19 December 2013
The Hague: For many centuries, statesmen, philosophers, lawyers and theologians have struggled to address the central problem that has always confronted the international system, namely how to order the anarchical international system, and to ensure peace, security, justice and progress, prevent and contain conflict and protect the lives and rights of human beings. International law has been a central instrument in achieving order and human rights since the time that the great Dutch jurist Hugo de Groot, who lived part of his life in this city, developed the principle of the common rights of mankind.
