- On the morning of 28th August, the Parliamentary Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Masaji Matsuyama attended the official celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Peace Palace held in the Hague. This ceremony was to commemorate the establishment of the Peace Palace which is home to the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN), the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and to the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA). His Majesty King Willem-Alexander, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mr. Mark Rutte, the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Judges of the ICJ, and several foreign ministers and vice-ministers of counties including Japan that have a national as a judge at the ICJ were in attendance.
- In the afternoon of 28th August, Vice-Minister Matsuyama attended the ministerial conference on the peaceful settlement of disputes hosted by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Mr. Frans Timmermans. During the conference, Vice-Minister Matsuyama participated in the panel discussion: ‘Judicial settlement’, where he pointed out that the judicial means of dispute settlement played an important role to the rule of law. In this respect he mentioned Japan’s experience as a party to the dispute before the ICJ in the case concerning Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v. Japan: New Zealand intervening). He also stated that the international community as a whole should recommit itself to settling disputes through peaceful means and that States should continue to give support to activities of the ICJ.
- In addition, Vice-Minister Matsuyama paid a courtesy call on Minister Timmermans between the two events.
To see more about the Peace Palace, please visit
http://www.vredespaleis.nl/index.php?pid=&page=
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