U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, at times holding back tears as he spoke, urged more than 5,000 lawyers and judges yesterday to champion law as a "liberating force" capable of spreading justice and democracy throughout the world.

"For us, law is a liberating force. It's a promise, it's a covenant that says you can hope, you can dream, you can dare, you can plan," Kennedy said in his keynote address at the opening assembly for the American Bar Association's annual convention in Waikiki. "We must explain that to a doubting world where the verdict is still out."

More than 10,000 people are in the Islands for the convention, which started Thursday and ends Tuesday. The opening assembly yesterday was held at the Sheraton Waikiki, where a portion of the meetings are being held. Seminars are also set at the Hawai'i Convention Center for the group, the largest professional membership organization in the world with some 400,000 members.

Kennedy's speech, during which he was nearly overcome with emotion several times, won him a lengthy standing ovation. The 70-year-old justice, who has become a key swing vote on the Supreme Court in recent years, received the association's International Rule of Law award earlier in the day.

In his address, Kennedy said law should respect the dignity and equality of every person and be administered universally, regardless of economic or political status.

With sectarian violence erupting across the globe and religion gaining a stronghold in governments, he said, now is the time for attorneys and judges to take a place at the forefront of the campaign to herald the American system of law and governance.

Kennedy, appointed to the Supreme Court in 1988, also said Americans — and American lawyers — have "not made the case" for democracy and impartial justice to countries around the world, adding that "our best security is in the world of ideas."

He did not specifically criticize the practices of any nations in his speech.

ABA President Michael Greco introduced Kennedy, after also warning attendees that "any threat to liberties and human rights in one country is a threat to the citizens of all nations."

Greco, the association's outgoing president, added that lawyers and judges should avoid getting entangled in the "politics of the moment."

He said such movements can "inflame passions and even sway public opinion against the Bill of Rights. Lawyers and judges are the guardians of our democracy."

Former Philippine Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. also received the International Rule of Law award yesterday.

Davide called the award his "greatest gift from the legal profession." He was honored for his work in election and legal reform in the Philippines.

Davide was appointed presidential adviser on electoral reform by Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in January, shortly after he retired as a Supreme Court justice. He had been on the court since 1991 and became chief justice in 1998.

Davide, the first Filipino judicial figure to receive the ABA international award, praised the ABA for its efforts to promote justice, freedom and democracy around the world.

For more information on the conference and an agenda, go to www.abanet.org/annual/2006.

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.