The Gazette 1961 - 64

every colour creed and of every tongue but it was disappointing that lawyers from behind the Iron Curtain did not attend although a Russian delegate was present in Rome in 1962. It began with an invocation by the Archbishop of Athens and after being called to order by Mr. Charles S. Rhyne, the General Chairman, under the Presi dency of Mr. Dimitrios Zepos, the delegates were addressed by Mr. Spyros Pallis the President of the Athens Bar Association, by Mr. Sylvester C. Smyth, President of the American Bar Association, the Honourable Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the United States, the Prime Minister of Greece, the Mayor of Athens and His Majesty King Paul of Greece. After this inaugural session the delegates were received by the King and the Queen. In the afternoon there was a plenary session at which the objectives of the conference were discussed and suggestions made by delegates. This discussion followed the obvious lines and to some extent served merely as a "loosening-up" rather than for any actual benefit having regard to the fact that the working sessions for the following days were carefully prepared and designed to cover all the aspects of the work to be done and the objectives to be discussed and, if possible, attained. On Tuesday July znd the following working sessions took place. (a) Increasing use and usefulness of the Inter national Court of Justice. (V) The creation and jurisdiction of regional and specialised courts. (f) Law rules to encourage international invest ment. (d) Law to facilitate international economic associations and trade. There is little point nor indeed any necessity to go into the discussions here in detail save to say, as far as the writer of this Report is concerned, with reference to topics (a) and (b), that there was a full and extremely useful discussion on both these topics with reference to the necessity for creating an obligation to use the international court of justice for peaceful settlement, with suggestions as to how decrees of that court might be enforced. The dis cussion covered internal disputes disrupting internal peace and external disputes possibly leading to war. Furthermore it was strongly suggested that the greatest benefit from the international court of justice might be obtained if regional courts with branches in various areas of the world were set up. These regional courts would make it easier and a good deal less expensive for governments to deal with the international court and that there should

siderable influence to endeavour to persuade the nations to settle their disputes in international courts and not by the trial of war. Now, how is this to be achieved? It is clear that, if any success is to be obtained in this sphere, it can only be arrived at by conditioning those who are responsible for the government of their countries and, not only those indeed, but also by indoctrinating their peoples with the idea that, if peace is better than war, then the rule of law must be superior to the use of force. In the world in which we live to-day, this simple fact seems far from attainment. National govern ments do, and will, submit disputes to international courts when, and only when, it suits them to do so, and, only if they are so minded, do they pay any attention whatsoever to the judgments of these courts. The special committee set up by the American Bar Association, now under the chairmanship of Charles S. Rhyne, who is its driving force, reviewed the situation generally and in detail, organising regional meetings throughout America and from these meetings the following conclusions amongst others were drawn: (1) A world and regional conference of lawyers should be held. (2) That conferences should concentrate on means of improving satisfactory international insti tutions and the creation of new ones necessary if the Rule of Law is to achieve among nations the stability it has generally achieved within nations. (3) The United Nations should be strengthened by urging increased application of, and adherence to, the International Rule of Law. (4) The legal profession of the nations of the world should undertake a long range con tinuous effort to achieve the foregoing. Accordingly four regional conferences were held in 1961/62 in Costa Rica, Tokyo, Lagos and Rome, and two delegates from each country were invited in their personal capacities. Mr. George Overend and I were invited to represent Ireland at Rome and subsequently at the World Conference in Athens. This is no place to speak of Greece, of the Peleponnese, of blazing dawns and purple sunsets, of the glories of Mycenae, Epidavrus and Delphi, of azure skies and warm seas, of Corinth and of Athens. It must suffice to say that the world con ference opened in the somewhat asceptic luxurious- ness of the Athens Hilton Hotel on July ist. Lawyers, delegates of one hundred and five nations, attended this conference. They were of