The City Montessori School (CMS) is hosting the 8th International Conference of Chief Justices this year. It is no mean feat to hold a Conference eight years running and Mr Jagdish Gandhi, the Founder-Manager and convener of this gathering ought to be congratulated for his "idea" and for his perspicacity.

The subject of our discourse at this Conference, "Empower the International Court of Justice to safeguard the future of the World's two billion children and generations yet to be born" underlies the unquestionable faith which the convener, our eminent host, has in the World Judiciary to safeguard the well-being of present and future generations. But before we consider whether the faith is well placed, let us have a glimpse at some of the Rights of the Child and see how the child is faring in the enjoyment of those rights.

Rights of the Child:

The rights of the child are protected in a number of International Instruments. As early as 1924, the Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child of that year recognized the need for special safeguards and care of the child by reason of his physical and mental immaturity. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights which was adopted and proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 10 December 1948 specifically addresses those rights as well as the rights of the mother in its article 25(2):-
"Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection."

I should perhaps make a parenthesis here to observe that this principle of social protection of the child born out of wedlock has now received recognition in many countries, although it took some 30 years, the lifespan of a new generation, to emerge. In France and Mauritius, the child born out of wedlock now has a share in the inheritance of the parents in the same degree as a legitimate child. The new thinking of contemporary law making is bent towards dispensing justice and equity to the consumers of the Justice System rather than towards protecting the family assets of any Don Juan who might have been busy sowing wild oats. After all, the child born out of wedlock did not ask to be conceived and born that way and it is unfair that he should be considered as a legal pariah.

On 20 November 1959 the General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. Some of its provisions are worth setting down:

"Principle 9

The child shall be protected against all forms of neglect, cruelty and exploitation. He shall not be the subject of traffic, in any form.

The child shall not be admitted to employment before an appropriate minimum age; ….."

Principle 10

The child shall be protected from practices which may foster racial, religious and any other form of discrimination. He shall be brought up in a spirit of understanding, tolerance, friendship among peoples, peace and universal brotherhood…."

The Rights of the Child are fully recognized in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights [ICCPR] particularly in articles 23 and 24 and in the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights [ICESCR] more particularly in article 100, but the Rights of the Child are more amply enshrined nowadays in the relatively recent "Convention on the Rights of the Child" which was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 20 November 1989 and which came into force on 2 September 1990. Among the special safeguards and care which a child is entitled to, there is the right to appropriate legal protection, a task which will invariably be cast upon the Judiciary to uphold.

In spite of the numerous instruments we have adverted to, it is a matter of regret that the Rights of the Child are still widely abused everyday. Many have never attended a school class. Many die of malnutrition; others die in war or armed conflict or become handicapped. Again, others are exploited as soldiers, labourers or sex workers. The number of children in the world who spend their days on the street - approximately 150 million is simply mind boggling. How many of them are abducted, suffer physical abuse or even killed; and how many from some slimy favelas have their organs removed to be freshly dispatched by jet to serve as replacement parts for some well- to- do patients who wait in the comfort of air-conditioned clinics thousand of miles away in the most sordid from of trafficking known to humanity as yet. Paedophilia is now a rampant curse of our society which has clearly lost its bearings. Children are abducted, sequestrated and subjected to sexual abuse by seemingly gentle and well meaning adults. The Dutroux scandal in Belgium has shocked our feelings as human beings and reported child abuse cases by men of religion have been the last nail. No one can be trusted. Beyond those who directly exploit children, one feel tempted to pass judgment that governments, educators, NGOs, and society as a whole seem to have failed them.

However, there is now a perceived breeze of change as governments become more conscious of their national obligations to promote and protect the Rights of the Child. It is some comfort to note that even in emerging countries there is an apparent desire to set up specialised institutions to promote the Rights of the Child. The creation of national ombudspersons for the child to achieve that specific purpose in many countries is a foot in the right direction and must be acknowledged here.

The Judiciary within Municipal Law Confine:

Everyday Courts of Law around the world uphold the law, not only by sending convicted criminals to prisons but also by protecting and upholding the rights of the citizen. It is the role of the Judiciary to resolve disputes between citizens and the powers that be. The traditional Judiciary has however limited jurisdiction, usually within a well defined municipal area. Traditional Courts do not have extra-territorial jurisdiction and would be loathe to pass decisions which would have such effect. However, legal procedures do exist whereby the judgment of a Court, given within its specific jurisdiction, will be given effect before a foreign jurisdiction. Certain conditions will have to be respected however and this is the realm of "Exequatur" whereby a judgment is declared to be executory within a territorial jurisdiction other than the one where it was originally pronounced.

However, interesting developments have been noted of late whereby a Court [in Belgium] has declared that it has jurisdiction under its municipal law to try within its borders, serious crimes committed outside its territory. That may be controversial, specially where the perpetrators of serious crimes are outside the territory of the Court claiming jurisdiction and may have to be extradited. But this is new territory and, if dexterously exploited within any permissible legal framework, can bring interesting results. Despots of this world who commit crimes against their own people to remain in power may find themselves in the dock when they travel abroad to their favourite destination for their shopping spree.

Obviously it is because the Judiciary is generally perceived as being just and impartial that it is the institution par excellence which is resorted to whenever disputes are to be resolved and standards are to be set and upheld. But one must not forget the equally important and significant role of the other branches of Government viz. the Executive and the Legislative in their role to promulgate laws which, once passed, are applied by the Courts. It is worth noting here that in many countries where the Judiciary is mandated by the Constitution to uphold the Constitution, it has the duty to ensure that any law passed by the legislature is in compliance with the provisions of the Constitution. It may well be that a government may feel tempted to pass laws which are discriminatory in relation to certain classes or sections of its people for some unavowed reason or another. But the law may require of the Judiciary that it strikes down any enactment which is found to be in breach of the Constitution and it is this role of supreme arbiter which usually earns the Judiciary profound respect and formidable clout. Final Court orders are invariably obeyed and complied with. Where reticence is shown, procedures exist whereby compliance can be enforced. In fact, it is because the law can be shown to have teeth that a losing party, willy willy, will end up respecting the verdict.
International Law:

As much as the jurisdiction of municipal Courts within their own territorial confines is usually well regulated, policing the observance of international law in cross border situations have often been unsatisfactory. The International Court of Justice [ICJ] which is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations only hears contentious cases between States that agree to submit to its ruling. The ICJ therefore has jurisdiction only on the basis of consent. It also gives advisory opinion on any legal question referred by the General Assembly, the Security Council or other organs of the United Nations and specialized agencies. Unfortunately, international relations often appear more like a raw exercise of the "might is right" policy. It is often perceived that the most formidable military power in the world has the tendency to show disrespect for humanitarian law. In a study undertaken for the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights dated 27 June 2002 the author of this paper expressed his views that the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the two Additional Protocols to the Conventions which were adopted in 1977 , which are the major international instruments protecting victims of armed conflict, have been repeatedly flouted in recent armed conflicts. This is the more so in respect of common article 3 of the Geneva Conventions which establishes the principle that a distinction must be made between civilians (including children) and combatants. Weapons deployed against combatants and military targets should not therefore be of indiscriminate effect so as to effect civilians.

Weapons of mass destruction like Nuclear Weapons, Mini-Nukes and so called "Bunker-Busters", and "Daisy-Cutters" and Biological and Chemical Weapons can hardly be compliant with the Geneva Conventions when, by their effect, no discrimination can be made between civilians and combatants. The same can be said of weapons with indiscriminate effects like cluster bombs, anti-personnel mines or weapons containing depleted uranium which have been blamed for affecting ill health in numerous cases viz. cancer, birth deformities including anophthalmos cases - babies born without eyes or with just one.

Nuclear weapon States are not many and they belong to a small select club where the membership is constrained by the members themselves. There does not appear therefore to be any pressing need to adhere to any treaty banning nuclear weapons. One may wonder whether bilateral agreements reached and usually announced with great pump supposedly to limit the proliferation, as opposed to banning them, are not in the nature of periodic public relations exercises rather than dictated by higher moral considerations to genuinely decrease the real risks of nuclear war.

There are reports that Aum Shrinrikyo of the Tokyo underground notoriety had set up its own complex of chemical factories and biological laboratories so that the Sarin it produced was home brewed. Biological and chemical weapons which are weapons of mass destruction do not require the high technology which remains the exclusive domain of rich, industrialized and dominant countries. They can be produced in poor countries and can also be smuggled and used elsewhere with the result that the world has become as unsafe as ever and may literally be sitting on a time bomb. People who have been subjected to great suffering and who may have lost their dear ones in what they perceive as an unjust oppression may feel that they have nothing to lose if not seek revenge. But an eye for an eye will only succeed in making the whole world blind. Sergio Vieira de Mello was the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. He once said that "The UN is the sole instrument capable of re-establishing the norms of morality during the course of history whilst trying to humanize it. I am the first to acknowledge that the UN leaves very much to be desired. But I have also learnt to realize that it has become indispensable for the survival of the human specie."

He died on 19 August 2003, on duty in Iraq when the UN Headquarters in that country was deliberately rammed by a truck loaded with explosives and was blown up. It does not help to give any derogatory name to the author/s of this abominable crime but de Mello was a fine man who met an early death in the pursuit to his vision to better this world by implicating fully the UN.

Education in Unity and Respect:

Time is ticking away indeed and efforts must be made to patch up differences in conflict areas across the world and to negotiate some modus vivendi which will be beneficial to one and all. One way to defuse the bomb is through education in civics and human values to the children of today along the curriculum adopted by CMS. Someone started with 11 apostles and built up a revered world religion. Mr Gandhi has 32,000 missionaries together with a few Chief Justices to preach the good words that mankind is synonimous with love, respect, tolerance, understanding, generosity, compassion and caring. But Christianity is 2000 years old and I can only wish ourselves better success within a shorter time frame!