Chief Justices of the World Convene for Global Peace, Sustainability, and Unity
(By Annie Hsu from New Delhi, India) The 18th International Conference of Chief Justices of the World, an important annual event for legal experts around the globe, was held in New Delhi, India on Nov. 8-14, 2017, gathering chief justices and legal luminaries from all over the world. The organizer , City Montessori School (CMS), arranged for the distinguished guests to visit the samadhi, or ceremonial mausoleum, of Mahatma Gandhi, offering floral tributes to him on the morning of Nov.9. That afternoon, a press conference and a welcome party were respectively hosted by the founder of CMS, Dr. Jagdish Gandhi, and India’s Minister of Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad, with approximately 300 people from 60 countries in attendance.
From the 1stInternational Conference of Chief Justices of the World in 2001 to last year, 1,002 heads of state and government, chief justices, and judges from 125 countries had participated in the past conferences. This year, the theme of the conference is “Uniting the World through Enforceable World Law and Effective Global Governance.” The conference covers six topics: creating a culture of unity and peace, advancing the rule of law, protecting human rights, ensuring successful global governance, tackling global issues, and promoting sustainable development. The host of the press conference, Dr. Jagdish Gandhi said that it is imperative to establish world law and world constitution as cooperation between nations requires common goals and binding regulations. He mentioned that transnational cooperation can combine the strengths in various fields. As one third of the world's population is children, he is very concerned about issues facing children, urging people to safeguard the rights and the future of the 2.5 billion children.
Dr. Hong, Tao-Tze, president of the Federation of World Peace and Love (FOWPAL), was again invited to the event this year. He led FOWPAL cultural goodwill delegation, composed of 53 members, to take part in the event. In addition to sharing its experience of promoting love and peace across every populated continent, the delegation also brought wonderful cultural performances. Dr. Hong showed his respect for Dr. Gandhi's dedication to education. Dr. Hong stressed that a good culture leads to quality education, which is essential to sound economy. The three things are closely related, complementing one another.
Vice President of Guyana, H.E. Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan mentioned his reason for attending the event: “There’s indeed a need for greater peace and security, lots more justice . . .that’s primarily what brought me here, and knowing that I’m going to meet a lot of chief justices who can make a difference by their decisions in courts of their lands to ensure greater peace and harmony.”Regarding ways to promote peace, security, and justice, he stated, “There are lots of executive actions that could be taken: ensuring greater law and order in the country, ensuring that the rule of law is maintained . . .at the political level, ensuring greater transparency so that people, electorate can see how the taxpayers’ money is spent, and especially how decisions are made, and that’s not made in the self-interest of government members.”
Ambassador of Morocco to India, H.E. Mr. Mohamed Maliki stated, “My basic work here is to promote my country in India and safeguard this.”He also said, “I wish all the ambassadors can be contributing to making peace last forever.”An international FOWPAL volunteer, Yu-An Lu said, “I believe I have the responsibility to take care of the next generation. We have the ability to raise people's awareness and awaken their conscience. This was why I attended the meeting.”
During the party, FOWPAL delegates brought a series of excellent performances. The young delegates’ electrifying cultural performances, which were full of the energy of love and peace, attracted the attention of the chief justices who were originally engaged in conversation. Embodying the righteous energy of knights-errant, the performers’ qigong and martial arts presentations displayed both strength and beauty, mesmerizing the audience. At the end of the party, a group of young FOWPAL delegates dressed as “Angels of Peace” sang a song titled "The Angle in Your Heart." Their pure and innocent smiles melted the hearts of the chief justices, who smiled and took out the mobile phones and cameras to take pictures of this special cultural performance. One justice, who was about to get into a car to leave, kept saying, “I was really touched! You are very warm!”The party ended on a high note with the angelic singing!