UN General Assembly
1991

The first consideration must be to ensure respect for law in international relations. In our view, that is an indispensable condition for a new order with which all countries, all peoples and all nations of the world will identify because the new order will express their legitimate aspirations for freedom, peace and social progress. My country has always insisted that there can be no lasting peace, no security and no justice unless all nations comply with the rules of law which it is the responsibility of the United Nations to lay down. And here we see the full meaning of the hopes that have been placed in the resolution of the crisis in the Gulf to which I have just referred. The unprecedented mobilization of efforts in support of international law during this crisis should inspire future efforts in every situation where law is in jeopardy. If justice is to prevail the law must be the same for everyone.