NOTING that Article 2(2) of the United Nations Charter calls on all member countries to “fulfil in good faith their obligations”; and that Article 300 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea requires that: “States shall fulfil in good faith the obligations assumed under this Convention …”;

ALSO NOTING that Article 26 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties requires application of the pacta sunt servanda (“agreements are to be kept”) rule of international law;

CONSCIOUS that, as set out in the pacta sunt servanda rule, “good faith” requires fairness, reasonableness, integrity and honesty in international behaviour;

NOTING that the 1970 Declaration on Principles of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation Among States in Accordance with the United Nations Charter stipulates that: “No state may use or encourage the use of economic, political, or any other type of measures to coerce another State in order to obtain from it the subordination of the exercise of its sovereign rights and to secure from it advantages of any kind”;

AWARE of the importance of transparency in international environmental law, and

NOTING that Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration calls upon States to, among other things, “facilitate and encourage public awareness and participation by making information widely available…”

NOW THEREFORE THE COMMISSION:

ENDORSES AND AFFIRMS these principles as applicable to the activities of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in its implementation of the International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW);

STRESSES in particular the importance of adherence to the requirements of good faith and transparency in all activities undertaken by the IWC and in all activities by Contracting Governments in respect of their involvement with the IWC;

ENDORSES AND AFFIRMS the complete independence of sovereign countries to decide their own policies and freely participate in the IWC (and other international forums) without undue interference or coercion from other sovereign countries.