By Albert Allotey
Accra, Oct. 10, GNA – The Ahmadiyya Muslim Lawyers Association, Ghana (AMLAG), has held a symposium with a call on lawyers and legal practitioners across the world to ensure that international law remains an instrument for the protection of humanity.
The symposium was held on the theme: “International Law on Trial: Justice in a Divided World.”
The main speakers were Professor Kofi Abotsi, Dean of the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), and Mr Kwesi Pratt, Editor-in-Chief of the Insight Newspaper.
Maulvi Mohammed Bin Salih, Ameer and Missionary-in-Charge of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission, Ghana, and Patron of AMLAG, said the legal profession occupied a unique position in the struggle for justice.
He said lawyers were not merely interpreters of legal rules but, in many respects, guardians of justice and defenders of the rule of law.
“Lawyers should be servants of justice. Let the law be a shield for the vulnerable and not merely a weapon for the powerful.”
Maulvi Bin Salih said true global stability and order could only be founded on justice.
“Injustice breeds resentment, humiliation provokes resistance, and oppression creates instability,” he said.
He noted that lasting peace could not be built on fear or domination, stressing that every nation, whether powerful or weak, rich or poor, must be treated with dignity and fairness.
The Ameer said the world must move beyond the notion that international relations was merely a contest for power and influence.
“The world is not the property of the powerful; it belongs to all humanity,” he said.
He added that global resources and opportunities must be managed with justice, compassion and responsibility.
Maulvi Bin Salih urged participants to place humanity at the centre of discussions on international law, noting that behind every statistic of war was a human life.
He also called on religions to uphold justice as a shared moral obligation by choosing dialogue over confrontation, understanding over suspicion and mutual respect over hatred.
Professor Abotsi on his part, said international law must serve as the foundation for international justice and that international justice could only succeed when international law was respected.
He said adherence to the rule of law would ensure the enforcement of underlying legal norms.
“Once the enforcement of the underlying norms are effected that we can truly say that there is a future for an international justice in the global community,” he said.
Mr Pratt in a remark described the symposium theme as timely and urgent, saying it exposed hypocrisy and double standards in the application of international law, particularly when powerful nations oppressed weaker ones.
He said the situation should serve as a wake-up call for vulnerable nations to determine whether international law genuinely protected the weak or merely served the interests of the powerful when convenient.
Dr Navy Capt (GN) Rtd Kamal Deen Ali, President of AMLAG, in a welcome address, said the symposium was important given ongoing geopolitical conflicts across the world.
He said AMLAG was one of the professional associations within the Ahmadiyya Muslim community and was committed to serving humanity, promoting justice and strengthening ethical standards within the legal profession.
Dr Ali said the association had contributed to the establishment of the Legal Aid Scheme and the Justice for All Programme.
He added that in 2023, members of the association raised funds that facilitated the release of a number of inmates jailed for minor offences.
“Our intention of doing that is that these prisoners are not harmful to society and therefore monies must be paid for their release,” he stated.
Retired Court of Appeal Judge, Justice Saeed Kwaku Gyan chaired the event.
The event was also attended by Mr Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, Minister for the Interior, Mr Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, Presidential Envoy for Inter-faith and Ecumenical Relations, and some Justices of the Supreme Court.
GNA
Edited by Lydia Kukua Asamoah
Reporter: Albert Allotey