UN General Assembly
2012

For Denmark and the European Union, the rule of law is critical to international peace and security, human rights and development. It is a fundamental principle of good governance, whereby the State is accountable to its citizens and ensures their human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as their participatory rights. We therefore welcome the outcome of last week’s High-level Meeting on the Rule of Law at the National and International Levels (resolution 67/1) and the commitments made by Member States. Denmark also looks forward to an effective follow-up to the High-level Meeting. International agreement on the responsibility to protect at the 2005 World Summit was a clear statement by the international community that the atrocities and large-scale tragedies of the last century must not be repeated in the twenty-first century. The global network of national focal points on the responsibility to protect — an initiative launched by the Governments of Denmark and Ghana, Costa Rica and Australia — is an approach to encourage and assist States in developing their national capacities and mechanisms for the