Sunday, 10th December 2006

The Afternoon Session

            As all the distinguished guests and Chief Guest Hon’ble Mata Prasad Pandey, Speaker UP Legislative Assembly took their seats after suitable felicitations the proceedings began with a mellifluous song sung by the choir group of CMS Kanpur Road branch which created an atmosphere where everyone was transported to a different soul soothing landscape. It was followed by an appeal by the students of CMS Rajendra Nagar, Gomti Nagar and Indira Nagar branches before the world judiciary. Through their emphatic appeal the students reminded the legal luminaries of the world about the present catastrophic scenario to seriously consider their plight.

            Opening address of the session was delivered by Hon’ble Justice Mr D P Singh, Judge, Allahabad High Court, Lucknow Bench who shed light on the role of judiciary and said, “Arise, Awake and stop not till the goal is reached”. He quoted the instances of Gita and Ramayana to buttress his view in favour of Enforceable International Law.

            In his address Chief Guest Mr Mata Prasad Pandey, Speaker, U.P. Legislative Assembly, welcomed the august gathering on behalf of the Chief Minister and the people of the state of Uttar Pradesh. He exhorted that ‘unification of nations is the hallmark of mankind’. He concluded his address on an optimistic note and hoped that a peaceful world may emanate from such thought-provoking deliberations.

            In his Keynote address Hon’ble Mr Justice Carl Ashok Singh, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Guyana began his address with ‘Namaste’ and emphasised that the appeal of children should be entertained as a ‘Writ of Prohibition’ by the august gathering. He further emphasised that this Conference should not be a ‘talking shop’ but some concrete ‘plan of action’ should be drawn.

            Hon’ble Justice, Dr Parman Separman, Dy Chief Justice Supreme Court of Indonesia expressed that terrorism cases should be tried internationally in absentia also and electronic evidence should be accepted.

            Hon’ble Mr Justice Galal Eldin Mohammad Osman, Chief Justice of Sudan stated that this conference is a good omen to usher in an era of peace and we should work with commitment for the cause of right to live in an amicable atmosphere.

            Hon’ble Mr Justice A Caunhye, Judge, Supreme Court, Mauritius expressed that in the new world order states should be stake holders based on social, universal and economical law with unflinching support to the new system.

            Hon’ble Mr Justice Adil Ahmad of Ethiopia emphasised that ‘talking should not be preceded by action’ but our talking should be ‘part of action’.

            Hon’ble Ms Justice Vida Petrovic Spero of Supreme Court of Serbia, who presided over the session, said that responsibility to safeguard children’s rights at various levels lies with executive and legislature also who formulate various laws.

            Hon’ble Mr Justice Dorjootov Attangerel of Mongolia reminded the august gathering regarding UN Charter for Rights of the Child and apprised of various efforts being made by his country in this regard.

            Hon’ble Mr Justice M Raymond Saylmen Bala, Former Judge, International Court of Justice, Netherlands and Member Permanent Court of Arbitration, Democratic Republic of Congo congratulated CMS for its efforts and emphatically came out for trial of terrorism cases with ‘universal jurisdiction’.

            Hon’ble Mr Justice Simao De Sousa Victor of Angola supported the idea of ‘executable international law’.

            Hon’ble Mr Bazuka Mhango, M.P. Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Malawi said that the appeal of children is a petition and we should evoke the executive also to work with judiciary.

            Hon’ble Mr Kaul Singh Thakur, Law Minister and Minister of I & PH, Himachal Pradesh, India expressed that national laws should not be inconstant with international laws. He said that judicial activism is good, because legislature fails to safeguard the well being of humanity.

            Valedictory address was delivered by Dr (Mrs) Geeta Kingdon, Lecturer, Oxford University U.K. who summarized the salient features of views expressed by the speakers.

Global Symposium

            Even as the deliberations by various Chief Justices of the world, law Ministers and various other honoured legal luminaries continued, Civil Society Organizations from all over the world were busy at the Global Symposium discussing the theme “Towards a New World Civilization”. After a brief circle meeting of all the participants in the symposium they divided themselves into different groups to participate in various topics of the main theme. In the first conference room, Professor Bob Blain of the Hour Money Institute, USA, held a workshop on topic “Establishing a world bank of issues” on the theme “Structure of Global Democracy”; while in Conference Room 2, Mr Oscar Carvajal, Ph.D candidate, University of Turouts, Canada gave a powerpoint presentation giving an analytical study of the old world civilization, “A process of human domestication: The emergency and challenge of Homodomestics”

            Room no 3 had presentations by many illustrious personalities one after the other on connected topics of “Structure of Global Democracy”. Dr T P Amerasinghe President, Institute of World Problem/WCPA Sri Lanka expressed his views on “Constitution for the Federation of Earth” followed by a talk by Mr Cees De Groot of Centre for Human Emergence, Netherlands on “Integral Politics”. Mr Richard Bartley chairperson, World Peace and Prosperity Movement Ireland spoke on “World Peace and Prosperity Movement.” Dr Liliane Metz Kreneker, Secretary General, World Citizen’s Registry, France and Mr Timothy Bedford, Researches & Teacher from Finland spoke on “Global Democracy”.

            After a brief break all the rooms got busy for next round of workshops on the theme “Structure of Global Democracy” Mr Benton Musslewhite, President, One World Now, USA presented his views on “The Road to Survival - World Federation” while next theme “Nuclear disarmament sustainable Development and world peace” was discussed on topic “Conflict resolution and Peace education” by Ms Binnie Degli Innocenti, Co-founder, Ministry for Peace, Italy. In room No.3 another theme, “Education, Grassroots Movements and role of civil society in building a “New World Civilization” was discussed by Ms Maria Kovaes, Executive Director, Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking International Consortium. Finally Dr (Mrs) Armine Mikayelyan President, Women for Development Armenia discussed the topic “Foundation of Peace Culture in Schools of America” and put forward the idea how peace can be ingrained in the Armenian children by their schools. Room No 4 was the venue for another set of presentation and first to put his views was Mr Jose Antonio from Venezuela on a related topic of the theme; next was Mr Alyn Ware from New Zealand putting forth his views on “Nuclear Disarmament”. Ms Ivana Jassova from Slovakia gave presentation on, “We teach to sense, think and act” and finally Dr Hasan Jasari from Macedonia presented his views on the main theme of Nuclear Disarmament, sustainable development and world peace.

            All the presentation were extremely interesting and thought provoking and brought forward the tremendous work and efforts by the NGO throughout the world to generate a mass movement towards global democracy and a new world civilization based on unity and peace.    

          The afternoon session witnessed workshops on theme 1 and 5. Presentations were also held in basement halls on theme 3,6 and 5. The topics were “Integral Politics”, “We Are What We Watch”, “Message to Israel”, “Sapiens Movement”, “Role of Information and Communication Technologies in Building a Culture of Peace in Sri Lanka” etc. Presentations were also made on topics like, “To stop trade in children”, “Education, means and ends” and The stop child poverty. Another good topic for resolution of conflicts was promotion of Confucianism and Mahayana Buddhism Education as a Resolution of Conflicts. Action plan and Interactive session were also held.