You will recall that, last Wednesday, the Secretary-General sent to the President and to all delegations a message with clear indications of his thoughts. This message was distributed as an Information document of the Conference and was read out, in part, by me in this Committee before it was to consider the Bureau's first paper that same day. He has also taken other steps to facilitate the negotiation process.

This afternoon, the Committee of the Whole will continue to consider the proposal presented by the Bureau last Friday and contained in document A/CONF.183/C.1/L.59.  It is my assessment, as Representative of the Secretary-General, that the considerations today will have a determining effect on the outcome of this Conference.

I think that it is important to confirm at the present juncture that the Secretary-General is following the negotiation process very carefully. I can assure you that, even if he is not present here in person, he is very much with us in his thoughts.  I have been reporting to him faithfully during the whole negotiation process. In the last few days, I have been in contact both with him and with his Office, in the latter case several times a day.

The Secretary-General is confident that a positive outcome of this Conference will emerge. However, time is running short. This was also stressed by the Chairman this morning. Unless a solution on major outstanding substantive issues emerges very soon, there will be difficulties in putting together all the provisions of the Statute and coordinate them in such a way that the Statute can be ready for adoption later this week.

As it appears from today's journal and as was pointed out by the Chairman, the Plenary is scheduled to meet again on Thursday morning.  This means that the remaining work in the Committee of the Whole has to be finished by Wednesday.

A striking feature of this process has been - and is - the determination with which delegations engage in their work. Many participants have been working extremely hard, participating in working groups, informal consultations and other fora during the Conference. This commitment is remarkable. However, it now starts standing out in contrast to the very firm positions that some delegations have taken based on their national concerns. Certainly, delegations must have good national reasons for insisting upon their positions in the negotiations. However, this Conference is engaged in an exercise to create an international institution to serve the world at large. This means that national positions must be harmonized in the interest of common objectives. It requires a determined effort to reach consensus.

There seems to be emerging an agreed approach that commands wide support. On behalf of the Secretary-General, I plead with those delegations that still insist on very firm positions, based on national considerations, to make every possible effort to work with other delegations to find common ground. The Secretary-General sincerely hopes that the necessary consensus building will emerge and that the Conference will be able to adopt the Statute of the Court during this Conference.

Delegations must also recognize that the Statute must create a Court that has credibility in the minds of the general public.  The general public is well informed about the many problems that the Court is to remedy in the future.

 I thank you for your attention.