‘The International seminar on The impact of Public International law and its Significance in Asia’

LEGAL/SYMPOSIUM

 

 

First Indian origin and youngest Chief Justice

 

of Singapore Mr.Justice Sundaresh Menon

 

Mumbai Visit

 

 

The first Indian origin Chief Justice of Singapore, Mr.Justice Sundaresh Menon, who is also the youngest ever Chief Justice in the world visited Mumbai on 19^th April to address ‘The International seminar on The impact of Public International law and its Significance in Asia’, which was co-organized by International Council of Jurists and All India Bar Association at the historic Convocation Hall of the Mumbai University.

(left to right)

1. Dr. Adish Aggarwala, President , International Council of Jurists.
2. Mr.Justice Sundaresh Menon,  Hon’ble Chief Justice of Singapore.

3. Mr.Justice Mohit Shah, Hon’ble Chief Justice of Bombay High Court.

Mr. Justice Mohit Shah, Hon’ble Chief Justice of Mumbai High Court, Mr. Justice Anoop V. Mohta, Hon’ble Senior Judge of Bombay High Court, Dr. Adish Aggarwala, President, International Council of Jurists, Mr. Anand Desai, leading corporate lawyer and  Dr. Liu Youfa, Consul General of China were the other key speakers in the said international seminar on the ‘Public International Law’ which was attended by the Consul Generals of Spain and Thailand, Hon’ble judges, senior advocates, solicitors, diplomats, MNC executives, law teachers and law students.

(front row left to right)

1. Mr.Justice Mohit Shah, Hon’ble Chief Justice of Bombay High Court.2. Mr.Justice Sundaresh Menon, Hon’ble Chief Justice of Singapore.

3. Dr. Adish Aggarwala, President, International Council of Jurists

In his key note speech Mr. Justice Sundaresh Menon, a Howard alumni and highly successful corporate lawyer said’ the Public International Law till now had a western orientation and outlook but it requires to be reformed now with Asian prospective as the coming century belongs to Asia’. He further said ‘WTO agreements though being pressed by countries for a specific trade agenda have been largely lobbied by private corporate for their personal interest’, he then cited cases like Fuji-Kodak and GMR-Male to explain how public international law has been used to the advantage of private players. He further urged ‘the judiciary in whole should to come together to find a uniform platform and coherence to address such cross border issues’.

Dr. Adish Agarwala, President, International Council of Jurists, in his speech informed that’ Mr.Pranab Mukherjee, Hon’ble President of India praised the contribution of Mr. Justice Sundaresh Menon who was presented the International Jurists Awards 2012 for his unique contribution in the field of administration of justice’. He further said ‘the basic feature of Public International Law was to have regulations with countries chose to abide by. The primary objective of developed law was to prevent wars and to provide a mechanism to bring about peaceful resolutions of disputes. International law has taken on this new role’. He then stated ’laws are not international in basic character and are within the domain of each nation state. The real challenges lies in enforcement of the law beyond the local territories. That is where the role of international law steps in’. He further ‘nations now are agreeing fast to standard rules and legal practices. Consistency is being brought in laws of bankruptcy, intellectual property and banking’. He then concluded ’earlier, the international law was considered to weak and was known as ‘soft Law’. Nations believed that there is no independent body to interpret the agreements and to decide the conduct of nations. It also believed that there are no consequences of breach of international laws. But recent years have seen a change of awareness among participating states.’

Mr. Justice Mohit Shah, Hon’ble Chief Justice of Mumbai High Court in his address said ‘the Public International Law in the present global dynamics is a subject of debate and discussion which should have more holistic and inclusive approach’. He further said ’an overall international prospective has been need of the hour for the trade dispute settlement and reforms should be carried with consensus’.

 

 

Mr. Anand Desai, leading corporate lawyer said ’with the advent of technology there is an need for interaction on  Pubic International Law and it has become imperative to re-frame  it on priority basis’. He further said ’there is a fine tuning required in terms of Public International Law and internet as a lot of work is now outsourced’. He then concluded ’the entire international trade structure requires to reformed in context to the present cyber world’.