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Sunday Nov 24, 2024
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Prior to its local launch, the book was released on 17 November at the Great Hall of Justice of the International Court of Justice at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the Netherlands. The launch coincided with both the judge’s 88th birthday and the 24th anniversary of his election to the ICJ.
Ambassador Piet stated that the final volume of the judge’s memoirs covers his nine years in The Hague as an ICJ judge and his work in peace education along with details about his social life and friends.
The judge memoirs consist of a trilogy of volumes which deal with different phases of his life.
University of Peradeniya, Department of Law Head Deepika Udagama stated: “Today we are very fortunate to be present here to celebrate the life and the work of Judge C. G. Weeramantry, in my opinion one of the most influential international jurists and global visionaries of the 20th century. In my estimation this volume is going to be the most influential. We must thank the Ambassador of the Netherlands to Sri Lanka, Louis W.M. Piet, for recognising the importance of it and organising its launch in Colombo.”
The first two memoirs deal with Judge Weeramantry’s formative years in Sri Lanka and Australia. The third part of the memoirs deal with his most influential period, the years spent at the world court and his work afterwards.
The period covered in the present volume commences in 1990, with his election to the world court and continues to chronicle his years spent in Hague and his travel around the globe promoting personal causes and philosophies.
At the first book launch at The Hague, Dr. Arthur Eyffinger, the foremost living historian of the ICJ, described Judge Weeramantry as “the architect of modern international law”, referring to the opinions through which the judge had developed important branches of international law to meet the needs of the future.
Judge Weeramantry stated: “I wish to express my gratitude to the Ambassador of Netherlands for his kindness in organising the launch and for his interest in this publication, which relates to the happy years I spent in his country at the International Court of Justice in Hague.
“It was indeed a wonderful privilege to be in this apex court of international law, the world’s highest international tribunal and have had the opportunity in contributing to the peaceful settlement of disputes and to the development of international law. This volume expresses my experience at that court and describes some momentous issues. This volume also shows how international laws can help the world towards peace, which has been the dream of all nations since civilisation began.
“I believe that peace education should be introduced in schools throughout the world. This should inculcate some knowledge and basic principles of international law because the students of today will be the world citizens of tomorrow.”
Pix by Lasantha Kumara
