A/HRC/37/63 10. Major global challenges that should be studied from the international order perspective include achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, universal peacekeeping and the role of the United Nations peacekeeping missions, the growing impact of globalization on the enjoyment of human rights, the consequences of climate change, cultural imperialism, economic neocolonialism, commodities speculation, vulture funds, and the unregulated activities of credit-rating agencies and media conglomerates. It would also be important to explore how the great world religions and non-denominational humanist and ethical unions could proactively advance a more peaceful, more democratic and more equitable international order. Moreover, the mandate holder might also explore the role of peoples’ tribunals in ending impunity and helping to break the blackout on war crimes by the powerful. The mandate would also benefit from additional country visits, although it remains largely epistemological and primarily entails the creation and interpretation of norms with a view to formulating pragmatic recommendations. 11. A democratic and equitable international order is one in which the Charter of the United Nations is recognized as the world constitution, and the International Court of Justice operates as the world constitutional court, with due deference to the Charter’s “supremacy clause”. 9 Hitherto, the advisory competence of the Court has been underutilized and the enforcement of its advisory opinions has been particularly disappointing. It is imperative for the credibility of the Court and the United Nations itself that States undertake to respect General Assembly resolutions as well as the Court’s judgments and advisory opinions. Pursuant to the doctrine of “implied powers”, the Court should also exercise the competence to issue advisory opinions motu proprio. Similarly, the Secretary-General should be given the competence to ask the Court to issue advisory opinions on legal issues requiring an authoritative judicial resolution. 12. A democratic and equitable international order necessarily functions on the basis of multilateralism and international solidarity. It aims at promoting a culture of peace and dialogue among nations and peoples, fully respecting the sovereignty of States and ensuring that civil society in all countries has ample space to express itself and to enjoy its individual and collective rights and pursue its traditions, culture and identity. It bears repeating that a democratic and equitable international order is one in which peoples and nations enjoy equitable representation, not only in the General Assembly, but also in regional and international financial institutions, in which they can exercise their right of selfdetermination, in which the right to peace is recognized in its individual and collective dimensions and in which unilateral coercive measures are prohibited. 13. As the Heads of State and Government at the World Summit in September 2005 reaffirmed, democracy is a universal value based on the freely expressed will of people to determine their political, economic, social and cultural systems and their full participation in all aspects of their lives. They also stressed in the outcome document that democracy, development and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms were interdependent and mutually reinforcing, and pointed out that, while democracies shared common features, there was no single model of democracy. II. Principles of international order 14. The reports of the Independent Expert have been guided by numerous General Assembly resolutions, notably resolutions 2625 (XXV) and 3314 (XXIX), which, together with the Charter, propound a vision of a democratic and equitable international order. Based on the work of the mandate holder, the following should be generally recognized as principles of international order: 9 Consensus in World Affairs (Abingdon, Routledge, 2011); and Holly Sklar (ed.), Trilateralism: The Trilateral Commission and Elite Planning for World Management (Boston, South End Press, 1980). This provides that the Charter should prevail in the event of a conflict between the obligations of States as United Nations members and their obligations under other international agreements (Charter, Article 103). 5