Address legal-cultural disconnects in international laws: VP

Flagging the issue of conflict between international laws and national sovereignty, Vice-President Hamid Ansari today cautioned against "blind implementation" of international trade commitments which can put local "cherished" legal cultural approaches at risk.
He pitched for handling "legal cultural disconnects" in application of international laws to help advance goals of international trade.
Ansari said certain scholars and political leaders feel that modern developments relating to international laws and commitments of government towards them endanger nation states by taking power away from the governments and ceding it to international bodies such as the UN and the World Bank.
The Vice President said the conflict between international law and national sovereignty is today the subject to vigorous debates and there is a growing trend towards judging a State's domestic actions in the light of international law and standards.

"It is the general belief that the nation-state is the primary unit of international affairs, and only States may choose to voluntarily enter into commitments," he said inaugurating the fourth Biennial Conference of Asian Society of International Law here.
The theme for this year's conference is 'Asia and international law in the 21st century: new horizons'.
He hoped the experts attending the conference will come up with specific recommendations for handling such legal cultural disconnects, "so as to advance both the goals of international trade and the survival of local, unique and cherished legal cultural approaches that would otherwise be at risk from a blind implementation of international trade commitments."

Addressing the gathering, Xue Hanquin, a judge from China and a member of the International Court of Justice said Asia in particular faces new challenges, some relating to "sensitive" territorial disputes.