Excellencies, eminent jurists, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

I am particularly delighted to be present as guest of honour at this International Conference on Article 51 of the Constitution of India. I regard your invitation to me not as an honour bestowed on me personally, but as an honour to my country Seychelles where I am the Chief Justice.

Your country, India is not only one of the world’s most populous countries, but is also one of the world’s leading and most durable democracies. We in the developing countries of the world regard India as a role model of democracy and stability. The values of rule of law, and protection of human rights, which have become part of your national and political culture we have also imbibed and made part of our national values.

We in the Seychelles share with you this common value. We have been able to make a united nation out of peoples with different ethnic background and culture. We have been able to mould out of diversity of culture a rich heritage of tolerance, equality and oneness that is perhaps unparalleled anywhere in the world. A Seychellois whatever his ethnic or cultural background regard himself as Seychellois and regards his culture as a Seychellois culture. We have built a nation that offers freedom and dignity to its citizens. In this, I believe, we share common values with your great country. It is for this reason that I feel particularly happy and at home to be among you at this Conference.

I believe that our common experience and the values we embrace at the municipal level, of respect for the inherent equality of mankind and harmonious relationship of all nationals, give us the moral right to seek to promote healthy relationship among nations based on the equality of states and the respect for the rule of law.

Perhaps it is already well known to you that one of your invisible exports is not only your steadfastness in maintaining democratic values but also the robustness of you Constitution and of your Supreme Court’s interpretation of its provisions. India has been able to show that law matters not only in settling private disputes but also in public issues. You have succeeded in showing to the world, and particularly to the developing countries of the world, that law is a potent instrument of social and economic development. As manifested by several decisions of your courts, you have developed a healthy national respect for law. It is therefore not a matter of surprise that you have by this Conference shown your concern for respect for international law.

Article 51 of the Constitution of India provides that the State shall endeavour to:-

(a) promote international peace and security;

(b) maintain just and honourable relations relations between nations;

(c) foster respect for international law and

(d) encourage settlement of international disputes by arbitration.

The Constitution of India is unique in specifically stating the commitment of the nation to international values. I believe that it is not by accident that respect for international law has been grouped with international peace and security, just and honourable relations between relations between nations and settlement of international disputes by arbitration. Respect for law is fundamental to peace and security in society.

As the world becomes smaller and interaction between nations and peoples of different nations becomes more pronounced and frequent, international law begins to assume greater prominence. It is therefore timely that attention should be drawn to the need to strengthen international law.

Just and honourable relations between nations becomes an ideal independent on the will of powerful nations where international law is weak or silent. Equality of nations becomes a pious sentiment if international law fails to regulate relations between nations. Although in some ways international law recognizes the need to regulate relations between nations, its weakness lies in the weakness or even absence of effective coercive mechanism for ensuring the observance of its injunctions.

The view of those who doubt that international law can rightly be called law at all because of lack of enforceability cannot be brushed aside. It is a view that has engaged the concern of jurists for quite some time. It is however fitting to recognize the fact that, gradually, international law of the same character as law as municipal law may not have been attained yet. It may even be sometime before that ideal is achieved. However, the movement towards the achievement of a world legal order is manifest. Quite apart from this important conference whose signal achievement is to sensitize the international community to the need to strengthen international law and make it truly ‘law’ in character, there is the growing number of international multilateral treaties, conventions and agreements and regional groupings which have prepared states for the time when, in its fullness, international law will demand that states submit more of their sovereignty.

Although a full world legal order has not yet been achieved, it is manifest that in several areas of international cooperation the time may not be distant that a world legal order may emerge. In recent times we have witnessed the development of international efforts to curb trans-border crimes, a greater commitment of the international community to prosecute crimes against humanity and establishment of tribunals to try international crimes. These, in my view, given the will of the international community, are fore-runners to a full-fledged world legal order.

I believe that we can build on the experience we acquire from international co-operation and regional groupings to make the move for an international legal order with a World Parliament with full legislative powers in its allotted sphere and a World Court whose judgments will be enforceable.

It will be naïve to deny that these suggestions are futuristic, given the predilection of states jealously to guard their sovereignty. Futuristic though these suggestions may be, they are not incapable of fulfillment. All that is needed is the will. That will cannot easily be brought into existence without constant discussion of the need for the world to come together more strongly and more meaningfully to protect itself from destruction.

I thank the organizers of this Conference and particularly Mr Jagdish Gandhi and the City Montessori School, Lucknow, for their initiative in brining about this Conference and for their thoughtful initiative in bringing to the fore the need to preserve the world for ourselves and the future generation through the strengthening of international law.

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