Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo extolled the achievements garnered by Filipino jurists and lawyers in the practice of international law and service in international tribunals.
Gesmundo was one of the keynote speakers during the inauguration of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Judge Cesar C. Bengzon Hall at the newly renovated chancery of Philippine Embassy in the Netherlands last July 19.
The embassy dedicated a special sitting room at its ground floor to honor the late Chief Justice Bengzon, the first Filipino judge of the ICJ from 1967 to 1976.
The Supreme Court’s (SC) public information office (PIO) said the event also honored two other Filipinos who were appointed to international tribunals -- the late SC Associate Justice Florentino P. Feliciano and former University of the Philippines College of Law Dean Raul C. Pangalangan.
Gesmundo said that the late Chief Justice Bengzon “impressed upon the international legal community that Philippine jurists are world-class” with his knowledge and prudence.
He said that Bengzon devoted his whole life to law, starting as a law clerk and later as Chief Justice of the Philippines. In between, Chief Justice Bengzon held executive positions such as Solicitor General and Secretary of Justice.
“His appointment to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) capped a brilliant career in the service of his fellow men and women.... This honor given by the Philippine Embassy is but a fitting tribute to a man who is an epitome of integrity and excellence, a Philippine magistrate who had made waves throughout the world,” Gesmundo said.
He added that Chief Justice Bengzon “blazed the trail for Philippine jurists and lawyers alike to enter the practice of international law and serve in international tribunals.”
He also cited the Filipinos’ contributions to internal law like the drafting of the United Nations Charter and, in particular, on the chapter on international trusteeship for non-self-governing territories; the articulation of key principles of the peaceful settlement of disputes as embodied in the Manila Declaration of 1982; the development of the archipelagic doctrine in UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea), and recently on clarifying key UNCLOS provisions on maritime entitlement and jurisdiction.
Chief Justice Bengzon joined the SC as its 52nd associate justice in 1945 and was appointed as the 9th Chief Justice in 1961. He passed away in September 1992.
Also commended by Gesmundo were the late Justice Feliciano and Dean Pangalangan, who he said, have shown exemplary performance in their chosen field of law, through their work as members of international tribunals.
Justice Feliciano became founding member, then chairman of the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization (1995 to 2001). He was a member of the International Chamber of Commerce International Court of Arbitration in Paris, and had been on the Arbitration Panel of the American Arbitration in New York. He also served as member of the World Bank Administrative Tribunal from 2002 until his demise in 2015.
Dean Pangalangan, on the other hand, served as a Judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC) from 2015 to 2021. He was also a Philippine delegate to the 1998 Rome Conference and sat in the Drafting Committee for the Rome Statute of the ICC.
The SC PIO said that ICJ Vice President Kirill Gevorgian and ICJ Judge Iwasawa Yuji also delivered messages.
ICJ Vice President Gevorgian referred to Chief Justice Bengzon as “staunch defender of human rights” while ICJ Judge Yuji described him as “a towering figure in international law.”
The PIO said that coinciding with the occasion was the publication by the SC of the “Book of Decisions and Resolutions of Chief Justice Cesar Fernando C. Bengzon (Volumes I, II and III)” and “Justice Florentino Feliciano: Books of Decisions and Resolutions (Volumes I, II and III)” which were brought to the country’s Embassy in The Hague.