S/PV.3507 Security Council

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 its prior consultations. Members of the Council have before them document S/1995/178, which contains the note dated 6 March 1995 by the Secretary-General concerning the date of an election to fill a vacancy in the International Court of Justice. That note explains the need for the item on our agenda. The recent death, on 24 February 1995, of Judge Roberto Ago has created a vacancy in the International Court of Justice which has to be filled. Judge Ago, a member of the International Court of Justice, had a long and distinguished career in the service of the Court and of his country in the field of international law and diplomacy. He was President of various arbitration tribunals, in particular the Franco-German Tribunal on the Saar, the Arbitration Tribunal between France and the United States on the Interpretation of the Air Transport Agreement, and the Arbitration Tribunal on the question of the Grands Moulins de Dakar. He represented Italy in numerous United Nations bodies. He was head of the Italian delegation to United Nations Conferences on the Law of the Sea in 1958 and 1960, to the Conference on Diplomatic Relations in 1961, and to the Conferences on the Law of Treaties in 1968 and 1969. From 1957 to 1959 he was a member of the International Law Commission, and he was also a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration from 1957. From 1959 to 1960 Judge Ago was an ad hoc judge in the International Court of Justice. An eminent Italian university professor of international law, Judge Ago was a member of the Commission for drafting the European Constitution. Judge Roberto Ago was the author of several legal publications as well as Director and Co-Director of various Italian law reviews. He was indeed a most distinguished scholar, international lawyer and jurist and an eminent judge. His loss has been deeply felt by the Government and the people of Italy, by the International Court of Justice and by 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 Italy and to the bereaved family of Judge Roberto Ago. Judge Roberto Ago was elected a member of the International Court of Justice on 6 February 1979. He was re-elected as from 6 February 1988 for a further period of nine years. His term of office would have expired on 6 February 1997. 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 agreed during our prior consultations on this matter, the election could take place on 21 June 1995 at a meeting of the Security Council and at a meeting of the General Assembly at its forty-ninth session. Members of the Council also have before them document S/1995/186, which contains the text of a draft resolution prepared in the course of the Council's prior 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/1995/186 without a vote. The draft resolution has been adopted as resolution 979 (1995).