The General Assembly,
 
      Noting that the year 1999 will mark the one-hundredth anniversary of the
historic first International Peace Conference, held at The Hague on the
initiative of Russia,
 
      Recalling its resolution 44/23 of 17 November 1989, by which it
proclaimed the United Nations Decade of International Law, to begin in 1990
and conclude in 1999, marking the centennial of the first International Peace
Conference,
 
      Recognizing that the first and the second International Peace
Conference, as well as the League of Nations and the United Nations
subsequently, have significantly encouraged the progressive development and
codification of international law and thereby contributed to the maintenance
of international peace and security,
 
      Recognizing also the invaluable contribution of the first International
Peace Conference to the settling or resolving of international disputes or
situations which can cause the infringement of peace, by its adoption of the
Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes and the
establishment of the Permanent Court of Arbitration,
 
      Recalling that the Final Act of the second International Peace
Conference incorporated a proposal to convene a third international peace
conference,
 
      Recalling that one of the purposes of the United Nations is to maintain
international peace and security, inter alia, by means of adjustment or
settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a
breach of the peace,
 
      Recalling that, according to its resolution 44/23, one of the main
purposes of the Decade of International Law is to promote means and methods
for the settlement of disputes between States, including resort to and full
respect for the International Court of Justice,
 
      Recalling also that, at the forty-fifth session of the General Assembly,
the Sixth Committee convened the Working Group on the United Nations Decade of
International Law with a view to preparing generally acceptable
recommendations on the programme of activities for the Decade, and that the
Working Group has been reconvened at all subsequent sessions of the General
Assembly and was requested at the fiftieth session to continue its work,
 
      Stressing the need for the international community to continue efforts
with a view to strengthening international peace and security, achieving full
compliance with international law and promoting its progressive development,
 
      Recalling that in its resolution 44/23 it requested the
Secretary-General to seek the views of Member States and appropriate
international bodies, as well as of non-governmental organizations working in
the field, on the programme for the Decade and on appropriate action to be
taken during the Decade, including the possibility of holding a third
international peace conference or other suitable international conference at
the end of the Decade,
 
      Noting that the heads of State or Government of the Movement of
Non-Aligned Countries at their ninth summit meeting reaffirmed General
Assembly resolution 44/23 and the strong support of the Movement for the
programme of the United Nations Decade of International Law, including the
recommendation of holding a third international peace conference at the
conclusion of the Decade on the occasion of the one-hundredth anniversary of
the first International Peace Conference,
 
      Noting also the proposal by the Russian Federation for a third
international peace conference with a view to considering international law
and order in the post- cold-war world at the threshold of the twenty-first
century, 
 
      Convinced that the United Nations could assist significantly with its
expertise and knowledge with the development of such a proposal,
 
      1.    Considers it desirable to draft a programme of action dedicated to
the centennial of the first International Peace Conference and to the closing
of the United Nations Decade of International Law in 1999;
 
      2.    Invites the Governments of the Russian Federation and the
Netherlands to arrange, as a matter of urgency, a preliminary discussion with
other interested Member States on the substantive content of action to be
taken in 1999 and to seek, in this respect, the cooperation of the
International Court of Justice, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, relevant
intergovernmental organizations, as well as other relevant organizations;
 
      3.    Calls upon the competent United Nations organs, programmes and
specialized agencies to study the possibilities of providing assistance to
that end;
 
      4.    Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-second
session, under the item entitled "United Nations Decade of International Law",
a sub-item entitled "Action to be taken in 1999 dedicated to the centennial of
the first International Peace Conference and to the closing of the United
Nations Decade of International Law".