On May 8, 2023, Madrid hosted, once again, an in-person Opening Session for the World Law Congress 2023 to present the New York event to the European legal community and press. During the event the Rule of Law Digital Center of the World Law Foundation was inaugurated, and distinguished personalities will be recognized with the WJA Ruth Bader Ginsburg Medals of Honor and the World Peace & Liberty Award.
The RULE OF LAW DIGITAL CENTER is the new project of the World Law Foundation (WLF). This is the first of the centers that the WLF will put into motion in the five Continents. A physical and digital space open to organizations, institutions, companies, universities, schools, with projects aligned with the mission of the Foundation, with focus on promoting the importance of the Rule of Law to young jurists, students, and the society in general.
The WJA RUTH BADER GINSBURG MEDALS OF HONOR, for their part, were presented along with Jane Ginsburg, daughter of Justice Ginsburg, to eminent female jurists whose work and activism has promoted the Rule of Law and equality, breaking glass ceilings and paving the path for other women and girls to follow in their footsteps and become future leaders. 2023 awardees are:
• Navi Pillay, South Africa, Ad Hoc Judge International Court of Justice, Hague in the Genocide application by Gambia vs Myanmar, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (2008-2014), President of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (1999-2003). Receives, in person, the WJA Ruth Bader Ginsburg Medal of Honor 2021.
• Brenda Hale, United Kingdom, Baroness Hale of Richmond, first female Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (2017-2020).
• Asifa Kakar, Afghanistan, representing the International Association of Afghan Refugee Women Judges. Judge of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan, member of the Drafting Commission of the Constitution of Afghanistan (2003).
• Imrana Jalal, Fiji, lawyer specializing in human rights and gender equality, Chair of the World Bank Inspection Panel 2018-2022, Commissioner of the first Fiji Human Rights Commission, Co-founded the Fiji Women's Rights Movement.
• Ambiga Sreenevasan, Malaysia, lawyer, Human Rights, gender equality and free elections advocate; former President of the Malaysia Bar Association, US International Women of Courage Awardee 2009.
These medals were first conferred in 2021 in honor of Justice Ginsburg, who had been recognized with the World Peace & Liberty Award in February 2020 before her passing. In 2021, the medals were handed out by Jane Ginsburg and H.M. King Felipe VI of Spain, as previous recipient of the World Peace & Liberty Award 2019. The first Medals were granted to Christine Lagarde, France, President of the European Central Bank; Gillian Triggs, Australia, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General, Assistant High Commissioner for Protection for Refugees; Luz del Carmen Ibáñez, Peru, Vice-President of the International Criminal Court; Maite Oronoz, Puerto Rico, President of the Supreme Court; Rosario Silva de Lapuerta, Spain, Vice-President of the European Court of Justice; and Young Hye Kim, South Korea, Senior Judge and former Commissioner of the South Korean Human Rights Commission.
The WORLD PEACE & LIBERTY AWARD, described by many as the Nobel Prize in Law, is the highest award granted by the World Jurist Association. It was presented to Andrew Young (1932), prominent American civil rights leader who has worked for the social, political, and economic advancement of oppressed people around the world. Mr. Young helped drafting the US Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the US Voting Rights Act of 1965. After the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Young was named executive vice president of Southern Christian Leadership Conference (1968-1970).
Mr. Young was the first African American to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, appointed by U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who was sympathetic to the South African liberation cause. He was an architect of the first U.S. African Policy, grounded in human rights, negotiated an end to white-minority rule in sub-Saharan Africa by bringing in President Carter’s emphasis on human rights to international diplomacy efforts. In 1996, beyond the apartheid era in South Africa, he co-founded Good Works International, which promotes sustainable economic development in Africa and the Caribbean.
This Award is conferred to world personalities and institutions who have distinguished for their commitment to the promotion of peace through law and the rule of law as a guarantor of freedom. It has been presented to Sir Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, René Cassin, Felipe VI King of Spain, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and, in its latest edition, to the Colombian society, in hands of their President Ivan Duque.
