S/PV.3170 Security Council

As this is the first meeting of the Security Council for the month of February, I should like to take this opportunity to pay a tribute, on behalf of the Council, to His Excellency Mr. Yoshio Hatano, Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations, for his service as President of the Security Council for the month of January 1993. I am sure I speak for all members of the Security Council in expressing deep appreciation to Ambassador Hatano for the great diplomatic skill and unfailing courtesy with which he conducted the Council's business last month. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA The asenda was adopted. DATE OF AN ELECTION TO FILL A VACANCY IN THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE (S/25224)

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on the agenda. The Security Council is meeting in accordance with the understanding reached in the course of its prior consultations, Members of the Council have before them document S/25224, which contain,s a note dated 1 February 1993 by the Secretary-General concerning the date of an election to fill a vacancy in the International Court of Justice, Members of the Council will have had an opportunity to study document S/25224, which explains the need for this item on our agenda. The recent death of Judge Manfred Laths on 14 January 1993 has created a vacancy on the International Court of Justice, which has to be filled, Judge Manfred Laths, a member and former President of the International Court of Justice, had a long and distinguished career in the service of Poland in the field of international relations, paprticularly in the arbitration and judicial settlement of international disputes, as well as in the academic field. Judge Laths served as Chairman of the Sixth Committee of the United Nations General Assembly in 1949, 1951 and 1955 and of the Legal Subcommittee of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space from 1962 to 1966. He was a member of the International Law Commission from 1962 to 1966 and of the International Civil Service Advisory Board from 1958 to 1967, and served on the Special Committee on Procedures of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in 1964. In connection with the settlement of international disputes, Judge Laths was a member of the Arbitral Tribunal for the Interpretation of the Constitution of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation in 1949, and of the Permanent Court of Arbitration from 1956 to 1993. He was President of the Arbitration Tribunal on the delimitation of the maritime frontier between Guinea and Guinea-Bissau from 1983 to 1985 and a member of the Chamber of the Court in the ,frontier dispute between Burkina Faso and Mali, Judge Laths's numerous articles and other publications cover such topics as multilateral treaties, war crimes, disputes settlement, outer space law and the teaching of law. Judge Manfred Laths was indeed a most distinguished international lawyar and jurist, and an eminent ‘judge. His loss has been deeply felt by the Government and the people of Poland, the International Court of Justice and the international community as a whole. I am sure that I am expressing the sentiments of all the members of the Council in extending sincere condolences to the President of the Court, to the Government of Poland and to the bereaved family. Judge Laths was elected as a member of the International Court of Justice for a term of nine years from 6 February 1967. He was reelected as from 6 February 1976 and then again as from 6 February 1985. His term of office would have expired on 5 February 1994. Under Article 14 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, the Security Council is to fix the date for the election to fill the vacancy in the Court. As I reported to members during our prior consultations on this matter, the election could take place on 10 May 1993 at a meeting of the Security Council and at a meeting of the General Assembly at its forty-seventh session. Members of the Council have before them in document S/25226 the text o:f a draft resolution prepared in the course of the Council's consultations. May I take it that the Council is ready to proceed to a decision on the draft resolution? There being no objection, it is so decided. In the light of the consultations which I have held, it is my understanding that the Council is ready to adopt the draft resolution contained in document S/25226 unanimously. There being no objection, it is so decided. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 805 (1993). The Security Council has thus concluded its consideration of the item on the agenda. The meetinq rose at 11.40 a.m.