Tímarit lögfræðinga - 01.12.1989, Síða 7

uniqueness of the fauna and flora of our globe. We must realize that
this multiplicity forms an ecological whole which mankind should not
infringe upon except with extreme caution. As the ruling species, we
— mankind — must accept our obligation to realize that the nature of
our globe — our environment with its intricate ecological inter-relations
— is a “common heritage”, the common heritage not only of mankind,
but the common heritage of the wondrous multitude of species of the
earth. Mankind must accept this responsibility and also the fact that
our past, our present and our future constitute an integral whole, an
ecological whole. What we sow today, we shall reap tomorrow.
7. With the adoption of the United Nations Charter in San Francisco
in 1945 mankind embarked on a promising road. The San Francisco
Conference introduced a new chapter in the history of man. In the
well-known Commentary to the United Nations Charter, of which
my friend and compatriot Edvard Hambro was a co-author, the United
Nations Charter has been described as “a document with roots in the
past and possibilities for the future that could only be imagined” (p. 1).
The United Nations Charter introduces an entirely new approach
with regard to the organization and management of the international
community and its dispute-solving mechanisms. The very name of this
basic constitutional document — the Charter — expresses this new
approach. It was not only a covenant, an agreement, a treaty between
States. It was the Charter, like the Magna Charta of Old England. A
new constitution for the international society with regard to its inter-
relations in a modern world. And the United Nations Charter was not
entered into by a group of loosely organized States. On the contrary,
the basic nature of the modern international community has been
emphasized by the denomination: The United Nations. The unity of
and inter-dependence between States were thus recognized.
8. At the time of its adoption, the United Nations Charter was
considered the most fundamental and most innovative international
law instrument ever concluded. It still is. Of course, modern warfare
constitutes the most barbaric attack on the welfare of humankind and
on the protection of the ecology of our wonderful, but so fragile planet.
The Charter of the United Nations and the web of treaties, agi’eements
and United Nations resolutions subsequently adopted, are far more
comprehensive and general in scope and effect than a mere charter
against warfai'e.
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