By IANS
Lucknow : The eighth International Conference of Chief Justices has mooted the need for strengthening the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague.
As many as 261 chief justices, judges, jurists and peace activists from 90 countries, who participated in the five-day event, which ended Tuesday, stressed on the need for establishment of an enforceable international legal order.
The meet was hosted by Lucknow’s well-known chain of City Montessori Schools (CMS), which figures in the Guinness Book of World Records as having the largest number of branches in any city across the globe.
The participants as well as the students of CMS felt that it was high time that ICJ got more teeth to ensure enforcement of its verdicts.
CMS founder-manager Jagdish Gandhi, who was the driving force behind the missionary effort, was quite optimistic that his initiative will not go in vain.
“We have been hosting this conference for eight years, it is in pursuance of our mission to promote Article 51 (c) of the Indian constitution which clearly states that the states shall endeavour to promote international peace and justice, maintain just and honourable relations between nations, foster respect for international law and encourage settlement of international disputes through arbitration,” Gandhi told IANS here Tuesday at the conclusion of the meet.
Earlier, while addressing the participants he said, “Article 51 (c) can give a new direction to the whole world and also has the potential to rid the world of hostility between nations.”
Former chief justice of India (CJI) and chairman of International Human Rights Committee Justice P.N.Bhagwati inaugurated the meet. Prominent jurists who participated in the event included former CJI, Justice R.C.Lahoti, Chief Justice of Guyana, Carl Ashok Singh, Chief Justice of Seychelles, Justice Vivekanand Alleear, Chief Justice of Lesotho M.L.Lahola, President of the Appeal Court of Bahamas, Justice Joan A. Sawyer, Chief Justice of Mauritius, Sik Yuen, President of United States Humanity and Unity Organisation, Laxmi Devi and Benton Musclewhite, president of One World Now, a US based activist body.
A mission statement at the meet said, “A truly educated man must visualize a world federal system with a world legislature to enact the required laws, a world executive backed by an international force to carry out the decisions passed by this legislature.”