Independence.
The famous French Declaration of the Rights of Man also refers to human happiness.
Utilitarian lawyers like Jeremy Bentham built their theory also on the same idea.
Despite this long tradition, many contemporary lawyers are reluctant to speak about happiness, because, according to their opinion, it is not objective, but purely subjective.
The reason for that is that the contemporary law in general and international law in particular is mainly based on ethical relativism.
New emerging environmental law challenges this foundation.
It is important to understand why Judge Weeramantry was forced to develop the concept of happiness in deciding a particular international legal dispute.
In order to find a balance between the protection of the environment and the economic development which affect the environment, one has to look at the goals of the development and its meaning.
Without a developed and universally accepted concept of happiness, international environmental law will be unable to solve difficult dilemmas similar to those in the case of Hungary v. Slovakia.