The Global Judges Symposium on Sustainable Development and the Role of Law, was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 18 to 20 August 2002, and hosted by Hon. Justice A. Chaskalson - the Chief Justice of South Africa. The Symposium was sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and its partners.

The Symposium gathered Chief Justices and Senior Judges from about 60 countries and several Judges from International Courts and Tribunals.

The following countries were represented:

Africa: Angola, Egypt, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe;

Asia and the Pacific: Afghanistan, Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Marshall Islands, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Samoa and Thailand;

Eastern Europe and NIS: Georgia, Kazakhstan, Romania, Russian Federation and Slovak Republic;

Europe: Belgium, France, Greece and Italy;

Latin America and the Caribbean: Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, Guyana, Mexico and Saint Lucia;

North America: Canada and United States of America;

West Asia: Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

The following International Courts and Tribunals were represented: the International Court of Justice, the European Court of Justice, the Court of Justice of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

The Chief Justices and Senior Judges who attended the Symposium adopted the Johannesburg Principles on the Role of Law and Sustainable Development, to be presented to the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, South Africa, 26 August - 4 September 2002).

The Johannesburg Principles adopted at the Global Judges Symposium were published in six UN official languages.