WORLD LAW " FOR CIVILIZED EXISTENCE " SOMEONE ONCE ASKED SOLON HOW JUSTICE COULD BE ACHIEVED IN ATHENS . " IT CAN BE ACHIEVED, " REPLIED THE GREAT LAWMAKER, IN SUBSTANCE, " IF THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT DIRECTLY AFFECTED BY A WRONG ARE JUST AS INDIGNANT ABOUT IT AS THOSE WHO ARE PERSONALLY HURT . " THIS GENERALIZED PASSION FOR JUSTICE HAS ALWAYS BEEN A HARD STANDARD TO LIVE UP TO, BUT U.S . CHIEF JUSTICE EARL WARREN CITED IT LAST WEEK TO SET THE THEME FOR A MAJOR INTERNATIONAL MEETING OF JURISTS THAT CONVENED LAST WEEK IN SOLON'S CITY . FORMAL TITLE : " FIRST WORLD CONFERENCE ON WORLD PEACE THROUGH LAW . " CEREMONIALLY WELCOMED BY THE KING AND QUEEN OF GREECE IN THE MARBLE HALLS OF THE ATHENS HILTON WERE 1,000 JURISTS FROM 105 NATIONS . THE CONFERENCE WAS THE CULMINATION OF A MOVEMENT LAUNCHED FIVE YEARS AGO BY WORLD-LAWMAN CHARLES SYLVANUS RHYNE, PAST PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION, AND FOLLOWED A SERIES OF PREPARATORY SESSIONS IN COSTA RICA, JAPAN, NIGERIA AND ITALY . SAID RHYNE IN HIS KEYNOTE ADDRESS : " WE SHARE ONE GREAT IDEAL WHICH TRANSCENDS OUR DIVERSITY A BELIEF THAT IN THE RULE OF LAW LIES THE ROUTE TO WORLD PEACE . " WORLD LAW, RHYNE CAUTIONED, SHOULD NOT BE THOUGHT OF AS " A DRAMATIC PANACEA OR CURE-ALL FOR THE WORLD'S ILLS, BUT RATHER A PATIENT LABOR DEMANDING IMMENSE AND CONSTANT EFFORT TO DEVELOP THE TRUE BASIS FOR CIVILIZED PROGRESS AND EXISTENCE . " SUGGESTED IMPROVEMENTS . HENRY R . LUCE, EDITOR IN CHIEF OF TIME INC., RECALLED THE BIBLICAL PASSAGE, " BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS " AND POINTED OUT : PEACE HAS TO BE MADE . PEACE CANNOT MERELY BE KEPT NOT FOR LONG BY FORCE OF ARMS . NEITHER WILL PEACE BE GIVEN TO US AS AN UNDESERVED GIFT FROM HEAVEN . OVERWHELMINGLY, PEACE IS THE WORK OF JUSTICE, AND THE WORK OF JUSTICE IS MAINLY THE WORK OF THE LAW . " LUCE URGED HIS LISTENERS TO CARRY THE CASE FOR WORLD LAW " TO ALL POLITICIANS AND TO ALL THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE WORLD . " SAID HE : " SO FAR AS I KNOW, NO PRESIDENT OR PRIME MINISTER HAS PUT THE RULE OF LAW AT THE TOP OF HIS POLITICAL BANNER, " BUT THE " RULE OF LAW CAN BECOME GOOD POLITICS . " IN SIX DAYS OF DELIBERATIONS, THE JURISTS MODESTLY BEGAN " THE WORK OF THE LAW " BY SURVEYING THE WORLD'S EXISTING LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND MAKING SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT . MAIN CONCLUSIONS : .THE UNITED NATIONS . REALLY TO BE " MANKIND'S BEST HOPE FOR A PEACEFUL WORLD, " IT NEEDS MORE MUSCLE . U.N . PEACE-KEEPING EFFORTS SHOULD BE CODIFIED, A PERMANENT " PEACE POLICE FORCE " CREATED, AND THE SECURITY COUNCIL ENLARGED . THE CONFERENCE RECOMMENDED PARTIAL ABOLITION OF THE VETO : HENCEFORTH IT SHOULD NOT BE PERMITTED WHEN A DISPUTE CAN BE SETTLED PEACEFULLY . BUT THERE WAS PLAINLY NO DESIRE TO GET INVOLVED IN THE TOUCHY ISSUE OF U.N . FINANCING . .THE WORLD COURT . WITH MOST STATES (THE U.S . INCLUDED) RESERVING THE RIGHT TO IGNORE ITS JURISDICTION, IT HAS RENDERED ONLY 13 FINAL VERDICTS IN ITS 18 YEARS . MORE NATIONS SHOULD BOW TO IT, SUGGESTED THE ATHENS MEETING . THE COURT SHOULD BE EMPOWERED TO HEAR CASES BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS AS WELL AS STATES ; AND THE POSSIBILITY OF " REGIONAL WORLD COURTS " SHOULD BE EXPLORED. .FOREIGN INVESTMENT & TRADE . BOTH SHOULD BE PROTECTED BY A FRAMEWORK OF MORE EFFICIENT LAW . STATUTES ON FOREIGN INVESTMENT SHOULD BE CODIFIED, AND SPECIAL COURTS CONSIDERED FOR SETTLING DISPUTES . NATIONAL COMMITTEES OF LAWYERS SHOULD BE SET UP TO STUDY THE LEGAL MACHINERY FOR TRADE, AND IMPROVED POLICING OF INTERNATIONAL PATENTS . . SPACE . THE NEWEST FRONTIER PROVOKED MORE QUESTIONS THAN RECOMMENDATIONS . WHERE DOES AIRSPACE (OVER WHICH NATIONS EXERT SOVEREIGNTY) END, AND OUTER SPACE (WHICH NO COUNTRY HAS YET CLAIMED) BEGIN ? ARE THE MOON AND PLANETS OPEN DOMAIN LIKE COLUMBUS' NEW WORLD, WHERE THE HOISTING OF FLAG AND CROSS WAS SUFFICIENT TO ESTABLISH SOVEREIGNTY ? ON THE LATTER, THE CONFERENCE SAID NO THAT THE U.N . SHOULD BE GRANTED SOVEREIGNTY OVER ALL OBJECTS OF OUTER SPACE, NO MATTER WHICH NATION'S SPACESHIPS LAND ON THEM FIRST . DELEGATES FURTHER SUGGESTED ADOPTION OF " THE PRINCIPLE OF LIABILITY FOR INJURY FROM SPACE ACCIDENTS, " URGED AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE TO FORGE A BODY OF SPACE LAW . SALVATION PROCLAMATION . AT WEEK'S END, THESE SIMILAR TOPICS WERE ADOPTED AS A " GLOBAL WORK PROGRAM . " THE JURISTS ALSO 1) AGREED TO FOUND A WORLD PEACE THROUGH LAW CENTER, TO BE ORGANIZED BY RHYNE, WHICH WILL SERVE AS A RESEARCH CLEARINGHOUSE FOR ALL THE WORLD'S LEGAL SYSTEMS, 2) SET IN MOTION PLANS FOR A WORLD RULE OF LAW YEAR, 3) DREW UP A " PROCLAMATION OF ATHENS, " STATING THEIR CASE BEFORE WORLD OPINION . " THIS CONFERENCE, " SAID THE PROCLAMATION, " BEING DEEPLY CONCERNED WITH THE FACT THAT VIOLATION OF THE RULE OF LAW IN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS CAN ONLY LEAD TO DESTRUCTION OF MANKIND THROUGH NUCLEAR HOLOCAUST, HEREBY PROCLAIMS THAT LAW MUST REPLACE FORCE AS THE CONTROLLING FACTOR IN THE FATE OF HUMANITY . " ONE MEASURE OF THE DIFFICULTY OF THAT TASK : ALTHOUGH INVITATIONS WENT TO ALL COMMUNIST COUNTRIES, NONE (WITH THE EXCEPTION OF YUGOSLAVIA) SENT DELEGATIONS TO ATHENS .