| UN Security Council Resolution 979 | |
|---|---|
International Court of Justice | |
| Date | 9 March 1995 |
| Meeting no. | 3,507 |
| Code | S/RES/979 (Document) |
| Subject | International Court of Justice |
| Result | Adopted |
| Security Council composition | |
Permanent members | |
Non-permanent members | |
United Nations Security Council resolution 979, adopted without a vote on 9 March 1995, after noting the death of International Court of Justice (ICJ) judge Roberto Ago on 24 February 1995, the Council decided that elections to the vacancy on the ICJ would take place on 21 June 1995 at the Security Council and at a meeting of the General Assembly during its 49th session.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) sometimes called the World Court, is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (U.N.). It settles legal disputes submitted by states and gives advisory opinions on legal issues referred by authorized U.N. organs and specialized agencies. Through its opinions and rulings, the ICJ also serves as a source of international law.
Roberto Ago was an Italian jurist. He served as a judge on the International Court of Justice from 1979 until 1995. Ago served as Professor of International Law at the Universities of Catania (1934–1935), Genoa (1935–1938), and finally Rome (1956–1982). He specialized in both private and public international law. He gave his first Hague Academy lecture in 1936 at the age of twenty-eight, on general conflict of laws rules. He also gave lectures at the Hague Academy in 1939, 1956, 1971, and 1983, on topics ranging from international torts to the Grotian conception of international law. He also served as Chairman of the Hague Academy Curatorium for the last 20 years of his life. In 1970 Ago was awarded honorary membership in the American Society of International Law. He served as a delegate to international conferences on the law of the sea and on diplomatic relations. In addition, Ago presided over the Vienna Conference on the Law of Treaties from 1968 to 1969. He also acted as counsel for several governments appearing before the International Court of Justice. He was a member of the International Law Commission from 1956 to 1979 and served as its chairman from 1964 to 1965. Former ICJ judge Stephen M. Schwebel said that Ago, through his work with the International Law Commission, had an "extended and preeminent" role in the codification work of the International Law Commission. He also worked closely with the International Labour Organization, twice presiding over the ILO Governing Body. For the last thirty-five years of his life, Ago chaired the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association. Ago was also an active member of the Institut du Droit International from 1932 until his death, serving as its President from 1992 to 1993.
The United Nations General Assembly is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), the only one in which all member nations have equal representation, and the main deliberative, policy-making, and representative organ of the UN. Its powers are to oversee the budget of the UN, appoint the non-permanent members to the Security Council, appoint the Secretary-General of the United Nations, receive reports from other parts of the UN, and make recommendations in the form of General Assembly Resolutions. It has also established numerous subsidiary organs.
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Ago, an Italian jurist, was a member of the court since 1979. His term of office was due to expire in February 1997. [1]
