The International Court of Justice (ICJ), principal judicial organ of the United Nations, was presented today with the "Fray Francisco de Vitoria" Medal, awarded by the municipality of Vitoria (birthplace of the famous Spanish "founding father of international law") and the University of the Basque Country.
The Medal was presented at a ceremony held today in Vitoria at which speeches were delivered by the Mayor of the city, Mr. Alfonso Alonso, the Rector of the University of the Basque Country, Mr. Juan Ignacio Pérez Iglesias, and the President of the Court, Judge Rosalyn Higgins.
"I wish to reiterate how honoured my colleagues and I are to receive this distinguished award on behalf of the International Court of Justice, in recognition of the Court's crucial role as a guardian of the respect for international law", stated Judge Higgins, who was accompanied by a delegation of Members of the Court and spoke before an audience of major political and judicial figures. "The Court will pursue its efforts to prove worthy of the hopes that have been placed on it and to fulfil the mission that was attributed to it sixty years ago by the draftsmen of the United Nations Charter", she added.
The "Fray Francisco de Vitoria" Medal is a prestigious award created by the city of Vitoria at the suggestion of the Advisory Scientific Board of the Vitoria-Gasteiz international law and international relations courses, organized under the aegis of the University of the Basque Country. It is intended to honour individuals and institutions having made a notable contribution to the establishment of peace and the promotion of understanding within the international community.
Francisco de Vitoria (1483/86-1546), a Dominican friar and Spanish Renaissance theologian, was the founder of the Salamanca School. Faced with a new phenomenon - the birth of modern States - he was one of the first to attempt to set limits on their freedom of action. He recognized the sovereignty of the State, while also proclaiming its submission to natural law and stressed that States needed to live together. He accordingly postulated the existence of an international community and of an international system of law to govern that community.
The texts of the speeches delivered by the Mayor of Vitoria, Mr. Alfonso Alonso, the Rector of the University of the Basque Country, Mr. Juan Ignacio Pérez Iglesias, and the President of the Court, Judge Rosalyn Higgins, will be available on the Court's website http://www.icj-cij.org from tomorrow.
International Court of Justice http://www.icj-cij.org
The Medal was presented at a ceremony held today in Vitoria at which speeches were delivered by the Mayor of the city, Mr. Alfonso Alonso, the Rector of the University of the Basque Country, Mr. Juan Ignacio Pérez Iglesias, and the President of the Court, Judge Rosalyn Higgins.
"I wish to reiterate how honoured my colleagues and I are to receive this distinguished award on behalf of the International Court of Justice, in recognition of the Court's crucial role as a guardian of the respect for international law", stated Judge Higgins, who was accompanied by a delegation of Members of the Court and spoke before an audience of major political and judicial figures. "The Court will pursue its efforts to prove worthy of the hopes that have been placed on it and to fulfil the mission that was attributed to it sixty years ago by the draftsmen of the United Nations Charter", she added.
The "Fray Francisco de Vitoria" Medal is a prestigious award created by the city of Vitoria at the suggestion of the Advisory Scientific Board of the Vitoria-Gasteiz international law and international relations courses, organized under the aegis of the University of the Basque Country. It is intended to honour individuals and institutions having made a notable contribution to the establishment of peace and the promotion of understanding within the international community.
Francisco de Vitoria (1483/86-1546), a Dominican friar and Spanish Renaissance theologian, was the founder of the Salamanca School. Faced with a new phenomenon - the birth of modern States - he was one of the first to attempt to set limits on their freedom of action. He recognized the sovereignty of the State, while also proclaiming its submission to natural law and stressed that States needed to live together. He accordingly postulated the existence of an international community and of an international system of law to govern that community.
The texts of the speeches delivered by the Mayor of Vitoria, Mr. Alfonso Alonso, the Rector of the University of the Basque Country, Mr. Juan Ignacio Pérez Iglesias, and the President of the Court, Judge Rosalyn Higgins, will be available on the Court's website http://www.icj-cij.org from tomorrow.
International Court of Justice http://www.icj-cij.org