Remembering Peace in a Time of War: Why International Law Matters More Than Ever

A Message of International Law and Peace

The wish above all other wishes is for peace. The opposite of peace is war. As some one who lived through the Second World War and the occupation of Singapore by Japan, I saw, firsthand, how destructive war is. I am therefore a champion of peace. I am also a champion of international law.

In this short essay, I wish to answer the question whether there is a nexus between international law and peace. Can international law promote peace? My answer is, a big Yes.

Let me cite the example of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which was adopted in 1982 and came into force in 1994.

Before UNCLOS was adopted, there were no agreements about the breadth of the Territorial Sea and about the fishing rights of Coastal States. There were many disputes between States on those questions. In one case, it actually led to a shooting war, between Iceland and the United Kingdom. With the adoption of UNCLOS in 1982, the disputes have ceased because there was clarity in the law. Thi is a very good example of how international law promotes peace. Some years ago, the Rhodes Academy on the Law of the Sea and the Onassis Foundation, gave me an award for my contributions to “Peace at Sea”.

Let me give another example. In December 1978, Vietnam sent its armed forces into Cambodia and overthrew the Khmer Rouge regime. Some Cambodians welcomed the Vietnamese as liberators. However, other Cambodians oppose the Vietnamese occupation of their country. They took up arms to oppose the Vietnamese army. This armed conflict only ended in 1991, when all the Cambodian parties, and Vietnam and China, the US, Soviet Union, signed the Paris Agreement.

The Paris Agreement is an international treaty. This is an example of how international law, the product of diplomacy, brought a decade-long armed conflict to an end.

Let me give a third example. This relates to the sensitive relationship between two nuclear powers, India and Pakistan. The two countries share a river, the Indus River. In order to pre-empt disputes between the two countries over the use of the waters of river, the World Bank took the initiative to encourage the two countries to negotiate a treaty. The negotiations were successful and the Indus Waters Treaty was signed on 19 September 1960, by Prime Minister Nehru of India and President Ayub Khan of Pakistan. This is an example of how international law was used to promote peace between two neighbours and to prevent conflict.