London, September 8, 2023 —  Graduates, families and friends of graduates, faculty, I am sincerely honored to have the chance to share this special day with you.  As a Londoner who has lived in New York for ten years, it is wonderful to be part of this occasion that is local and global at the same time.  

However, there is a dirty secret about which I feel rather guilty: you all had to work so hard for your degrees, but I only had to answer an email.

Today I want to offer congratulations, but also thanks.

I am not a lawyer, and I live in a country where people say there are too many lawyers, but I want to thank you for committing through your professional studies to defending the rule of law. 

The people I work for, as I lead a global humanitarian agency, Ukrainians under bombardment in Mikolaiv, Syrian refugees seeking to survive penury in Lebanon, Afghan girls seeking an education in Mazar-i-Sharif, Iranian asylum seekers arriving in the UK across the English Channel, Iraqis trying to prove their identity in Mosul, Sudanese fleeing to Chad, Rohingya in Myanmar, they all need defense from the abuse of power, and so they need defense from abrogation of the rule of law.

The United Nations Charter, signed in 1945, proclaims its determination “to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained”.

But the truth is that the rule of law is under assault around the world.  Majority rule becoming minority oppression.  Democracy becoming less liberal. Dictatorship becoming more brutal. International law becoming optional.

I call this the Age of Impunity.  And impunity is the opposite of the rule of law.

Since I have four minutes, I can only make one point.  In a sentence it is this: I have learnt in my career that action creates hope, rather than hope driving action, and so my request to you is that every day and every week of your career, please take action to uphold and defend the rule of law, because the rule of law is the countervailing power to the forces of impunity.

Please take action to extend rights to those without them; to defend rights under threat; to hold the powerful to account; to explain again and again that rule of law is the most precious gift from centuries of struggle against autocracy and impunity.  

If you are going to work in a democratic society like this one, don’t be cowed by politicians who deride lawyers and the rule of law.

And if you are going to work in a country where the rule of law is under threat, please accept my thanks for your bravery.

Whenever I am asked how to stay optimistic in the face of global crisis, from civil wars to the climate emergency, I say this: look at the statistics and you get depressed, but look at the people and you have hope.  

Looking out at 400 graduates today, I am filled with hope that your education, your determination, your hard work, your ambition, are all resources to help beat back the forces of impunity, and I thank you in advance for being part of a generation that shows human beings can learn from their history, and not relive it.