Annex XIII
Letter dated 28 January 1998 from the Permanent Representative of Egypt addressed to the President of the General Assembly
Thank you for circulating the letter addressed to the Vice-Chairman of the Open-ended Working Group on the Question of Equitable Representation on and Increase in the Membership of the Security Council dated 11 August 1997 (A/AC.247/1998/CRP.1), which contains the study Mr. Jin Yongjian, Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly Affairs and Conference Services, kindly undertook on the legal basis of the veto.
I have read the document with care and I must admit in all candour that the document missed the central point of my request. Once again, I would like to state that the delegation of Egypt had requested a brief study on the legal basis for the current practice of the veto, and not for a textual reference of the veto, which is, in itself, insufficient to explain the current practice of the veto. My request for this study is based on the fact that the current practice of unlimited scope of application of the veto has no legal basis in the Charter or in the provisional rules of procedure of the Security Council. The careful examination of the relevant provisions demonstrates that there is no constitutional basis or agreed upon clarification on the scope of application of the veto.
It would, therefore, be appropriate at present, in the context of the Open-ended Working Group established by the General Assembly, for Member States to undertake a thorough examination of the scope of application of the veto.
Lastly, I would be very grateful if you could circulate the present letter as a conference room paper of the Open-ended Working Group.
(Signed) Nabil Elaraby
Ambassador
Permanent Representative
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