Future Justice Expert Commission
Decisions taken by politicians today will have a major influence on the world of tomorrow. But our offspring and the generations yet to be born cannot stand up for their rights. It is therefore our duty and responsibility to ensure the survival of both present and future generations.
Goals
The WFC has set up the Expert Commission on “Future Justice” with the goal of analyzing and exposing the long-term effects of our decisions today and connecting current problem-solving with a long term perspective.
It is our conviction that we can only create a world that is more equitable, sustainable and peaceful over a long period of time if our solutions address the root causes of our current crises. Otherwise, as we can witness in the global system today, we risk dumping the costs of geographically limited or temporary solutions onto the shoulders of others - be they in other parts of the world or yet to be born.
The Future Justice Commission therefore sees itself as a trustee that acts on their behalf, using its own judgment as to what will best serve their interests. For this, we work from an integrated perspective, highlighting the connections between human rights and security, ecological integrity and peaceful relations.
Activities
Our vision and agenda build on the many existing international accords on humanity's duties and responsibilities towards future generations, our planet and towards each other. Our programme seeks to foster their implementation with a double-wing strategy:
- On the one hand it defines the worst violations of these duties as Crimes against Future Generations and provides worst policy criteria to identify which regulations we need to abolish to prevent them.
- On the other hand it promotes best policy criteria to identify which regulations foster just and sustainable societies and will celebrate outstanding examples with an annual Future Policy Award.
Our policy work particularly focuses on the Millennium Development Goals and their implementation.
Future Justice Expert Commission
The Expert Commission on Future Justice includes Councillors Judge Christopher Weeramantry (Former Vice-President of the International Court of Justice), Prof. Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger (Director of the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law), Prof. Hans Peter Dürr (Nuclear Physicist and Peace Activist), Dr. Scilla Elworthy (Founder of the Oxford Research Group), Dr. Rama Mani (Scholar, Activist and Policy Analyst), Count Hans von Sponeck (Former UN Assistant Secretary General), as well as Honorary Councillors H.E. Arthur Robinson (Former President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago) and Prof. Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker (Co-Chair of the International Panel for Sustainable Resource Management) and several Advisors.
Click here to read more about the Commission.
"The acorn has a 400 year business plan. Humans ought to be able to do at least as well as an acorn."
WFC Councillor Scilla Elworthy
Future Justice…
...is about thinking and acting differently, based on respect, dignity and mutual trust
…considers not just what is happening now, but the effects of our actions in the years, decades and centuries to come
… is a means of creating new rules for how we live and work, pass laws and run countries
…is the giving of rights to the poorest, the weakest, the ignored, to the planet and to the other living creatures we share it with
…is a protection for all the people yet to be born, whose lives we are blighting before they have even started
…is about what we do now. Our actions today will determine the conditions of life for centuries to come
