The Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden and Norway, once again commend the International Law Commission and the Special Rapporteur Mr. John Dugard for the excellent and swift work that led to adoption in 2006 of the draft articles on diplomatic protection.
The Nordic countries have on various occasions expressed their view on the substance of the articles elaborated by the Commission. We have offered our comments in the debate here in the Sixth Committee at the time when the articles still were under consideration and we also provided more comprehensive comments on the whole set of Articles when the Commission finished its second reading of the Articles in 2006.
Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 61/35 of 4 December 2006, the Nordic countries have also submitted their comments concerning the final form in which the Articles on diplomatic protection should be adopted. I would, however, like to briefly reiterate our position to this topic.
The draft articles meet the general satisfaction of the Nordic countries. We continue to believe that the General Assembly should follow the recommendation of the International Law Commission and, in a relatively short time, adopt the draft articles in the form of a convention. A convention on diplomatic protection would enhance legal clarity and predictability in this important field of law.
We note that the view has been expressed by some states that the topic of diplomatic protection and the topic of responsibility of states for internationally wrongful acts are so closely linked that the two sets of draft articles must be treated similarly. While we fully recognize that there are ties between these two topics, and that it could be advantageous to adopt the articles in the same form, we still believe it is perfectly feasible to adopt different approaches in terms of the final form of the two sets of draft articles.
We thank the Secretary General for his report A/65/182 and its addendum. We have taken due note of the diverging views as to the question of final form of the draft articles that have been presented in this year’s report as well as the report that was published on the same topic in 2007 (A/62/118 and addendum no 1). In this regard, the Nordic countries stand ready to consider all options that will safeguard the core elements of the articles and which ensure their position as a source of inspiration and guidance for States in exercising the right to diplomatic protection.