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Hon’ble Madam Justice Sophia Akuffo,Judge of the Supreme Court of Ghanaat the Conferencepaedophile rings, massive and debilitating pollution, stockpiles of nuclear warheads andother weapons of mass destruction in the hands of numerous states and non-state groupsand individuals. They read statistics of the accelerated depletion rate of the earth’srainforests. They have observed, the reduction in the average annual rainfall and foodproduction, and they live in an age of a rapidly expanding rate of desertification… Thetragic and disturbing list goes on and on; I am an adult, yet the present state of the worldscares me too. Admittedly, some of these frightful conditions are natural, however, we allhave to admit that most of them are the direct result of human behaviour and failures and,thus, controllable.The children have, therefore, appealed to the judiciary of the world, to support their callfor a new world order – an equitable and enforceable world order – wherein respect for international law will have realmeaning. They have called on us to advocate for the establishment of a ‘World Parliament’ that is legally empowered toenact laws that will be as applicable internationally to all nations and peoples of the world, and as effective as domestic lawsare applicable in sovereign states.The governance structure created by the Charter of the United Nations did not make room for legislation backed byeffective enforcement to achieve the objectives reflected by the Preamble. This has been one of the most critical shortcomingsof the United Nations system. In effect, and for the purposes of assurance of peace, security and survival, therefore,international law under the Charter (and the bodies of international law that have spun off from the Charter) did not advancevery far from classical international law. It is still based on sovereign will. And with the composition of the Security Counciland the veto power of its five permanent members, who amongst themselves control the bulk of the world’s nuclear andweapons of mass destruction capacity, it is arguable that there is no difference from pre-World War II power diplomacy.In many ways, International Law, as we know it, is and has always been more of a doctrine on the basis of which sovereignstates agree (subject to such reservations as they may choose to make) to be bound by specified treaties, agreements andconventions. And although there are bodies of practices which have over the years and decades evolved into what aretermed ‘customary international law’, adherence to them and their observance are principally founded on the will of sovereignstates and are therefore, purely consensual and voluntary, rather than driven by effective enforcement. Recent world eventshave more than amply demonstrated, where needed, that if a State is powerful or daring enough, it can plough tracksthrough international norms and customs with impunity.As far back as 1967, Professor George Schwarzenberger, in discussing the requirements of a world order, observed that:-‘In order to adapt international relations to the requirements of a changing world, international legislative orquasi-legislative organs with discretionary powers are indispensable…..’The world has changed drastically since 1967. The scope of inter-relationships and inter-dependence amongst humankindhas become more immediate and intimate than ever before in the history of this planet. Hence, the need to establish aneffective international legislature to govern international relations and assure real international order based on universallyapplicable laws is even more pressing. In course of the globalization of the world, a number of critical changes have alsooccurred which are too extensive to be enumerated here. However and most frightfully, these changed realities include the‘privatisation’ of the means to initiate nuclear holocaust or unleash weapons of mass destruction. Apart from weapons thathave not been satisfactorily accounted for since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the missing contents of weaponmakinginstallations in other parts of the world, the know-how for home-spun weapons of mass destruction is available onthe internet. Demonstrably, the initiation of war is no longer the exclusive preserve of sovereign states; rather, it is now withinthe capability of groups of individuals who are outside the effective control of any organized state system.At first blush, the idea of an international legislature, with the power to enact internationally enforceable laws, seems to flyagainst the fundamentals on which the current international law regime is built, particularly sovereignty. However, where isthe sanctity or reality of state sovereignty in our present times when a single act of terrorism in one country can have--49--