The International Court of Justice embodies the world's highest aspirations for a global population living under the Rule of Law. As such it needs to have the maximum legal equipment that is available for achieving what is expected of it.

However the powers given to the International Court are far too limited especially as its jurisdiction is based on the consent of the states who are parties to the case before it.
Fortunately, apart from consensual jurisdiction, the court also has jurisdiction derived from over 400 multilateral treaties which state that in the event of any dispute regarding their interpretation or application the matter is to be resolved by the International Court of Justice. In this way the Court has jurisdiction to determine disputes even involving states who have not formally consented to its general jurisdiction.

Consequently if we should have multilateral treaties dealing with the rights of the child, the Court would have jurisdiction over all subscribing parties even though they have not formally accepted the Court's jurisdiction in a general sense.

One of our objectives therefore should be to obtain as much coverage as possible through multilateral treaties in relation to the protection of children. This becomes particularly important when we see so much abuse in so many countries and in so many ways, of the rights of children. They are conscripted as child soldiers into armed forces, they are bought and sold like articles of merchandise, they are used for prostitution and every form of the sex trade, they are denied the right to education. The list is endless, and we as a society claiming to be civilized, cannot look on while these abuses continue. Least of all, can lawyers remain inactive in the face of such a travesty of justice towards the generation whom providence has entrusted to our care?

It must not be forgotten that children are perhaps the most important component of the global population at any time because it is to them that the future belongs and if they are subject to abuse, victimization, ill-treatment and denial of basic rights, this would be a total betrayal of trust by the global community as a whole.

This is where International Law comes in, for it is a responsibility not lying upon this country or that, but upon the global community as a whole. An injustice to any child anywhere should disturb and shock the conscience of everyone everywhere.

The first imperative therefore is that we should have as many and as wide ranging a series of treaty obligations as we can possibly achieve.

The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography is an example. It entered into force on the 18th of January 2002 and addresses many of the problems relating to the exploitation of children.

If the Convention and its related documents does not have comprehensive clauses stipulating that all disputes relating to their interpretation and application should be determined by the International Court of Justice, it is important that such clauses be introduced.

Many of the abuses to which children are subjected have an international dimension, for child trafficking, child prostitution and child pornography are carried out across national borders. This renders it all the more important that the International Court should have ultimate jurisdiction to determine matters of interpretation and application.
It should be noted here that the International Court of Justice has no punitive powers, but it certainly has the power through the Security Council to have its decrees adhered to by the parties to whom they are addressed.

Another legal principle that needs mention in this context is that one of the most effective sources of International Law is Customary International Law. Customary International Law is often the prelude to treaties. Once a customary rule in question has consolidated itself into a universally accepted rule, it can more readily become the basis of treaty law.

Customary International Law is based on the universal approval by the world community of a given principle, and there can be few matters on which all the religions and traditions of the world are more in agreement than the rights of the child.

Take whatever religion or traditional teaching one may choose from any part of the world, and there can be little doubt that it would state and emphasize that children are to be protected, well cared for, educated and prepared to take on their responsibilities as citizens when childhood merges into adulthood. It is for lawyers to build up the strength of Customary International Law on these matters, and I have long been urging International lawyers to draw upon the wisdom and vision of all the world's religions and cultures in giving it greater strength and universality.

Another proposal I would make therefore is that we launch an international study regarding the teachings of every religion and every system of traditional and customary law on the rights of children. It will be quite surprising how much all these traditions converge on this central topic and how extensive is the protection which all systems expect the elders to give to their children.

No doubt such studies have taken place before, but a universal study needs to be launched which will collate and integrate all the teachings of all the religions, cultures and civilizations on the rights of the child. Such a study can be undertaken by City Montessori School in collaboration with such bodies as UNICEF and UNESCO. My own Centre for Peace Education and Research would be only too happy to contribute some strands of thought to this venture, because we are already engaged upon a major research project regarding the teachings of all the world's religions on the rights of future generations.

In stressing the importance of Customary International Law as a source of International Law, I have encountered a misbelief in most quarters that the main source of International Law is Treaty Law. I venture to differ. Treaty Law derives its inspiration from Customary International law. This is the reservoir from which it is nourished and we need to build up this nourishing source if Treaty Law is to develop.

The study I suggest can be the prelude to a revitalization of International Treaty Law relating to the rights of protection of children.

Our topic therefore can be addressed on many fronts. One is an educational campaign to make the children of the world more aware of their rights. The second is for more states to accede to the various Conventions on the rights of children. Another is to give the International Court jurisdiction under those multi lateral treaties. The fourth is to make a detailed study of the teachings of all religions, customary systems and tribal systems on the rights of children.

All of this is a very comprehensive and intensive program which needs to be undertaken and for which this Conference of the Chief Justices of the World can give world leadership. Let a clarion call go out from this conference to all the legal systems of the world and all workers in the field of the protection and welfare of children. Let us translate into enforceable legal terms the vast reservoir of teaching the world has inherited from all cultures and civilizations relating to the protection of every facet of the multifarious rights of the child. Every one of these is our sacred trust. Every one of them is our obligation to ensure. Every one of them needs to be enforceable under the law, both domestically and internationally.