Dictum of the day, or on vita brevis

The often prolonged delays in the operation of human justice seem to disclose an indifference to the brevity of human existence, to the time of human beings [...] It is high time to bridge the unfortunate décalage between the time of human justice and the time of human beings [...] [E]veryone lives within time, - the existential time of each one. The irreversible passing of time not only leaves its marks in the aging body, but also marks its flow in one’s conscience. Each person is ineluctably linked more to her own existential time (which cannot be changed) than to the space where she lives (which can be changed). Each person lives inevitably within her own time, conscious that it will come to an end. If one’s life-time is marked by injustice and impunity, one is left with the impression, after the occurrence of all the atrocities, that nothing seems to have happened at all. 

Questions relating to the Obligation to Prosecute or Extradite (Belgium v. Senegal), ICJ, 20 July 2012, Separate Opinion of Judge Cancado Trindade, para. 146, 149, 152.