04 November 2013 – The Philippines renewed its call for the universal respect for the rule of law by voicing its support for the work of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on October 31.

In a statement delivered before the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, the Department of Foreign Affairs’ Assistant Secretary for Legal Affairs, Irene Susan Natividad, stated, “Only a strong rule of law at the international level can guarantee the respect, order, and stability that we desire and deserve … as the principal judicial organ of the UN, the ICJ continues to play a vital role in international relations.”

Assistant Secretary Natividad is in New York to represent the Philippines in the annual meeting of legal advisers of ministries of foreign affairs on the occasion of International Law Week at the world body.

Her statement followed the comprehensive oral summary delivered by the ICJ President Peter Tomka.

Assistant Secretary Natividad urged parties to ICJ cases to comply with its decisions, in line with every state’s duty to peacefully resolve their disputes, pursuant to the UN Charter and the 1982 Manila Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes.

According to Assistant Secretary Natividad, the Manila Declaration articulates the norms, values and aspirations of states to settle disputes exclusively by peaceful means, without the use or threat of use of force.

She noted that the jurisdiction of the ICJ has become “sharper than ever before” and that the creation of the International Criminal Court and specialized dispute settlement mechanisms like the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization did not make the ICJ any less important.

“On the contrary, the new international legal architecture only strengthens the ICJ as the only forum for resolving justiciable disputes between States concerning the vast field of general international law. As a matter of fact, the Court is still seized of territorial, maritime, environmental damage, and conservation of living resources disputes,” she said. 

Assistant Secretary Natividad also reiterated the Philippines’ call for more UN member states to accept the compulsory jurisdiction of the ICJ.

Only 70 UN member states – including the Philippines – accept the ICJ’s compulsory jurisdiction, by which agreeing states, as a general rule, recognize each other’s right to bring a case against another without need of a special agreement for that purpose.

Assistant Secretary Natividad also urged the UN Security Council to make greater use of the ICJ as a source of advisory opinions to interpret relevant norms of international law, particularly as they affect the maintenance of international peace and security.

She concluded that, “If there is anything that the UN Charter, the Statute of the ICJ, its jurisprudence and experience teach, it is that the weak, if their cause is just, should have no fear of the mighty … that the rule of law in international relations has a chance to prevail.” END