Keynote Opening Address by Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol at the Asian Society of International Law Inter-sessional Conference, The Rule of Law and Development Nexus: A New Deal for Asia? on 4 June 2015, Hotel Plaza Athenee, Bangkok ---------------------------------------------------------- Your Excellency Mr. Hassan Lahdan Saqr Al-Mohannadi Minister of Justice of the State of Qatar, General Paiboon Koomchaya, Minister of Justice of Thailand, Mr. Direk Ingkaninanda President of the Supreme Court of Thailand, Professor Dr. Surakiart Sathirathai, President of the Asian Society of International Law, Distinguished Participants, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is an honour and pleasure for me to be here today at the Asian Society of International Law s Inter-sessional Conference on the theme The Rule of Law and Development Nexus: A New Deal for Asia? First of all, I would like to extend a warm welcome to all participants, both Thai and those traveling from overseas, particularly the distinguished speakers for all plenary sessions. I would like to thank the Asian Society of International Law and the Thailand Institute of Justice, and also the Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs of Thailand and the Faculties of Law of Thammasat and Chulalongkorn 1
universities, for their concerted efforts and hard work in organizing this important conference. As a student of law and a public prosecutor who practiced in the rural provinces of Thailand, I can attest to you that the nexus between the rule of law and development is ever more real. I witness firsthand the struggle of hard life the rural poor have to go through every day. The situation is often compounded by such factors as lack of access to justice or misallocation of natural resources. I would imagine that this is a similar story in other countries too. So the question for the policymakers and academia to ponder is: How can we instill the culture of lawfulness and reduce disparity in our societies so that we can truly realize sustainable development? My quick answer is that we need to get all the necessary fundamentals right. But perhaps we need to dig deeper. The rule of law enables a condition in which any society can achieve peace, security, sustainable and inclusive development, while its citizens can enjoy their basic and fundamental human rights. At the 67 th session of the United Nations General Assembly, UN Member States renewed their commitment to the Declaration of the High-Level Meeting on the Rule of Law at the National and International levels by recognizing that the rule of law and development are strongly interrelated and mutually reinforcing. 2
Global challenges such as transnational organized crime and corruption are impeding developmental efforts, economic growth, access to public resources and governance and accountability. States are ultimately responsible for providing equitable access to justice, and to promote and protect the rights of all people, especially society s most vulnerable. While the justice system is an essential part of the rule of law, every society applies it within its own context where rule of law and human rights are often balanced according to national security and cultural diversity. The rule of law is a system of rules and norms, a set of institutions, an outcome of development, and a feature of the processes that cut across sector to enable development to advance. Core development functions of the rule include enabling economic development; citizenship and social and economic justice; preventing conflict, crime and violence; strengthening accountability and checks on power, including reducing corruption; enhancing the fair allocation of services; and protecting the environment and natural resources. Understanding these relationships is essential to crafting effective goals and targets. From my personal view as the former Thai Ambassador to the United Nations at Vienna, I am convinced that the international community has a common and shared responsibility to build a strong foundation for our future generation where Peace and Productivity prevail among the Peoples of the Planet! 3
Therefore, as we are at the last phase of deliberations on the post-2015 UN development agenda, where the new Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, are expected to be unveiled at this year s September Summit in New York, now is a critical juncture where Member States, international organizations and civil societies reverberate the importance of mainstreaming the rule of law, crime prevention and criminal justice in such agenda. For the international legal forum like the AsianSIL, it is only natural that we do our fair share to highlight methods in strengthening the rule of law and development nexus in Asia. Within the overall Asian context, I would like to highlight the role of the Association of South East Asian Nations, or ASEAN. In 2008, the ten Member States committed to the ASEAN Charter which clearly expresses the Association s firm commitment to enhancing the rule of law, good governance, democracy, and constitutional government. ASEAN leaders recognize the crucial role of the rule of law in ensuring justice, equality, stability, and sustainable prosperity, and at the international level, respect for the fundamental principles of international law, including those of sovereign equality of states. They also reiterate their commitment to implementing their agreed obligations under international treaties to which they are a party. As the ASEAN Community is ushering the region into a new era of closer integration, more needs to be done on the part of its Member States in 4
order to calibrate a more harmonized legal framework required not only for economic liberalization, international trade and investments, but also for strengthening the rule of law and criminal justice systems to respond effectively to transnational challenges. This is something unprecedented in our preceding generations in Asia. It is therefore imperative that we continue to build a strong foundation in order to keep up with this new regional dynamism. We need to account for the rule of law and the rights-based justice system to determine economic success of a country. Here, I would like to highlight the importance of respect for human rights being integrated in the post-2015 development agenda. This, in turn, will have a bearing on the ASEAN region as a whole. We need to redouble our efforts to assist marginalized groups in order to enable them to gain access to justice and to enjoy their human rights, including the right to development. Equally important is the implementation of applicable human rights treaty instruments, which are a central pillar for upholding the rule of law. States formal commitments to confirm national law and practice to the principles contained in these documents are a vehicle through which national actors ensure that their governments uphold the law. Reform of criminal justice institutions can also benefit immensely from the UN standards and norms. I had also been involved in the process of 5
developing some of the latest ones, for example, the UN Bangkok Rules for the treatment of women prisoners, the UN model strategies and practical measures on the elimination of violence against children, and the UN Guiding Principles on Alternative Development, which is aimed at addressing illicit cultivation of narcotic crops. At the heart of my work is the protection of women and children in the criminal justice system. Undeniably, the consequences of violence against children are damaging to both victims and society because violence can also perpetuate for generations. The same can also be said about violence against women. Deeply rooted in gender inequality and discrimination, such violence adversely affects millions of women and girls worldwide. In my view, it is vital that we mainstream gender-specific and child-sensitive dimensions into the criminal justice system. I wish to emphasize here that our failure to protect our women and children, both in public and private settings, can result in a loss of economic productivity of the entire generation. This essentially hampers national and international efforts to achieve sustainable development. I am particularly pleased to learn that the Thailand Institute of Justice is also organizing the TIJ Youth Forum in parallel to this conference. This is the new dimension of academic engagement that brings together not only academia and practitioners of international law, but also the voices of the 6
youth who are also the direct beneficiaries of the rule of law and sustainable development nexus. I am very much interested to hear about the outcome of their deliberations. The role of youth in preventing crime and violence deserves a special attention. This is particularly relevant as Thailand is in the process of developing for the first time the National Crime Prevention Strategy under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice. To fight crime effectively is to address its root causes, which often have to do with the level of development, or lack thereof. Enhancing access to educational and recreational opportunities for children and youth, coupled with poverty reduction measures, can be a successful development-oriented crime control strategy. Last but not least, public and private participation is also important to strengthening the rule of law and development. Public and private institutions must instill a sense of responsibility that they, too, are contributors of social advancement. All citizens must play an active role in promoting trust in the justice system and the belief that laws are fair and apply universally, regardless of socio-economic status. We must cultivate a culture of lawfulness to create peaceful and inclusive societies that embrace the rule of law. Our citizens must use the law to improve their lives and guarantee their rights. So, to build on the quick answer to the question I posed earlier, I believe that the promotion of the rule of law education, especially among the next generation of Asians, is the way 7
forward. This is the role I am sure both the Asian Society of International Law and the Thailand Institute of Justice stand ready to expand further. But all of you, representatives of various Asian countries, too, should join hands in this common endeavor. Asia cannot become stronger and prosper if it does not do so together, and through its emerging generation of law abiding citizens. This is what I consider to be A New Deal for Asia. In closing, I would like to emphasize that the nexus between the rule of law and development is growing rapidly within the field of international law. Undoubtedly, Asia has an important voice that can contribute to the emerging international legal literature that shapes the study of international law in the years to come. Thank you very much for your attention. *********************************************** 8