Security Council Official Records
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UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL OFFICIAL RECORDS THIRTY-SIXTH YEAR 232r MEETING: 21 DECEMBER 1981 NEW YORK CONTENTS Provisional agenda (S/Agenda/232 1) . 1 Adoption of the agenda I..II.I.II*I.lllll..I~,~IIIII..IIII....,IIII.... 1 Date of elections to fill a vacancy in the International Court of Justice (S/14799) , , 1 Statement by the Presider,: regarding the 2306th meeting I**,II,I,,****,,,1 1 Statements by representatives of outgoing members.. , . , . , , , , . , . , , , . 1 Statement by the Secretary-General IIIIII.III,I,,I.,.I...II....,........ 6 Statement by the President II..III.II..,IIIII.,,....I....,II,.,,..,,,.,. 7 S/l’V.2321 1; -2.050 ? NOTE Symbols of United Nations documents are composed of capital letters com- bined with figures. Mention of such a symbol indicates n refcrencc to a United Nations document. Documents of the Security Comlcil (symbol S/ . , a) are normally published in qtuuIcrly .YII/~/~/~~III(~II/.\ of the ~?~licitrl l2~wmls o/‘/lrc .Srcrrri/y C‘ouucd. The date of the document intlicatcs the supplcmcnt in which it appears or in which infor- mation about it is given. The resolutions of the Security Council, numbered in ;~ccorclancc with II system adopted in 1964. are published in yeerly volumes of Nc.wdo/icmy od IhYsi,uc.\ r:/’ /lrc, .Swrwic,v C’rwwil. The new system. which has been applied retloxtively to resolutions xlopted before I January 1905. became fully opefiitivc 011 that date. 2321st MEETING Held in New York on Monday, 21 December 1981, aa 4.30 p.m. ! President: Mr. Olara A, OTUNNU (Uganda). 5. His loss has been deeply felt by the Government and the people of Egypt, by the International Court Pleserl!: The representatives of the following States: of Justice and by the international community. China, France, German Democratic Republic, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Niger, Panama, Philippines, Spain, 6. Under Article 14 of the Statute of the International Tunisia, Uganda, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Court of Justice, the Security Council is required to United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, fix a date for the election to fill any vacancy in the United States of America. Court. Members of the Council have before them in document S/14809 the text of a draft resolution pre- Provisional agenda (S/Agenda/2321) pared in the course of consultations. 1. Adoption of the agenda 7. It is my understanding that the Council is ready to proceed to vote now on the draft resolution. Unless 2. Date of elections to fill a vacancy in the Inter- I hear any objection, I shall put the draft resolution national Court of Justice (S/14799) to the vote. T/w twetirtg was culled to order at 4.40 p.m- A vote was ta&m by s/row of hands. Adoption of the agenda The druft resolrttion was adopted ro~anhnously (rrsoliitio~i 499 (1981)). The agmla IIYIS adopted. Statement by the President regarding Date of elections to fill a vacancy in tbe International the 2306th meeting Court of Justice (S/14799) 8. The PRESIDENT: I wish to make the following statement on behalf of the Council: I. The PRESIDENT: Members of the Council have before them document S/14799, which contains a note “The President of the Security Council has been by the Secretary-General. informed by the Secretariat that following the 2306th meeting of the Security Council, on 5 NO- 2. The recent death, on 12 December, of Judge vember 1981, devoted to the election of five mem- Abdullah El-Erian has created a vacancy in the Inter- bers of the International Court of Justice, a further national Court of Justice that has to be filled. examination of the ballots established that an error had inadvertently been made in the tally of votes 3. I am sure that 1 am expressing the sentiments of on the first ballot. all the members of the Council in extending sincere condolences to the delegation of Egypt on this sad “As the final result of the voting would have occasion. remained the same, the Council confirms that the result of the balloting announced at the conclusion 4. Judge El-Erian was educated at Cairo, Harvard of the 2306th meeting remains valid.” and Columbia Universities, and lectured at Cairo University from 1943 to 1961. From 1959 to 1968, he Statements by representatives of outgoing members was Director of the Legal and Treaty Department of the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, From 1968 9. The PRESIDENT: As it appears that this may be to 1979, he served as Deputy Permanent Represen- the last formal meeting of the Council for the curren! tative of his country to the United Nations, Permanent year, I propose to call on members who wish to speak Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva before I adjourn this meeting. and then Ambassador to France and Switzerland. He had been a member of the International Court of Justice 10. Mr. MUa LED0 (Mexico) (hterprctatiotf since February 1979, and his term of office would have ,fkor,t Spcotish): Mr. President, you have called US .~,>, ..I :.1 1‘..,%.,,..*... tnoo tmvtlrrv this ~~f’tr~~mn fo :wlnnt R derision within I ~. ~. :I lour competence concerninpl the date on which a mem- international relations and the political pressures = ber of thk International Co&t of Justice will be elected -stemming from bipolarism and hegemonism. My = I- -:to replace Judge Abdullah El-Erian, whose passing country was put forward to take a Latin American ‘saddens us. You have sought to res&e at the same seat on the Council at a time of institutional crisis -~time, with the tact and skill that you have so frequently threatening the Organization towards the end of the / shown, the matter relating to the inadvertent error thirty-fourth session of the General Assembly. With- made in tallying the votes in the first ballot in the out hesitation we assumed the high responsibility election of five members to the Court on 5 November. offered us to serve the international community, and we i have no regrets at having done so. I 1. My delegation particularly thanks you for the care that you have shown in dealing with this matter. 17. The Secretary of State for External Relations My Government’s request that the Council take a of Mexico emphasized here, as we began our work decision on it was motivated solely by a concern to [2/9&/t meeting], the risks involved in autonomous safeguard the prestige of this body and to see that its action by the Council and stated that for our country actions were worthy of respect. We agree that, in membership of this body could be meaningful only if principle, that mistake did not in any way affect the the decision had been taken to act independently and final outcome of the voting, but we feel that only the constructively. He pointed out that we were not joining Council has the competence to confirm or ratify the this body as allies, friends or enemies of anyone, validity of its decisions. That has now been done but in order to support just causes and to defend through a statement by the President, endorsed by all principles. the members, which is without a doubt a healthy precedent which will help to enhance our authority. 18. Our experience in the Council, which I do not have to rehearse now, has been highly positive. It has 12. We are far along in the year and our agenda is shown us that, despite consti:utional limitations, strict brief. Thus, this meeting will doubtless close the adherence to the principles of the Charter is com- year’s work and is a propitious occasion for fare- patible with the demands of political compromise wells, auld lang synes and good resolutions. which are ineluctable in a body of this nature. This is possible provided that there is a willingness to nego- 13. We shall hear a statement by the Secret-ry- tiate and as long as there is no fear of a rupture and as General, Mr. Kurt Waldheim, who today is taking his long as our legitimate positions are not sacrificed in the leave of the Council. We have lived through so many name of false unanimity. hours with him and shared so many challenges and hopes that the hour of leave-taking, of saying goodbye, 19. I wish to bear witness to the progress signified is a difficult one. by the growing solidarity among the developing coun- tries, permanent or non-permanent members of this 1, 14. Mr. Secretary-General, you may be sure that what body. The policy of non-aljgnment and the innumerable you have done for the Organization and in it has been struggles of the Group of 77 are gaining an ever clearer I, a daily example of devotion and strict professionalism and more influential expression in the decisions of the with a high sense of duty. None of the major or even Council. Otherwise, it would noi reflect the aspirations the minor international problems of the last 10 years of the international community and would simply \ was outside your notice; you paid attention to ali of become an anachronistic obstacle to the process of them; and there were more than a few crises which making the United Nations more democratic. weie attenuated or resolved because of your timely -~ and prudent intervention. Your image remains asso- 20. The highly regarded delegations of the German ciated with the history of our time, and you take with Democratic Republic, the Niger. the Philiouines and you the well-deserved gratitude of the United Nations Tunisia are al&leaving.