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The need to have a world legislature and judiciary becomes more pronounced when we take into consideration the need tosafeguard the future of the world’s children including their right to a safe and healthful ecology. This is in the context of theprinciple of intergenerational equity which states that each generation has an obligation to future generations to pass on thenatural and cultural resources of the planet in no worse condition than received and to provide reasonable access to thelegacy for the present generation.Intergenerational equity seeks to achieve a balance between the interest of present and future generations. There is aplanetary trust implicit in the nature of the relationship between generations. There is also an implied declaration by eachgeneration that it holds resources of the planet in trust for future generations. As trustees we have an obligation to ensurethat future generations are able to live in a safer world. The words of Chief Seattle are in point:“Because this we know: the earth does not belong to man: man belongs to the earth……whatever befalls the earth,befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to theweb, he does to himself.”Underlying basic property conceptions in African Societies is the notion of “ancestral trust” whereby property is vested inthe living for the benefits of themselves and generations unborn. As a generation we have received this planet in trust fromprevious generations and we hold it in trust for future generations. Every generation has a responsibility to the next topreserve that rhythm and harmony for the full enjoyment of a balanced and healthful ecology. We have an obligation to handover to the future generations an environmentally safe and ecologically secure planet earth.Indeed we would fail our trust if we do not take serious note of the plea by the world’s children to safeguard their future byadvocating for enforceable international law. We must fix our vision not only on the present, but on succeeding generations.Let us listen to the desperate cry of the World’s children and work towards an international order which genuinely safeguardstheir future and the future of generations yet unborn. Let us hearken to their calls for the creation of new institutionalauthorities within the UN with decision-making and enforcement power.Nations around the world must be united in the common mission of international law enforcement. Today we are calledupon to develop a new framework for protecting the world, our children and their interests. In devising the framework wewill build on the firm foundation provided by the UN Charter and other sources of international lawTo echo the words of Madeleine Albright, we have a responsibility in our time, as our predecessors did in theirs, not to beprisoners of history, but to shape it, to build a world not without conflict, but in which conflict is effectively contained, aworld not without repression, but in which the sway of freedom is enlarged, a world not without lawless behaviour, but inwhich the law-abiding are progressively more secure.Considering that the ideals of the UN Charter do not limit themselves to the present, we must seriously think about futuregenerations when we make present decisions. We must think about the rights of our children and the unborn when devisinglaw enforcement strategies. Let us always remember that we have a huge obligation to make the world more secure for ourchildren and future generations. Thank you.Do not mischief on the earth, after it has been set in order, but call on him withfear and longing (in your hearts): for the mercy of Allah is (always) near to thosewho do good.— The Holy Quran, Surah 7, Al-A'raf, Ayat 56--22--
5 th International Conference of Chief Justices of the WorldAddress byHon’ble Mr Justice Peter S. ShivuteChief Justice of the Republic of NamibiaIn many legal orders, in the judgments of the Courts, and in the text of many modern dayconstitutions, including Namibia’s, one notices an encouraging trend towards the embracingof international law.Why this may be the case, that sovereign states (particularly modern states) have movedtowards an ‘internationalist trend’ in their constitutional expressions is perhaps explainedby the international human rights discourse and the concerted approach of the nations ofthe world in resolving global problems and dealing with matters of economic integration.International law has come a long way to where it finds itself today. The traditional sources,treaties, custom, and general principles of law, nowadays certainly require amplificationby resolutions, declarations of international organizations and some persuasive codes of conduct and as such, one is tointerpret Article 38(1) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice to reflect the sources of international law that wereavailable at the time. With a globalized perspective to international matters, the theme for this conference is therefore apt inrecognizing judicial activism and urging a move-away from the positivist hard law and normative soft law paradigm of legalthinking which afflicts many a lawyer’s mind, if we are to fully encapsulate today’s international legal order.However, I must post a caveat and observe caution. Not all rules of practice or action at the international level can rise tothe level of their applicability to all and find enforceability by national courts. As has been the case in the past, my view isthat for international law to be recognized in the first place, and enforceable thereafter, it needs to have very strongfoundations to be acceptable to all. It is possible, as has been the case before, that such may become acceptable to all, butwith variations for differences of application across the board.Yet thus far, the crystallization of certain principles of international law to universal acceptability and thereafter enforcementhas done well to our jurisprudences in acting as fertile supplements to domestic law. This cross-pollination of legal dogmaoccurs quite vigorously notwithstanding the criticism of the courts for the so called ‘judicial timidity’. This criticism contendsthat courts interpret their national constitutional provisions narrowly where they import international law into the domesticlegal systems; further that courts will interpret international rules in fashion that does not upset governmental interests; andthat courts shield behind ‘avoidance’ doctrines in avoiding judicial review of government conduct and action.The tricky part arises where a given state refuses to sign, accede or ratify an international treaty/convention, for instance,the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, which in my view is likely to, later on by widespread applicability, ascendto universal acceptability. Such a state may very well have consistently objected to the Convention’s provisions, yet it maybe argued, that dominant public opinion, internal and external, may bind the conscience of the state to feel obliged to upholdsuch an instrument.Hon’ble Mr Justice Peter S. Shivute,Chief Justice of the Republic ofNamibia being garlandedHon'ble Mr Justice P S Shivute, ChiefJustice, Supreme Court of Nambiaaddressing the ConferenceA great deal of interpretation will be generated in determining applicability based on theincorporation and transformation clauses in the national constitution, for as long as statesovereignty exists. Ultimately, I submit that the very key to acceptable and applicableinternational norms, lies in the political will of the custodians of the electoral confidenceto determine the destiny of the peoples of the world.This may be a weakness and a strength altogether, as political considerations aresusceptible to manipulation in the interests of retention of political mandate or otherwise,including fear of reprisal. A case in point is the debate surrounding the InternationalCriminal Court in many of the world’s capitals. On the other hand, in-as-much as electoralsystems allow for representation, the law makers may very well spurn sympathy towards--23--
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