Secretary General,
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure to host this dinner here this evening, and we are particularly honoured by the presence of the Secretary General.

The community of nations is increasingly being faced with global challenges, which can only be effectively met by common efforts. Not even the strongest among us can stand alone. The United Nations is therefore more important today than ever before.

Your Excellencies,
There can be no lasting peace or security without justice. When states fail to secure justice and the rule of law, intolerance, extremism and terrorism have fertile ground.

Justice is the key to national peace and security, as well as to international peace and security. It is as much a precondition for political stability and reconciliation as it is for economic development.

Lasting peace and reconciliation cannot co-exist with impunity for atrocities and mass killings. This is equally true in the Balkans, in the Great Lakes region of Africa, in Sierra Leone, in East Timor and in Afghanistan.

No one is above international humanitarian law. As nation states, we have a responsibility to our own people, as well as to the international community, to bring the perpetrators of grave crimes to justice.

National remedies must be given priority. Only if national legal systems of law are unwilling or unable to apprehend and prosecute the perpetrators of mass atrocities – only then should the international community take responsibility.

Sierra Leone is a case in point. Because of the efforts of the Secretary General, no amnesty was given for international crimes.

The Rwanda Tribunal is another. Despite serious administrative problems over a long period of time, the Tribunal is now on the right course.

With former president Milosovic in The Hague, the Yugoslavia Tribunal has every possibility to both serve the cause of justice and contribute to reconciliation in the Balkans.

These tribunals are playing a historic role in securing justice. Our joint responsibility, as set out by the Security Council, is to contribute to their success.

Justice must be served. But there is no quick fix as regards transitional justice. The implementation of justice does often pose a dilemma. Sometimes one has to strike a balance between bringing the guilty to justice on the one hand, and fostering a fragile peace and reconciliation process on the other.
In some cases healing is more important than prosecuting. Sometimes truth commissions may be as important as courts of law. There are no universally applicable models.

Your Excellencies,
The rule of law lies at the foundation of every democratic society.
Justice is essential for both stability and peace.
There must be no sanctuary for the perpetrators of international crimes. This is why we need an International Criminal Court.

Promoting international criminal justice must be our common task. Only by working together can we prevent mass atrocities, fight terrorism effectively and secure lasting peace.

Thank you.