Judge Weeramantry share alternate Nobel Prize

Judge Christopher Weeramantry, a renowned legal scholar of Sri Lanka and Grameen Shakti of Bangladesh, a leading group in solar energy enterprise, shared the 2007 Right Livelihood Award of Swedish Kroner 2 million (approx $310,000) with two other recipients, who showed that there exist practical solutions to pressing global challenges.

Christopher Weeramantry, a world-renowned legal scholar, best known for his landmark International Court opinion on the threat and use of nuclear weapons, has been honoured for ‘his lifetime of groundbreaking work to strengthen and expand the rule of international law.’

The Right Livelihood Award was established in 1980 to honour and support those ‘offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today.’ It has become widely known as the ‘Alternate Nobel Prize’ and there are now 123 laureates from 56 countries. Presented annually in Stockholm at a ceremony in the Swedish Parliament, the Right Livelihood Award is usually shared by four recipients.

One of them may receive an honorary award, given to a person or group whose work the jury wishes to recognise but who is not primarily in need of monetary support. The others share the prize money of 2,000,000 Swedish kronor. The prize money is for ongoing successful work, never for personal use.

The Right Livelihood Award is widely recognised as the world’s premier award for personal courage and social transformation. Besides the financial support, it enables its recipients to reach out to an international audience that otherwise might not have heard of them. Often, the award also gives crucial protection against repression. For the laureates, the award has opened many doors, including prison doors.