Vietnam affirms support for international legal processes at UN General Assembly
Ambassador Pham Hai Anh, Deputy Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN, affirmed Vietnam’s support for international legal processes, including those at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) while addressing the 76th UN General Assembly’s plenary meeting discussing the court’s annual report on October 28.
Ambassador Pham Hai Anh, Deputy Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN. (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) - Ambassador Pham Hai Anh, Deputy PermanentRepresentative of Vietnam to the UN, affirmed Vietnam’s support forinternational legal processes, including those at the International Court ofJustice (ICJ) while addressing the 76th UN General Assembly’splenary meeting discussing the court’s annual report on October 28.
Anh emphasised that the peaceful settlement of internationaldisputes is one of the basic principles of international law.
He said thatcountries can choose from a variety of dispute settlement methods under theprovisions of the UN Charter, including the arbitration mechanism, and theyhave obligations to comply with and implement decisions and judgments ofinternational jurisdiction agencies.
Vietnam has contributed ideas to many legal processes at the ICJ, and hopesthat the court will continue supporting the improvement of capacity ofcountries in using arbitration and jurisdiction mechanisms to resolve disputes.
Regarding the Trust Fund for the Judicial FellowshipProgramme of the ICJ, Anh affirmed that Vietnam expects the trust fund will comeinto operation soon to support law students graduating from developingcountries to practice at the court, thus contributing to improving theinternational legal capacity of these countries.
ICJ President Judge Joan E. Donoghue said the courthas been seised of three new contentious cases since August 1, 2020, thestarting date of the period covered by the report, and that the court has heldhybrid hearings in nine cases and delivered five judgments during the sameperiod. There are currently four cases under deliberation, she added.
Donoghue noted that the court’s docket remained full, with 15 contentious casescurrently pending before it “involving States from all regions of the world andtouching on a wide range of issues, including territorial and maritime delimitation,the status of international watercourses, reparations for internationallywrongful acts, and alleged violations of bilateral and multilateral treaties concerning,among other things, diplomatic relations, the elimination of racialdiscrimination, the prevention of genocide and the suppression of terrorismfinancing”.
Representatives from more than 60 countries also deliveredspeeches at the event, in which they affirmed that the ICJ has an importantrole in the peaceful settlement of disputes through adjudicating cases betweenstates and providing advisory opinions at the request of the UN GeneralAssembly, the UN Security Council and several UN agencies under the provisions ofthe UN Charter. Through its judicial function, the court has made an importantcontribution to promoting the observance of the UN Charter and internationallaw, and to sustainable development, peace, security and stability in theworld./.
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Ambassador Pham Hai Anh, Deputy Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN. (Photo: VNA) 
