Distinguished delegates of the Tallinn session of the Institute of the International Law,
Dear Members of the Organising Committee,
Ministers,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great honour and pleasure for me to welcome the members of the Institute of the International Law here in Tallinn. The gathering of a historic and Nobel Prize-awarded organisation in Estonia is a historic event for us and I would like to use this opportunity to thank Mr. Rein Müllerson for bringing this event and all of you to Tallinn.
Professor Müllerson, Rein, has played an important role in my career in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was my first boss, he was my mentor and has remained a friend for more than 20 years, with whom we meet from time to time in different cities, discuss political and legal questions. And it is always a challenge as well as a pleasure to exchange views with him, even when we sometimes disagree.
Rein thank you and congratulations for organizing such an extraordinary event in Tallinn.
International law is and has always been an important corner stone, especially for a small country like Estonia. The last century is a clear evidence of that. The global challenges like terrorism, climate change and grave human rights violations have brought us to a vastly changing world. For the purpose of finding common ground in this differentiated world it is even more important for the international community to lean on established norms and principles.
The Charter of the United Nations from 1945 emphasizes the desire of its founders to establish a system based on international law and to agree on world order that follows the rule of law. According to the preamble of the Charter, “the peoples of the United Nations are determined to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained”.
International law is and has always been an important corner stone, especially for a small country like Estonia. Estonia stands strongly for international law and order that is agreed upon by all countries and respected for according to the same principles. It is vital for the whole international community that the core values of mankind - democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms and the rule of law - are respected by everyone. No peace or justice, stability or security can be guaranteed unless the basic rights of all human beings are respected and protected in every country, by all governments.
Some weeks ago we celebrated the 75th anniversary of the U.S. policy of non-recognition of the Soviet seizure of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, based on the fundamental legal principle of ex injuria jus non oritur.
As a consequence of the non-recognition policy, combined with the uninterrupted functioning of our diplomatic missions, the Baltic states continued to exist as subjects of international law, and remained de jure independent states throughout the period of 1940 to 1991.
The situation we face in Europe today is that for the first time since the Second World War, one country has illegally occupied and annexed the territory of another state.
This act, not recognized by the international community, reminds us that the need to uphold the principles of international law and to resist power politics and spheres of influence logic is as important today as it was 75 years ago.
It is necessary, as was stated in the Sumner Welles declaration, to continue to oppose “predatory activities, whether they are carried out by the use of force or by the threat of force”.
Rapidly and widely connecting world opens space for new initiatives and mechanisms. We all, including Governments, have our role.
Estonia’s recent contribution to adapting the existing international law to the needs of the changing world is in the field of cyberspace. The internet is a unique and powerful tool and we are facing new challenges on how to apply existing norms and principles of the international law to the activities in cyberspace. I had the honor to belong to the United Nations Group of Governmental Experts on the Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunication in the context of International Security. Much of our work was dedicated to international law. There is international consensus that international law, particularly UN Charter applies to cyberspace. But there are still many open questions about the applicability of international law to for example state sovereignty, state responsibility etc.
The world has changed a lot over the 140 years of the Institute`s history and throughout these years the Institute’s efforts in developing the international law deserve our sincere gratitude and appreciation.
In this context I would like to reiterate what many of you have said, including Honorable dame Rosalyn Higgins, I saw it on TV - international law has to develop and go hand in hand with new challenges and new domains. And the Institute has an important role in that. We are looking at you.
The topics of this years’ Session – state succession in matters of state responsibility, universal civil jurisdiction with regard to reparation for international crimes, humanitarian intervention, piracy, human rights and private law - are important and topical and need the attention of great minds of international law. We remain eagerly waiting for Tallinn Resolutions and hope to read about international law and cyber in your next resolutions.
Charles W. Thayer, an American diplomat once said, actually in 1959: The lawyer, like the diplomat, deals in debate and compromise. Knowledge of law is essential to the diplomat, an ability to negotiate is essential to the lawyer, and knowledge of human nature is essential to both.
I would like to wish us all not to lose our human nature, even when dealing with the most difficult legal or international affairs.
In Tallinn, August 27, 2015