At World Justice Forum IV, WJP Board of Directors member Mondli Makhanya ended the week's events with a reading of the Closing Declaration. Mr Makhanya also delivered a moving tribute to Nelson Mandela, highlighting his legacy of service in advancing the rule of law both at home in South Africa and in the world at large.
Closing Declaration
Participants at the World Justice Forum IV commit to the rule of law
We, the participants at the World Justice Forum IV, re-dedicate ourselves to work together to create home-grown cultures of the rule of law. Accordingly, we:
- Affirm the rule of law as the foundation of communities of opportunity and equity.
- Acknowledge that communication and collaboration among those in all work disciplines is the most effective way to promote the rule of law.
- Call upon scholars to engage in research on the subject of the rule of law.
- Invite the world to use the findings of the WJP Rule of Law Index 2013.
- Exhort individuals and organizations to design and implement practical, on-the-ground programs that enhance and extend the rule of law.
- Express our solidarity with those persons and organizations who, often in difficult and even dangerous times and places, are working for the rule of law.
- Challenge all governments to embrace and relentlessly advance the rule of law.
- Remind those people who benefit from the rule of law that with rights come responsibilities, and that eternal vigilance is required to sustain it.
Adopted on this, the 11th day of July, 2013, The Hague, Netherlands in honor of Nelson Mandela—once a survivor, then a champion, and now a beacon of the rule of law.
Delivered by Mondli Makhanya, WJP board member.