Multilateral cooperation
Moreover, the various working groups of the Council hardly distinguish between member and
observer states, since their outcomes often have to be approved by the General Assembly –
where all UN member states have a vote – after they have been adopted by the Human Rights
Council. This situation for instance allowed Liechtenstein to help shape the outcome document
of the 2009 Geneva Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related
Intolerance (Durban II) with its own contributions.
In the field of international law, Liechtenstein has a strong profile in the responsible Sixth
Committee of the General Assembly, where it also served as deputy chairman. For several
years, Liechtenstein – together with Mexico – has also introduced the resolution on the rule
of law at the national and international levels. One of the focus areas in recent years has been
Liechtenstein’s involvement in the International Criminal Court (ICC).10 Liechtenstein has
played a leading role in several ways: First, Liechtenstein headed the negotiations on the
system for the election of judges, and later Ambassador Christian Wenaweser chaired the
Special Working Group on the Crime of Aggression (SWGCA) and finally served as President of
the Assembly of States Parties.11 The highlight of the Presidency was the Review Conference in
Kampala, Uganda – the first international conference chaired by Liechtenstein. Even now that
the Presidency has been completed, the ICC remains a priority topic, especially also through the
project on ratification of the treaty amendments adopted in Kampala on the crime of aggression
and through the creation and establishment of an Informal Ministerial Network to give political
support to the ICC. Additionally, Liechtenstein has been active for years regarding the rule of
law of UN sanctions and it has made its own contributions to the preparations of the high-level
meeting on the rule of law in September 2012.
Apart from the field of human rights, Liechtenstein has raised its profile on institutional
Liechtenstein
questions especially in regard to reform of the Security Council: Liechtenstein cochaired the responsible working group and was a co-founder of the S-5 group, which
continues to play
a lead role supporting
the International
Criminal Court (ICC).
until its dissolution was concerned exclusively with the working methods of the
Security Council. Additionally, a proposal on expansion of the Security Council was
developed, representing a compromise between the extreme positions.
The topics of relevance to the financial centre are actively dealt with, firstly in the
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the General Assembly (Second Committee)
in New York, secondly as part of the work of the Commission on Crime Prevention and
Criminal Justice (CCPCJ), which meets each year in Vienna, as well as the Conference of
the Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the
Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption. In 2010,
Liechtenstein also participated in the Twelfth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention
and Criminal Justice. These congresses take place every five years and define the priorities for
international cooperation in the fight against crime.
10 Purely technically speaking, this work does not fall within the scope of the UN, but it largely takes place in New York
and is substantively closely connected to UN work.
11 SWGCA 2002 - 2008, Presidency 2008 - 2011.
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