Judge Hilary Charlesworth of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Saturday touched on how the political contexts of the cases before the ICJ and the Supreme Court of India are similar in some ways.
Judge Charlesworth added that the ICJ can learn from various national courts on judicial independence.
"The International Court of Justice can learn from national courts about judicial independence. Both the ICJ and India's Supreme Court operate in highly charged political environments. What is commendable about the Supreme Court of India is the quality of introspection," she said.
Judge Charlesworth was delivering a lecture as part of the Supreme Court of India's foundation day and diamond jubilee celebrations.
The theme of her address concerned the ICJ as legal forum in a political environment.
During her speech, Judge Charlesworth also dwelled on her friendship and shared postgraduate academic journey with Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud.
"The Chief Justice of India and I first met over 40 years ago. We explored the richness of Harvard. He stood out even then as a very generous and intelligent person. Our families have deeply valued the friendship and we hope it is carried onto the next generation," she said.
She spoke of how how the Indian Supreme Court and Constitution recognise the role of international law and the ICJ.
"Indeed it is more open to invoking international law than other apex courts including my own."
Judge Charlesworth's lecture dealt with the history of the ICJ as well and some of its key norms and opinions.
"The International Court of Justice has had a poor record in terms of gender diversity ... It is not concerned with the enforcement of its binding judgments, which falls on the States themselves."
Judge Charlesworth acknowledged that with all cases having political contexts, assertions on a judge's independence are inevitable.
"Our judges, I would say, have always decided the legal questions independently. But the context cannot always be pinned down and more sophisticated accounts, rather than relying only on voting preferences as some do, is needed," she added.
CJI Chandrachud spoke of Judge Charlesworth as being an esteemed scholar, a pioneering feminist thinker and an old friend.
"I have said dear old friend because we really go back a long time. We had forged a strong academic journey at Harvard Law School. Our friendship extended beyond the classroom and helped us navigate the rigours of academics," he said.
The CJI went on to speak of how Integrating gender diversity within courts would help ensure better outcomes.
TAGS: ICJ Jud ge Supreme Court of India Judicial independence Political environment
