Furthering Human Rights

This volume is based on the theme that justice cannot be confined within limitations of space, time or academic discipline, a theme which Judge Christopher Weeramantry has consistently applied in the valuable writings which are collected here. Justice breaks out beyond the bounds of particular cultural traditions and territorial boundaries. It transcends generational barriers and imposes on every generation duties towards those who are to follow. It reaches beyond the bounds of the discipline of law and fertilizes the interface area between law and any discipline one may care to name. This representative selection of lectures and writings, delivered and published over the past three decades in many parts of the world, reveals the depth and significance of Judge Weeramantry's contribution to the ongoing debate on the nature and scope of Human Rights in the international community. Some of his essays foreshadowed future dangers which have since materialized, and they all represent a resistance to attitudes of legal formalism which often seem to override considerations of justice in the handling of the problems under examination. All of these discussions portray the all-pervasive nature of justice, its universality, and its timelessness. This volume is the first of several which will cover Judge Weeramantry's contribution to legal literature. The remaining volumes will contain essays on Justice in a Global Context, Justice in the Age of Technology and The Votaries of Justice.