions that you successfully resolved have posed a challenge to the United Nations for more than 50 years - a challenge that you now have met.

No doubt many would have liked a Court vested with even more far-reaching powers, but that should not lead us to minimize the breakthrough which you have achieved. Today, we rightly mark a genuine step of progress in human rights and the rule of law. The adoption of the Statute is, however, only the first step in establishing the Court. States must now sign and ratify or accede to the Statute. I hope that we in the next few months will witness a concerted movement in support of the Court as soon as the necessary constitutional requirements for these actions are fulfilled at the national level.

I would like to recognize also the very important contribution to the negotiation process over the last few years by the intergovernmental organizations and the nongovernmental organizations. The non-governmental organizations, in particular, have contributed significantly, setting an example by coordinating their efforts and focusing on the substance of the negotiations.