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HIGHLIGHTS OF PRESS BRIEFING BY BRENDEN VARMA,?SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT MIROSLAV LAJ??K

KENYA: PRESIDENT CONCERNED BY REPORTS OF Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵREST

• The President tweeted this morning that he was concerned by reports of unrest in Kenya.
• He expressed support for all efforts to ensure a peaceful, fair and credible election process.

INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE HAS FAR REACHING IMPACT, PRESIDENT SAYS

• This morning the President chaired the General Assembly plenary, which adopted the report of the General Committee¡¯s second meeting.
• The Assembly then considered the annual report of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), as has been its tradition since 1968.
• The President said that, while the Court¡¯s judgments are binding only on the parties to a case, its jurisprudence has far reaching impact.
• He added that, through exercising its functions in the peaceful settlement of disputes, the Court also plays an important role in the prevention of conflicts.
• The President of the ICJ presented the Court¡¯s report today ¨C and around 31 Member States were inscribed to speak on this topic.

DECOLONIZATION COMMITTEE: ALL PETITIONERS APPROVED BY CONSENSUS THIS YEAR

• This morning the Third Committee heard from the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Special Rapporteurs on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People¡¯s Republic of Korea; Eritrea; and Belarus.
• In response to questions on the approval process for petitioners in the Fourth Committee, which deals with decolonization, the Spokesperson noted that only the Committee as a whole can approve the request of a petitioner to appear before the Committee.
• If an objection to a petitioner is raised by a Member State, then the Committee as a whole would vote on that request. Thus, procedurally speaking, only the Committee as a whole can reject or block a petitioner from appearing before it. This year, all petitioners were approved by consensus, the Spokesperson added.

PRESIDENT SUPPORTS PUBLIC¡¯S RIGHT TO ACCESS INFORMATION

• The Spokesperson was asked about the President¡¯s reaction to comments by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression that the United Nations should have a robust policy on access to information.
• The Spokesperson said that the President supports the right of the public to have access to information. The President¡¯s office is run in a highly transparent manner, and coming from the Slovak Government, he is accustomed to strong freedom of information policies.
• On questions about whether the President would be raising this issue in the General Assembly, the Spokesperson said the President would first need to understand the matter¡¯s legal implications in the United Nations context before deciding on any possible future steps.

SECURITY COÄ¢¹½ÊÓƵCIL REFORM: PRESIDENT INTENDS TO APPOINT I.G.N. CHAIR SOON

• Asked if the President was planning to give any press briefings on Security Council reform, the Spokesperson said that no such briefing was currently planned but that the President was always willing to speak to journalists.
• On Security Council reform in general, the President intended to appoint the chair or co-chairs of the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) soon. He had also already met with a wide range of interested Member States and groups to hear their views and understand their positions.