STATEMENT BY MR. LUKE TANG, COUNSELLOR (LEGAL), PERMANENT MISSION OF SINGAPORE TO THE UNITED NATIONS, ON AGENDA ITEM 80, ON THE UNITED NATIONS PROGRAMME OF ASSISTANCE IN THE TEACHING, STUDY, DISSEMINATION AND WIDER APPRECIATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW, SIXTH COMMITTEE, 16 OCTOBER 2017

Mr. Chairman,

1.               Singapore associates itself with the statement of the Kingdom of Cambodia on behalf of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and of Ecuador on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. We thank the Secretary-General for his report on this agenda item, and for the outstanding work of the Codification Division of the Office of Legal Affairs in implementing the Programme of Assistance. We also wish to acknowledge, in particular, Ms. Virginia Morris, for the important contributions she had made as Secretary of the Advisory Committee and we wish her the very best in her future endeavours.

2.               As a small State, which depends on a rules-based multilateral system for our survival and success, we identify strongly with the goals and purposes of the Programme of Assistance.  The dissemination and wider appreciation of international law is a critical first step in securing a rules-based international order. As such, Singapore is pleased to serve as a member of the Advisory Committee on the Programme.

Mr. Chairman,

3.               My delegation commends the Codification Division for its development of the Audiovisual Library of International Law. The Audiovisual Library is an excellent tool for providing high quality international law training and research materials on the global level and we strongly support its continued development. International lawyers from Singapore, including our Ambassador-at-Large Professor Tommy Koh, have contributed to this important project by providing lectures on a variety of subjects. We welcome, in particular, the use of off-site recording, including in Singapore, in order to promote a broader geographical and linguistic representation of the recorded lectures and to record lecturers who are unable to travel to New York. This is a good way of enabling users to benefit from the views and insights of lecturers who are not stationed in and/or unable to travel to New York.  It is one practical way to widen the selection of lecturers for the Audiovisual Library.

4.               Singapore also welcomes the training courses that have been or will be implemented under the Programme of Assistance. The Regional Courses in International Law, in particular, are an important avenue for reaching out and catering to the specific interests of countries in a given region. In this regard, we welcome the Regional Course for the Asia-Pacific to be held in Bangkok from 20 November to 15 December this year. We encourage the Codification Division to continue to explore opportunities to collaborate with countries and institutions in the different regions.

5.               While we applaud the various courses and initiatives that have been successfully implemented under the Programme of Assistance, there is still scope for improvement. In the various seminars organised by the Codification Division under the International Law Fellowship Programme, my delegation is of the view that there is scope to improve representation of the major legal systems and balance among various geographical regions. We encourage the Codification Division to continue to invite prominent international law scholars and practitioners from different regions and legal systems to participate as lecturers. We think that there is room for greater diversity in the representation.

Mr. Chairman,

6.               The Programme of Assistance represents one of the most important ways by which the United Nations contributes to the promotion of international law, as a means for strengthening international peace and security and promoting friendly relations and cooperation among States. As such, we welcome last year’s resolution requesting the Secretary-General to continue to include resources under the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2018–2019 for the International Law Fellowship Programme, the three Regional Courses and for the continuation and further development of the Audiovisual Library. We look forward to the sustained implementation of the Programme of Assistance in the years to come.

7.               I thank you for your attention.

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