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U N I T E D     N A T I O N S, N. Y. 1OO17}

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R E F E R E N C E:

The Legal Counsel presents his compliments to the Permanent Representatives to the United Nations in New York and has the honour to refer to the Secretary-General's invitation to Heads of State and Government to make use of the opportunity provided by the Millennium Summit to rededicate themselves to the international legal order, in particular, by signing and ratifying those treaties deposited with him. As you are aware, the treaty signature and ratification event took place from 6 to 8 September 2000 at the United Nations.

Pursuant to this call, 84 States (59 at the level of Head of State or Government) signed or lodged instruments of ratification or accession relating to 40 multilateral agreements deposited with the Secretary-General.

A total of 273 treaty actions were effected during the three days of the Summit (187 signatures and 86 ratifications or accessions). The treaties which attracted the most attention included:

Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict - 59 signatures; 2 ratifications
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography - 57 signatures; 1 ratification
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women - 18 signatures; 4 ratifications
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court - 12 signatures; 4 ratifications
International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism - 10 signatures; 2 ratifications
Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel - 7 ratifications and accessions.

Given the unprecedented number of treaty actions that were effected during the three-day period, it could be concluded that this event was a success.

In the future, it is proposed to make similar appeals prior to each annual meeting of the General Assembly, inviting Heads of State and Government to sign and ratify those treaties deposited with the Secretary-General to which their States are not already party.

21 September 2000