The Holy See, acting on behalf of the State of Vatican City, ratified yesterday in New York «the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances of December 20, 1988» and adhered to the «International Convention for the Suppression of Financing of Terrorism of December 9, 1999, and the United Nations Convention against transnational Organized Crime of November 15, 2000».
A further important step towards the goal of making its financial system correspond to the international standards of «virtuous» States.
The Permanent Observer of the Holy See at the UN, Archbishop Francis Assisi Chullikat, filed yesterday with the Secretary General of the UN - a note from the Vatican press office - «the instrument of ratification of the first Convention and those of adherence to the other two».
In doing so, the note continues, «the Holy See intends to contribute with its own moral support» to these conventions.
At the same time, the Vatican «wishes to reiterate its commitment to promoting the values of solidarity, justice and peace among people and nations, which requires the primacy of the rule of law and respect for human rights for their protection and strength».
The Holy See, in a statement, reaffirms that «the instruments and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, play an important role in achieving effective protection against criminal activities that undermine human dignity and peace».
The note concludes with some «conditions» and interpretative declarations.
The conditions firstly concern the behaviour to be held in case of disputes regarding the application of these conventions: like many other States have done, the Holy See also specifies in a condition that there cannot be an automatic mechanism that forces litigants to resort to international tribunals, but an attempt should be made to resolve disputes in bilateral relationship.
Another condition, also shared by other States, concerns values and Vatican law: international conventions must be interpreted in light of the values underlying the law of the Holy See and therefore it will not be possible, for example, to proceed with litigations based on political, ethnic or religious reasons.
While another condition notes that adherence to subject convention does not mean automatic membership to all other conventions attached to the main one.
Commenting on the ratification and accessions, the Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, recalled the words of Benedict XVI such as «terrorism and organized crime» attack «the dignity of human beings and the common good in all countries of the world».
It is for this reason that by depositing these instruments of accession and ratification «the Holy See confirms its willingness and its practical and effective commitment to collaborate with the international community in a manner consistent with its nature and mission, in order to ensure peace and international justice».
The adoption of these tools represents a further adaptation of the law of the State of Vatican City with international standards, in the wake of the transparency desired by Pope Ratzinger and already implemented by the adoption of several Vatican laws, like that concerning the prevention and fight against money laundering and counterfeiting of euro banknotes and coins.
In this line, says Archbishop Mamberti, «today’s gesture reflects the determination to adapt the internal legal system to the most stringent regulatory parameters agreed upon at an international level», making the law that has recently become effective across the Tiber, «which is already rigorous, even more detailed, providing for, among other things, more transparent instruments of international cooperation and higher penalties for violation of the law».
«These innovations - explains Mamberti - along with the new legal instruments offered by the three conventions, which aim to promote a high level of collaboration between the courts of the State of Vatican City and those of other States, make the fight against terrorism, laundering, drug trafficking and transnational organized crime even more determined».
But the «foreign minister» of the Holy See, referring to the conditions and interpretative statements attached, also explains that all this «will not affect the sovereign right of each State to refrain from its collaboration with respect to proceedings pending in other jurisdictions,when these can result in forms of individual persecution for political, religious, ethnic or other reasons».
He concludes by recalling that in an international context characterized by «serious and repeated violence for religious reasons, too often at the expense of Christians», this type of international cooperation could also «be useful to prevent and combat» these attacks «against life and the religious freedom of every human being».