Rule of Law India and UN

Rule of Law

    India is one of the original signatories of the United Nations. It has ratified the UN Charter as well as the Statute of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). To implement its obligations to the UN, India enacted the United Nations (Security Council) Act and the United Nations (Privileges and Immunities) Act in 1947.  India is also party to about 2000 bilateral, regional and multilateral treaties or agreements and has ratified most of the important international treaties and conventions, especially those adopted by the UN and its Specialised Agencies. To give effect to its treaty obligations, India has enacted a number of laws, including the Diplomatic Relations (Vienna Convention) Act, 1972;Chemical Weapons Convention Act, 2000; Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Maritime Navigation and Fixed Platforms on Continental Shelf Act, 2002; Biological Diversity Act, 2002 the Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Act, 2005.

2.  India is active on legal issues at the United Nations, especially in the Sixth (Legal) Committee of the UN General Assembly. By appointing a trained lawyer dedicated to the legal matters, India is contributing to the work of the Sixth Committee and brings-in its national legal perspective on the agenda items allocated to the Sixth Committee.

3.  India also contributed to the jurisprudence of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) and the ICJ by nominating its nationals. One of its past Permanent Representatives to the United Nations was elected as judge of the ICJ in 1952 and served on the Court until his untimely death in the next year. Besides, a few eminent lawyers and jurists from India served on ICJ as elected or ad-hoc judges. Further, the Indian lawyers are almost regularly elected to the UN International Law Commission.

4.  India is party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Agreement relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the UNCLOS; and the 1995 United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement. India has been a member of the Council of the International Seabed Authority and its experts are elected to its Finance Committee and the Legal and Technical Commission. Also an Indian scientist is regularly elected to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf established under the UNCLOS.  Further, an Indian jurist has been an elected judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea since its establishment in 1996.