World Day for International Justice 2021: Origin, Theme, and Significance

The topic is extremely relevant for this year as with the swift pace of adoption of the digital economy aided by the Covid-19 pandemic, the frequent incidents of internet frauds, breach and theft have also increased manifold. (Representative image)

World Day for International Justice 2021 – History, Significance and Why It’s Celebrated: The world celebrates the World Day for International Justice today celebrating the virtues of justice established by modern times courts in different parts of the world. While the idea of justice appeals universally to everyone across its different spheres including social, political and economic justice, the immediate reason behind celebrating the World Day for International Justice is the fact that on the same day the International Criminal Court was established. The International Criminal Court which was established on this day along with ratification of the Rome Statute is a mechanism to bring to book grave crimes and ensure harsh punishment for criminals resorting to crimes at the international level.

How is World Day for International Justice celebrated?
Apart from paying homage to the people and organisations committed to the cause of international justice and furthering its footprint in different parts of the world, people also commemorate the foundation of the International Criminal Court on this day. While the International Criminal Court was founded at the fag end of the 20th century, the parties to the court in the year 2010 decided to celebrate July 17 as World Day for International Justice.

Theme for World Day for International Justice 2021
‘Social Justice in the Digital Economy’ has been adopted as this year’s theme to celebrate the World Day for International Justice. The topic is extremely relevant for this year as with the swift pace of adoption of the digital economy aided by the Covid-19 pandemic, the frequent incidents of internet frauds, breach and theft have also increased manifold. Since the onset of the pandemic in the year 2020 globally, lots of our lives have shifted to the online medium including work, education, social events, transactions among others. While digitisation of the economy is something to celebrate for, it is equally pressing to beware of criminal activities unfolding in the digital sphere. The theme of Social Justice in the Digital Economy also points to the large digital divide between haves and have nots. On this day we should only hope that the idea of universal, international justice gains further ground and the world becomes a better place.