Rule of law vital everywhere - says Migiro

The United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Dr Asha-Rose Migiro

The United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Dr Asha-Rose Migiro has underscored the central role played by the rule of law in the work of the UN saying that it drives the Organisation`s work in all areas and at all levels, including in the Security Council.

Dr. Migiro, said this on Thursday when addressing a panel discussion in New York focusing on the Security Council and the rule of law.

She said that promoting the rule of law at both national and international levels goes to the very heart of the UN mission.
She further defined the rule of law as ?a principle of governance in which all persons, institutions and entities, public and private - including the State itself - are accountable to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced and independently adjudicated, and which are consistent with international human rights norms.?

She added that the normative foundation of the UN work in advancing the rule of law is the UN Charter, together with the four pillars of the modern international legal system: international human rights law; international humanitarian law; international criminal law; and international refugee law.

She said the UN operates on the basis of requests from Member States, and that the UN work is carried out for the benefit of recipient countries, and in accordance with their own plans, priorities and national strategies.

?We know from experience that, if we are to consolidate peace after conflict, or maintain peace in the long term, the population needs to be confident that redress for grievances can be obtained through legitimate structures for the peaceful settlement of disputes and the fair administration of justice?, she said.
Dr. Migiro added: ?But we also know that, if imposed from the outside, no rule of law reform or transitional justice initiative can be successful or sustainable.

We need to better support national stakeholders in developing their own reform vision, their own agenda, and their own approaches to transitional justice.?

Speaking on the work of Security Council as far as the rule of law is concerned, Dr Migiro said that the Council in its work, seeks a middle ground between the needs for peace and justice, through consensus that one cannot exist without the other, she noted.

?But as experience has taught us, it is a consensus that cannot be taken for granted,? she said. ?That is why our focus on the rule of law calls for early interventions, so as to prevent situations where demands for justice become a subject for negotiations,? she noted.

Noting that the UN?s numerous rule of law activities were scattered across the Organization, Dr Migiro said she was chairing the Rule of Law Coordination and Resource Group established by the Secretary-General.

The Group comprises the heads of eight UN departments and entities dealing with the issue, including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the UN Office of Legal Affairs (OLA), UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP).