Editors --- "His Excellency Christopher G Weeramantry AM" [2017] MelbJlIntLaw 1; (2017) 18(1) Melbourne Journal of International Law i

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HIS EXCELLENCY JUDGE CHRISTOPHER G WEERAMANTRY AM

Foreword

THE EDITORS

The Melbourne Journal of International Law is deeply saddened by the passing of His Excellency Judge Christopher G Weeramantry AM.

As a member of MJIL’s Honorary Advisory Board from its inception in 2000, Judge Weeramantry demonstrated tremendous support for the Journal. His willingness to associate his name with MJIL before the first edition had even been published was especially helpful for the founding Editors to establish credibility at the highest level within international law academic circles. He envisioned MJIL achieving a status akin to that of the Harvard Journal of International Law and recognised the international law talent around Australia.

In addition, Judge Weeramantry was gracious enough to write the Foreword to the first issue of MJIL. In it, he wrote, ‘I am sure this new journal will rise to this challenge and give young Australian international lawyers a new forum from which their voices and views can make their impact on the vibrant discipline of international law, upon which so much of the world’s welfare depends’.

Judge Weeramantry was appointed to the International Court of Justice as a Judge in 1991. He later sat as the Vice President of the ICJ from 1997 until 2000. He was instrumental in establishing environmental law as a branch of international law. Judge Weeramantry’s most notable opinion was a dissenting opinion in the ICJ’s Advisory Opinion on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons. He argued that the threat or use of nuclear weapons is illegal in any circumstances whatsoever as it is a violation of international humanitarian law.

In volume 5(2) of MJIL, Judge Weeramantry’s book, Universalising International Law, which argued for ‘a thorough engagement with cultures excluded by the Western-dominated system’ in the post-September 11 world, was reviewed. His book ‘forces readers to think about the fundamental questions’ concerning international law.

Judge Weeramantry remained an Honorary Advisory Board member until his passing earlier this year.