Chaka 23 March 2013

Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Calcutta (Dist 3291) India

India's Oldest Rotary Bulletin
Cyclostyled from 1920. First printed in 1925
Incorporated with The Eastern Rotary Wheel 1933-51

www.rotacal.org/chaka



TODAY
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A BENGALI PLAY - SOLUTION X
Staged by the Club members under the direction of Rtn Dr Samir Banerjee.
"The whole drama is of two days affair involving a scientist who was working hard to find a medicine which will stop aging and will help to reverse it also but ultimately it culminates with a lot of hilarious and non-sensual events"



ONE WORLD
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We remember with good wishes
ROTARY CLUB OF SURFERS PARADISE
Queensland,
RI Dist 9640, Australia



NEXT MEETING
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Apr 02 Tue 1 for 1:30 PM Rotary Sadan
4436 RWM PDG UTPAL MAJUMDAR




LEAD STORY - 16TH ROTARY ORATION - 2013
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EVOLUTION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW & ITS SIGNIFICANCE
TOWARDS INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING, FRIENDSHIP & PEACE

Delivered on 23rd February 2013
by Mr. Justice Biswanath Somadder
Hon'ble Judge Calcutta High Court

1. When the invitation reached my hands, for delivering the Annual Rotary Oration, I was pleasantly surprised to take note that I could address you on any topic, connected with "World understanding and Peace." Inextricably linked with the concept of world understanding and peace is the evolution of international law as a concept. Generally speaking, international law is the body of rules which are legally binding on states in their intercourse with each other. These rules are primarily those which govern the relations of states, but states are not the only subjects of international law. International organizations and, to some extent, also individuals may be subjects of rights conferred and duties imposed by meaning of the term as used in modern times began gradually to grow from the second half of the Middle Ages.
Much of its evolution as a systematized body of rules can be attributed to a Dutch Jurist by the name of Hugo Grotius, whose work, "De Jure Belli ac Pacis, Libri iii" which was published in the year 1625, became the foundation of later development.

2. That part of international law that is binding on all states, as is far the greater part of customary law, may be called universal international law, in contradistinction to particular international law which is binding on two or a few states only. General international law is that which is binding upon a great many states. General international law, such as provisions of certain treaties which are widely, but not universally, binding and which establish international law. International law in the rules appropriate for universal application, has a tendency to become universal international law.

3. International law is sometimes referred to as "public international law" to distinguish it from private international law. Whereas the former governs the relations of states and other subjects of international law amongst themselves, the latter consists of the
rules developed by states as part of their domestic law to resolve the problems which, in cases between private persons which involve a foreign element, arise over whether the court has jurisdiction and over the choice of the applicable law: in other terms, public international law arises from the juxtaposition of states, private international law
from the juxtaposition of legal systems.

4. Although, the rules of private international law are part of the internal law of the state concerned, they may also have the character of public international law where they are embodied in treaties. Where this happens the failure of a state party to the treaty to observe the rule of private international law prescribed in it will lay it open to proceedings for breach of an international obligation, owed to another party. Even where the rules of private international law cannot themselves be considered as rules of public international law, their application by a state as part of its internal law may directly involve the rights and obligations of the state as a matter of public international law. For example where the matter concerns the property of aliens or the extent of the state's jurisdiction,

5. The problem centered around international law is its binding legal force. Almost from the beginning of evolution of the concept of international law, the question has been discussed whether it is law properly so called. Hobbes and Pufendorf had already answered the question in the negative. During the 19th century Austin and his followers took up the same attitude. In large measure the problem is one of definition, and different definitions of what constitutes 'law' can produce different answers to the question whether any particular body of rules may properly be regarded as 'law'. Definitions drawn up primarily in terms of the internal (or municipal) law of states maybe unnecessarily restrictive when applied to rules obtaining in other kinds of community.
Although the characteristics of municipal law provide a valid Standard against which to measure the quality as law of the rules in some other, and particularly the international, community, a body of rules maybe law in the strict sense of the terra even though it may not at some stages of its development possess all the characteristics of municipal law. Divergence from the usual characteristics of municipal law has nevertheless often been regarded as expressive of the weakness of a body of rules qua law.

6. In this modern day, the states of the world do together constitute a body bound together through common interests which create extensive intercourse between them, and differences in culture, economic structure, or political system, do not affect as such the existence of an international community as one of the basic factors of international law. Rules for the conduct of the members of that community exist, and have existed for hundreds of years. Equally, there exists a common consent of the community of states that the rules of international conduct shall be enforced by external power, although in the absence of a central authority for this purpose states have sometimes to take the law into their own hands by such means as self-help and intervention - although the outlawing of resort to force, and the hesitant steps being taken towards international enforcement action, may indicate less reliance on self-help as the normal means for the enforcement of international law.
 
The Security Council's primary responsibility for and powers in relation to the maintenance of international peace and security, which extend to enforcement action including mandatory measures of various kinds, or the establishment of peacekeeping forces operating with the consent of the state in which the force exercises its functions, offer possibilities of future development towards an effective system of sanctions. They also serve to demonstrate that enforcement of the law through an agency which is both external to the state in default and representative of the international community has the authority of a recognized principle of international law. All the same, it must be recognized that deficiencies in the means at present available for the enforcement of international law - including in particular the absence of truly compulsory arrangements for the judicial settlement of disputes - make it, by comparison with municipal law and the means available for its enforcement, certainly the weaker of the two in that respect.

7. Law can only exist in a society, and there can be no society without a system of law to regulate the relations of its members with one another. If then we speak of the "law of nations", we are assuming that a "society" of nations exists, and the assumption that the whole of the civilized world constitutes in any real sense, a single society or community is one which we are not justified in making without examination. In any case, the character of the law of nations is necessarily determined by that of the society within which it operates, and neither can be understood without the other. The law of nations had its origin among a few kindred nations of Western Europe which, despite their frequent quarrels and even despite the religious schism of the 16th century, all had and were all conscious of having a common background in the Christian religion and the civilization of Greece and Rome. They were in a real sense a society of nations. But, the rise of the modern state system undermined the tradition of the unity of Christendom, and eventually gave rise to those sentiments of exclusive nationalism, which are rife in the world today. It is true that side by side with this development, there has been immense growth of the factors that make states mutually dependent on one another. Modern science has given us vastly increasing facilities and speed of communications, and modem commerce has created demands for the commodities of other nations which have been the extravagance of modern economic nationalism are not able to stifle. If human affairs were more wisely ordered and if men were clearer-sigh ted than they are in seeing their own interest, it might be that this interdependence of the nations would lead to a strengthening of their feelings of community. But, their interdependence is mainly in material things, and though material bonds are necessary, they are not enough without a common social consciousness; without that they are as likely to lead to friction as to friendship. Some sentiment of shared responsibility for the conduct of a common life is a necessary element in any society, and the necessary force behind any system of law; and the strength of any legal system is proportionate to the strength of such a sentiment.

8. It has often been said that in any law ought to be classified as a branch of ethics, rather than of law. The question is partly one of words, because its solution will dearly depend on the definition of law, which we choose to adopt; in any case, it does not affect the value of the subject one way or the other, though those who deny the legal character of international law often speak as though "ethical" were a depreciatory epithet. But. in fact, it is both practically inconvenient and also contrary to the best juristic thought to deny its legal character. It is inconvenient because if international law is nothing but international morality, it is certainly not the whole of international morality, and it is difficult to see how we are to distinguish it from those other admittedly moral standards which we apply in forming our judgments on the conduct of states. Ordinary usage certainly use two tests in judging the "tightness" of a state's act, a moral test and one which is somehow felt to be independent of morality. Every state habitually commits acts of selfishness which are often gravely injurious to other states, and yet are not contrary to international law; but we do not, on that account necessarily judge them to have been "right". It is confusing and pedantic to say that both these tests are moral. Moreover, it is the pedantry of the theorist and not of the practical man; for questions of international law are invariably treated as legal questions by the foreign offices, which conduct our international business, and in the Courts, national or international, before which they are brought; legal forms and methods are used in diplomatic controversies and in judicial and arbitral proceedings, and authorities and precedents are cited in argument as a matter of course. It is significant too that when a breach of international law is alleged by one party to a controversy, the act impugned is practically never defended by claiming the right of private judgment, which would be the natural defence if the issue concerned the morality of the act, but always by attempting to prove that no rule has been violated.

9. The only essential conditions for the existence of law are the existence of a political community, and the recognition by its members of settled rules, binding upon them in that capacity, international law seems on the whole to satisfy these conditions. The best view is that international law is in fact just a system of customary law, upon which has been erected, almost entirely within the last two generations, a super structure of "conventional" or treaty-made law, and some of its chief defects are precisely those that the history of law teaches us to expect in a customary system. It is a common mistake to suppose that of these the most conspicuous is the frequency of its violation. Violations of law are rare in all customary systems, and they are so in international law - for the law is normally observed because, as we shall see, the demands that it makes on states are generally not exacting, and on the whole, states find it convenient to observe it.... But, the weakness of the international law lies deeper than any mere question of sanctions. It is not the existence of a police force that makes a system of law strong and respected, but the strength of the law that makes it possible for a police force to be effectively organized. The imperative character of law is felt so strongly and obedience to it has become so much a matter of habit within a highly civilized state that national law has developed machinery of enforcement which generally works smoothly, though never so smoothly as to make breaches impossible. If the imperative character of international law were equally strongly felt, the institution of definite international sanctions would easily follow.

10. A customary system of law can never be adequate to the needs of any but a primitive society, and the paradox of the international society is that, whilst on the material side it is far more primitive, and therefore needs a strong and fairly elaborate system of law for the regulation of the clashes to which the material interdependence of different stales is constantly giving rise, its spiritual peace cohesion is, as we have already seen, weak, and as long as that is so the weakness will inevitably be reflected in a weak and primitive system of law. Among the most serious shortcomings of the present system are the rudimentary character of the institutions which exist for the making and the application of the law, and the narrow restrictions on its range. There is no legislature to keep the law abreast of new needs in the international society; no executive power to enforce the law; and although, certain administrative bodies have been created, these, though important in themselves, are far from being adequate for the mass of business which ought to be treated today as of international concern. There exist also convenient machinery for the arbitration of disputes and a standing court of justice, but the range of action of these is limited because resort to them is not compulsory.

11. The restricted range of international law is merely the counterpart of the wide freedom of independent action which states claim in virtue of their sovereignty. Law will never play a really effective part in international relations, until it can annex to its own sphere some of the matters which at present lie within the "domestic jurisdictions" of the several states.

12. It is a natural consequence of the absence of authoritative law-declaring machinery that many of the principles of international law. and even more, the detailed application of accepted principles are uncertain. But, on the whole, the layman tends to exaggerate this defect. It is not in the nature of any law to provide mathematically certain solutions of problems which may be presented to it; for uncertainty cannot be eliminated from law so long as the possible conjunctions of facts remain infinitely various. Although therefore the difference between international law and the law of a state in this respect is important it is one of degree and not of kind, and it tends to be reduced as the practice of resorting to international courts, which are able to work out the detailed practical implication of general principles, becomes more common. The difficulty of formulating the rules of international law with precision is a necessary consequence of the kinds of evidence upon which we have to rely in order to establish them.

13. Whether from a review of all these shortcoming, we ought to conclude that international law is a failure, depends on what we assume to be its aim. It has not failed to serve the purposes for which states have chosen to use it; in fact, it serves these purposes reasonably well. The Practice of international law proceeds on much the same lines as that of any other kind of law, with the foreign offices taking the place of the private legal adviser and exchanging arguments about the facts and the law, and later, more often than is sometimes supposed, with a hearing before some form of international tribunal. Volume of this work is considerable, but most of it is not sensational. That does not mean that the matters to which it does relate are unimportant in themselves; often they are very important to particular interests or individuals. But, it means that international law is performing a useful and indeed a necessary function in international life in enabling states to carry on their day to day intercourse along orderly and predictable lines. That is the role for which states have chosen to use it and for that it has proved a serviceable instrument,

14. I have been given to understand that the first Rotary Meeting was held on the night of 23rd February, 1905, at the Unity Building in Chicago, USA. Present at this meeting were Rotary's founder and Convener, Paul Harris and three of his friends. Today, being the 23rd of February, it is observed as the birthday of Rotary- later declared by Rotary International as "World Understanding and Peace day". The Month of February is designated as the "World Understanding Month". I understand that each club, on this day, gives special recognition and emphasis to Rotary's commitment to international understanding, friendship and peace.

15. While I have been discussing about the evolution of international law as a concept, one crucial aspect of its evolution is a modern day development, which forms one of its important facets post-1945, International law rules framed in terms of the protection of human rights against state interference is a modern day concept. Before then individuals were seen mostly as aliens and nationals, not as individuals. Some protection was afforded to them as aliens, but the treatment of nationals was regarded as being within the domestic jurisdiction of sovereign states. By the 19th century, some writers recognized an exception in the case of humanitarian intervention, although state practice shows that intervention by a state on that ground was usually justified on other grounds at the same rime. After the First World War. efforts were made to protect minority groups by treaty, but no protection of individuals generally was attempted. Events in the Europe in the 1930s and in the Second World War focussed attention upon this wider question and the guarantee of human rights became one of the purposes for which the Allied Powers fought. It was therefore no surprise when the realisation of protection of human rights became one of the purposes of the United Nations and when the Charter imposed obligations upon members to this end. The Charter was followed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 and a series of multilateral treaties concluded through the United Nations, At a regional level, the European convention on Human Rights, 1950, the European Social Charter, 1961 and the Revised European Social Charter, 1996, the American Convention on Human Rights, 1969 and the African Charter on Human Rights and Peoples' Rights, 1981, have been adopted; all are now in force. There are also International Labour Conventions that contain human rights guarantees, and the four Geneva "Red Cross" Conventions of 1949, The Human Dimension of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, 1975 (the Helsinki Declaration) and later OSCE texts (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) and developments are also relevant.

16. Action is taken at a universal level to protect human rights within the United Nations; mainly by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights through the adoption and implementation of treaties and by other means and, second, the protection of human rights in customary international law. However, today I shall not dilate on this aspect.

17. Most writers on this subject commonly refer lo human rights as belonging to one of three generations. The "first generation" consists of those civil and political rights that derive from the natural rights philosophy of Locke, Rousseau and others and that have traditionally been given priority by Western states. The "second generations" are those economic, social and cultural rights that attained recognition in the 20th century with the advent of socialism. Although, there is jurisprudential debate and scepticism on the part of concerned Western states as to the human rights character of "second generation" human rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights catalogues rights within both generations as human rights, and the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights impose legal obligations in respect of each other. Moreover, the premise underlying all United Nations human rights texts is that civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights are of equal priority, with the realisation of the two groups of rights being interdependent. The idea of a "third generation" of human rights emerged as recently as the 1970s and is supported predominantly by developing states. It is the idea that in addition to the individual rights of the first two "generations", there are collective group rights, such as the right to self-determination and the right to development, that may properly qualify has human rights.

18. The evolution of the international law of human rights has been one of the most remarkable features of the development of international law since 1945. Whereas progress has so far been made mainly through treaties, the customary international law of human rights is in the process of evolution too. However, it remains uncertain how far customary law extends beyond some fundamental civil and political rights and who in law holds or may enforce the resulting substantive legal rights. As to human rights treaties, most states have accepted an increasing number of universal or regional human rights treaties protecting either human rights generally, or one "generation" of human rights or just one particular right. Such treaties typically provide for bodies to monitor compliance, although the powers of enforcement granted to them vary greatly, ranging from the competence of a court to take a legally binding decision following an individual petition, to that of a committee to make only non-binding general comments or recommendations after the examination of national reports. Nonetheless all such supervisory bodies contribute in their functioning to the meaning of the rights their treaties guarantee and to the corpus of practice applying international human rights standards. Establishment of the international Criminal Court, with jurisdiction (o try individuals for international crimes, is one of the recent developments that have taken place. Although, the Court's decisions will dearly have relevance for the international law of human rights, the subject of international criminal justice is a very specialized one and as such I do not propose to deal with it today.

19. I have come almost to the end of my talk. But before parting, may I reflect, once again, on the significance of the 23rd of February, which all of you assembled here as Rotarians observe as the birthday of Rotary, since 1905. The commitment of Rotary to international understanding, friendship and peace requires no further elucidation. However, even in today's modem day society, the philosophy of the movement propounded by your founder and convener, Paul Harris and his three friends finds a common thread in the utterances of a person from Bengal who had taken the world by storm (or may I say cyclone!) only a few years before 1905 (Sep11, 1893). I am, of course, referring to Swami Vivekananda.
I am tempted to end my talk quoting Swamiji: "We should not think we are men and women, but only that we are human beings, born to cherish and to help one another."




MINUTES OF 4434rd REGULAR WEEKLY MEETING
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HELD ON WED 20TH MARCH, 2013 AT 2:00 PM

Total Members 253
Members Present 94
Exempted 83
Visiting Rtns & Guests 21

1. President Abhijit Kolay, took the Chair and called the 4434rd RWM to order on Wednesday, 20th March. 2013 at 2.00 pm at Rotary Sadan. Minutes of the 4433rd meeting were confirmed.
2. The President greeted all present and welcomed Chief Guest of the Meeting Rotary International President Sakuji Tanaka, RI Director Shekhar Mehta, DG Uttam Ganguli and other District officials. At his request President Elect Haladhar Dey escorted RIP Sakuji Tanaka to the dais; Vice President Ritwik Gupta escorted RID Shekhar Mehta and Hony. Secretary Debashis Mitra escorted DG Uttam Ganguli to dais. Ms Eika Terao, the Japanese interpreter also took her place on the dais.
3. The National Anthems of India and Japan as well as the Anthem of Rotary International were played on the occasion.
4. All the four dignitaries on the dais were then felicitated with flowers on behalf of our club by Rtns. Sujata Pyne. Nilima loshi, Sonal Worah and Chandreyee Das.
5. Visiting Rotarians:
The President welcomed Rtn Dr S Tarafdar from R.C, of Rochdale East, U.K. & Rtn Amitava Dasgupta from R.C. of Calcutta Renaissance.

6. The President Reported that
• Students of our Cultural Section gave a rousing welcome to the RI President this morning on his arrival at Rotary Sadan. RI President visited the Archives, signed the Visitor's Book and went around the NCLCL and Cultural Sections and mingled with the students.
• Books and Dictionaries were distributed by RI President to our Rotary Community Corps (RCC) representatives on the occasion of Literacy month.
• The RI President blessed one child who will undergo cardiac surgery at RTIICS (Rabindranath Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences) under our MG Project for Paediatric Cardiac surgeries.
• A Team of Rotarians visited Sunderbans on 16th & 17th March 2013 to oversee our M.G Project. Rtn Dr. Debnath Chattopadhyay conducted an Eye Check Up camp there and distributed medicines to the patients.
• Former Hony. Secretary Rtn Heena Gorsia during her visit to Australia last month attended weekly meetings of two clubs namely RC of Clayton Victoria and RC of Surfers Paradise Queensland RID 9640 and exchanged banners with the said Club Presidents. During her trip to Japan she had exchanged banners with the President of Rotary Club of Tokyo when she attended their weekly meeting.

7. The President announced that:
• Rtn Santanu Deb Mookerjea lost his mother on 17th March 2013. A message of Condolence has already been sent.
• The Regular Weekly Meeting scheduled to be held on Tuesday, 26th March 2013 at 1.00 pm is being brought forward and will be held on Saturday, 23rd March 2013 at 6.30 pm at Rotary Sadan. The meeting will be followed by a Bengali play staged by our club members under the direction of Rtn Dr Samir Banerjee. The said programme will be followed by Fellowship and Dinner being hosted by Rtns Sunil Kumar Daga & Rajendra Kumar Bachhawat. Hence there will be no Regular Weekly Meeting on Tuesday, 26th March 2013,
• Fellowship Committee will organise a "Holi Milan" on Sunday, 24th March, 2013 from 6.30 pm onwards to be hosted by Rtn Raj Kumar Agrawal at his residence. Invitation cards for the same have already been sent. Members were requested to kindly attend this Fellowship programme with their spouse.

8. Rtn Debashis Mitra, Hony. Secretary, congratulated the 4 Rotarians celebrating their Birthdays between 20th March & 22nd March and made the following announcement:
The Ninth meeting of the current Board of Directors will be held on Monday, 25th March, 2013 at 6.30 pm at Rotary Sadan. All Board Members were requested to kindly attend.

9. The President then delivered a special address on the occasion.
10. At the request of the President DG Rtn Uttam Ganguli addressed the members. His address was well received.
11. Rotary International Director Shekhar Mehta then addressed the meeting. He enthralled the audience with his eloquence.
12. Rtn Haladhar Dey introduced the Chief Guest RI President Sakuji Tanaka. Rtn Tanaka then addressed the meeting. The members listened to his address with rapt attention and gave him a standing ovation at the end of his speech. Rtn Ritwik Gupta proposed the vote of thanks. On behalf of the club the President presented a memento to Rtn Tanaka as a token of the club's appreciation. He also presented a cheque of Rs 54,000 as contribution to Rotary Foundation.

13. The special Sunshine Box Collection was Rs 100 with generous contribution from Rtn B D Kothari.
14. The Club remembered with Good Wishes Rotary International coupled with R.C. of Tokyo, Japan, R.I. District 2580.
15. The President thanked Rtn Sujata Pyne for hosting the day's lunch.
16. There being no other business the meeting was adjourned at 3.00pm.

Rtn Abhijit Kolay, President
Rtn Debashis Mitra, Hony. Secretary




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Editor: Rtn Sonal Worah (chakaeditor@gmail.com )
Co-Editor: Rtn Nidhi Harlalka

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