Intervention by Minister Alejandro Guillermo Verdier

February 22

Mr. President:

Allow me first of all to congratulate the members of the Bureau on their election and to assure the cooperation of this Delegation during the work of the Committee.

Argentina welcomes the decision of the Committee, endorsed by the General Assembly in its resolution 72/118, to hold an annual thematic debate in the Special Committee, on the subject of the peaceful settlement of disputes, in order to examine the means for the settlement of disputes, in accordance with Chapter VI of the Charter, in particular those contained in its Article 33, and in accordance with the Manila Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes.

It should be recalled, in this context, that the Manila Declaration, approved by Resolution 37/10 of November 15, 1982, is the product of the work of the Special Committee of the Charter of the United Nations.

As reaffirmed in the Manila Declaration, as well as in Resolution 67/1 "Declaration of the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the rule of law at the national and international levels", and other instruments, all States have the duty to settle their international disputes by peaceful means, such as negotiation, investigation, good offices, mediation, conciliation, arbitration and judicial settlement or other peaceful means of their choice.

The Argentine Republic is committed to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. Hence, it guides its international action with the conviction that multilateralism is essential for international peace and security. Argentina reiterates its commitment to the principle of the peaceful settlement of international disputes and maintains that all methods of peaceful settlement of disputes are equally valid for the resolution of conflicts, and only through these methods can fair and lasting solutions be assured.

In that regard, we stress the obligation on all Member States to agree to peacefully resolve their disputes as required by the Charter of the United Nations, as well as the particular role that the Charter entrusts to the Secretary General in the field of good offices and mediation.

Negotiation is the primary means of dispute resolution. In this context, my country deems it necessary to highlight the need that parties to a dispute comply, in good faith, with the calls made by the organs of the organization, including the General Assembly. When the organs of the United Nations, in particular the General Assembly, encourage them to negotiate, the interested parties must do so in good faith, refraining from performing acts that could frustrate the obligation of both Parties to resolve it by peaceful means. Also, third parties to the dispute must refrain from conducts that could frustrate the fulfilling of the obligation of the parties to solve the dispute peacefully.

Among the means of peaceful solution at the disposal of the Organization and its Member States, the role of good offices that the Organization can entrust to the Secretary General should also be highlighted. The possibility that a mission of good offices or any other means of peaceful solution may achieve its object and purpose, depends on the fulfillment in good faith of the obligations that weigh on the parties in those proceedings.

The use of various dispute resolution mechanisms is subject to the necessary consent of the parties to be involved in a certain process for the peaceful settlement of disputes. However, it is clear that the superior obligation of all Member States to settle disputes by peaceful means can never be subject to the consent of the parties. That is why it would not be appropriate to condition the consent of the parties to a dispute to the mandate given by the international community to the Secretary-General.

To conclude, I wish to refer to the mechanism of inquiry. Fact-finding commissions, as  impartial bodies to determine the facts of a controversy, play a fundamental role in its solution. In this context, I would like to highlight the role of the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission foreseen in Protocol I of the 1949 Geneva Conventions.

Thank  you very much.