From 31 May to 1 June 2023, the Legal Counsel of the United Nations, Mr. Miguel de Serpa Soares visited Brussels, Belgium, at the invitation of the Swedish Presidency of the European Union to have an informal meeting with the Members of the Council of the European Union Working Party on Public International Law (COJUR) on topical legal issues of common interest and concern. The driving force behind this meeting was Ambassador Elinor Hammarskjöld, Director-General for Legal Affairs in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Sweden to whom the Legal Counsel is very grateful. The meeting with the Members of COJUR on 1 June 2023 provided an opportunity to discuss legal issues around the conflict in Ukraine and the process of the adoption of an international legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, among many others.
On 31 May 2023, the Legal Counsel participated in a side-event co-organized by the European External Action Service and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Belgium which brought together the Members of COJUR, Representatives of other States and academics.
In the margins of his visit to Brussels, Mr. Serpa Soares held meetings with the newly appointed Director-General of the Council Legal Service, Ms. Emer Finnegan, with the Director-General of the Legal Service of the Commission, Mr. Daniel Calleja Crespo, and the Chief Legal Officer of the European External Action Service, Mr. Frank Hoffmeister.
