UN General Assembly
1998

This means in particular that we must opt to settle disputes through peaceful means and that States must turn whenever necessary to the International Court of Justice as the judicial organ of the United Nations and the essential cog not only in the machinery for peaceful settlement of disputes, but also within the general system of peacekeeping and international security established by the Charter. At the end of the United Nations Decade of International Law, the call has become urgent for States to demonstrate themselves psychologically prepared to seek recourse naturally to the International Court of Justice and the political bodies of the United Nations and those of regional organizations. This is Cameroon’s conviction, as well as that of the General Assembly, which in resolution 3232 (XXIX), paragraph 6, reaffirmed that, “recourse to judicial settlement of legal disputes, particularly referral to the International Court of Justice, should not be considered an unfriendly act between States.” That is why Cameroon went to the International Court of Justice at The Hague with regard to its dispute