Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant has emphasised that the credibility of international law depends not merely on the existence of treaties and institutions, but on whether legal systems ensure meaningful and equal access to justice for states and individuals alike.
Delivering the plenary address at the XIV St. Petersburg International Legal Forum on the theme “Equal Justice, Equal Law: Access as the Measure of International Law’s Humanity,” the CJI stated that equality remained the foundational principle upon which every enduring legal order was built and argued that access to effective legal remedies was the true test of the legitimacy of international law.
Referring to the historical and cultural significance of Saint Petersburg, the Chief Justice observed that lasting institutions required strong foundations. Drawing a parallel between law and the city’s iconic monument, The Bronze Horseman, he remarked that international legal frameworks remained durable only when anchored in the principle of equality.
Tracing the evolution of the concept, Justice Surya Kant noted that equality before law was not a modern invention. He referred to ancient legal traditions, including the Arthashastra authored by Kautilya, which recognised that rulers themselves must remain subject to legal norms. Similar principles could be found across Roman legal systems, Islamic jurisprudence and African legal philosophy, reflecting a long-standing understanding that legality derived its authority from equal treatment rather than privilege, he pointed out.
The CJI also highlighted the principle of sovereign equality embedded in the Charter of the United Nations. He said fundamental doctrines of international law, including jus cogens norms, obligations erga omnes and the principle of pacta sunt servanda, served as safeguards against arbitrary exercises of power and reinforced the notion that all nations must be governed by the same legal standards.
According to Justice Surya Kant, the continuing debate over whether international law applied equally across jurisdictions revealed a deeper challenge confronting the global legal order. He observed that the effectiveness of international law should be assessed by examining whether every sovereign State and every individual has a realistic opportunity to invoke legal protections and obtain remedies through recognised institutions.
Drawing upon India’s constitutional experience, the Chief Justice noted that access to justice cannot remain a theoretical promise. He said the Indian courts have had to address challenges arising from geographical distances, economic inequality, social disadvantage, linguistic diversity and cultural differences.
To make constitutional guarantees meaningful, the judiciary expanded access through liberal interpretation of locus standi, strengthened legal aid mechanisms and adopted a jurisprudential approach that prioritised substantive justice over procedural technicalities.
Justice Surya Kant further referred to major international human rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. While describing these conventions as significant achievements in the development of international consensus, he cautioned that implementation and enforcement often remained uneven.
The CJI observed that countries in the Global South and Global East frequently faced greater scrutiny despite simultaneously dealing with developmental challenges, poverty alleviation and the continuing effects of colonial histories. He suggested that a fair international legal order required uniform standards of accountability rather than the selective application of norms.
Noting that declarations, conventions and institutional frameworks alone could not guarantee justice, CJI stated that equal treatment under law and meaningful access to legal remedies must remain central objectives of the international legal system. According to him, preserving those principles was a shared responsibility of judges, jurists and legal institutions across jurisdictions.
The address came a day after the CJI signed a memorandum on judicial cooperation in Moscow with Igor Krasnov, aimed at strengthening judicial collaboration and legal exchanges between the two countries.
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