Human Rights, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) & the Law 2020 Global Symposium
MEDIA ADVISORY
May 2020
With special thanks to leading international organisations for their experts’ guidance:
On 15 May, 2020 during the online Global Symposium on Human Rights, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Law, the Weeramantry family was delighted to announce the first Laureates of the prestigious International Justice Award in honour of His Excellency Judge CG Weeramantry: Professor Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger of the UK, Canada and Switzerland, advocate Neshan Gunasekera of Sri Lanka and the Hon Justice Marcel Szabo of Hungary.
The Weeramantry International Justice Award is granted to distinguished senior-level jurists whose lifeworks, intellect and character offer the highest possible credit to the memory of his Excellency the late Judge Christopher Gregory Weeramantry, recipient of the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education, Right Livelihood Award Laureate and former Vice-President of the International Court of Justice. They honour his Excellency’s international legacy, including his concern for the interests of current and future generations, his commitment to international law, peace and sustainable development, and his global humanism and leadership in the law.
Weeramantry International Justice Awards PDF
Professor Marie-Claire Cordonier-Segger (UK, Canada, Switzerland)
Professor Marie-Claire Cordonier-Segger receives the 2020 International Justice Award for her outstanding legal scholarship and teaching, and for her leadership of international foundations, councils and networks including the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL), the Climate Law and Governance Initiative with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the Biodiversity Law and Governance Initiative with the Convention on Biological Diversity and UN-Environment. Prof. Cordonier Segger is a founding pioneer in international law on sustainable development, author/editor of over twenty books and 120 papers, and laureate of the Justitia Fundamentum Regnorum Award for her efforts to advance justice, human rights, the protection of nature and the interests of future generations.
Advocate Neshan Gunasekera (Sri Lanka)
Advocate Neshan Gunasekera receives the 2020 Weeramantry International Justice Award for his ceaseless work for the cause of justice and inclusion for all peoples during and after conflicts, most notably in Sri Lanka through the United Nations and globally in his excellent leadership of the Weeramantry International Centre for Peace Education and Research (WICPER), and in his contributions to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN): Commission on Education and Communications, the Earth Trusteeship Initiative and Councillor of the World Future Council as a global advocate for peace, justice and rights of current and future generations.
Honourable Justice Professor Marcel Szabo (Hungary)
The Honourable Justice Professor Marcel Szabo receives the 2020 International Justice Award for his work serving as a leader in advancing intergenerational equity and the rights of current and future generations as the former Hungarian Ombudsman for Future Generations and now as a wise and deeply dedicated Judge appointed to the Constitutional Court of Hungary, where he continues to promote a vision of justice for current and future generations, protection of the environment, and sustainable development.
