GW Law International Updater 2012

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International and Comparative Law P

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2012 update

A historic meeting between the U.S. Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights, March 2012.

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Claire Duggan

Perspectives on International Law

Claire Duggan

Building on GW Law’s longstanding connection to the International Court of Justice, the Hon. Joan Donoghue of the court visited the Law School in September to deliver “Perspectives on International Law: A Briefing from The Hague.” Pictured above, Judge Donoghue talks with Professors Michael Matheson (center) and Sean Murphy (right) while Professor Ralph Steinhardt (far left) connects with former ICJ judge Thomas Buergenthal, who returned to GW Law to teach in 2010. Professor Murphy frequently has appeared before the ICJ in a variety of capacities. In 2010, Professors Steinhardt and Murphy were part of a Law School delegation to the ICJ to celebrate Professor Buergenthal’s distinguished career at the court. (Right) Judge Donoghue with Professor Buergenthal.

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Chris Flynn

Alumni Celebrate Thanksgiving in Tokyo On Thanksgiving Day, GW Law hosted an alumni reception in Tokyo at Canada Place.

Professor Martin Adelman and Associate Dean for International and Comparative Legal Studies Susan Karamanian welcomed nearly 30 alumni and guests to the event, which was organized by Yasuhiro Hagihara, MCL ’68, and Takujiro Urabe, LLM ’08.

The annual tradition, now in its seventh year, gives alumni and GW Law leadership the chance to reconnect and celebrate the holidays, and also strengthens the Law School’s international ties.

In November, GW Law hosted a delegation of Iraqi officials, including Chief Justice Medhat al Mahmood, president of the Iraqi Higher Judicial Council, and Ghadhanfar Hamoud Jassim, head of the Public Prosecution Office, for a discussion on judicial independence.

At right, Dean Paul Schiff Berman (center of left side, speaking) addresses members of Iraq’s Shira Council at a related event in May. Above, the chief justice speaks as Associate Dean Susan L. Karamanian and speakers Professor Stephen A. Saltzburg (far left) and Associate Dean Alan Morrison (near podium) look on.

“The visits of distinguished Iraqi judges, prosecutors and legislative officials, coupled with the talk on Iraq by Julie Martin and Charles Trumbell in the same month, provided our community important insight into the challenges facing Iraq,” Associate Dean Karamanian said.

Claire Duggan

Iraqi Delegation Discusses Judicial Independence

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GW Law Co-Sponsors Islamic Finance Forum GW Law and the U.S.-Qatar Business Council co-sponsored the Islamic Finance Forum in the fall, featuring an array of distinguished speakers on the growing field of Islamic finance. “This was the second time in as many years the Law School teamed up with the U.S.Qatar Business Council to provide a first-rate forum on a topic of immense importance in the Middle East and Asia and with growing importance in Europe and the United States,” said Associate Dean Susan L. Karamanian.

Jessica McConnell Burt

Jessica McConnell Burt

Abdul El-Tayef

LLM student Dias Ibrashev (right) from Kazakhstan connects with renowned global banking and finance expert Yahia Abdul-Rahman at the book signing and reception portion of the day.

Exploring a Stronger Government in Iraq Julie Martin, JD ’06, (pictured above with Professor Ralph Steinhardt), and Charles Trumbull, her co-author and colleague at the State Department’s Office of the Legal Adviser, visited the Law School this fall to discuss their new article “Elections and Government Formation in Iraq: An Analysis of the Judiciary’s Role” from the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law. The November colloquium was one of several this semester focusing on development and progress in Iraq and the Middle East.

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(Above) GW Provost Steven Lerman (foreground left) and Professor Edward Swaine (background left) were among GW community members who met this fall with Indian Minister of Corporate Affairs Veerappa Moily (center right); Shri Sudhir Mital, additional secretary to the Ministry and a member of the board of governors of the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (foreground right); and Dhanendra Kumar, chair of the Committee on the National Competition Policy (background right) to discuss matters of corporate and competition matters in both the United States and India.

Jessica McConnell Burt

GW Law Welcomes India’s Minister of Corporate Affairs

GW Law Hosts President of International Criminal Court The Law School hosted a November reception honoring President Sang-Hyun Song of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The event was part of the World Bank’s Law, Justice, and Development Forum. President Song spoke about the ICC’s relationship to national courts. Attendees included Anne-Marie Leroy, general counsel to the World Bank, and other officials from the World Bank and the IMF. (Above) President Song speaks to students. (Left) President Song with Professors Sean Murphy (center left) and Donald Clarke (right), along with Marcia Wiss of Hogan Lovells (center).

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Toward Peace in the Middle East

Claire Duggan

In October, a large audience of students and faculty members participated in a discussion on “Approaches to Peace in the Middle East,” featuring Dr. Ghada Karmi of the University of Exeter’s Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies (speaking), Issam Saliba of the Law Library of Congress, and Associate Dean Susan L. Karamanian. Also participating was Dr. Rafi Danziger, a consultant on Middle Eastern affairs.

In November, the Law School hosted a discussion titled “Managing North American Security: Where Do We Go From Here?” as part of its involvement in the North American Consortium on Legal Education.

Experts from Mexico, Canada, and the United States spoke on issues relating to border and cyber security as well as human rights. Professor Steve Charnovitz (second from left) commented on international trade and national security. Deborah Myers, director of Canadian affairs, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (far right), gave the principal remarks.

Other speakers included Luis Ricardo Rodriguez Meneses from Monterrey Tech and Salvador Behar of the Mexican Ministry of the Economy.

Jessica McConnell Burt

Abdul El-Tayef

North American Security

Examining Diplomatic Immunity Kenneth Mwenda, senior counsel in the legal vice-presidency of the World Bank (second from left), discussed his new book, Public International Law and the Regulation of Diplomatic Immunity in the Fight against Corruption (Pretoria University Law Press, 2011), at the Law School in September. Numerous faculty members and students attended the talk, including Professors Robert J. Cottrol (far left), Steve Charnovitz (second from right), and Laura A. Dickinson (right).

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Nick Gingold

Spanogle Finalists to Represent GW at Prestigious International Competition This spring, GW Law students tested their oral and written advocacy skills in the annual Pamela Spanogle International Arbitration Competition.

Finalists Anika Patterson and Priyam Bhargava, representing the claimant, and Jacqueline Powers and Elizabeth Dalmut, representing the respondent, presented arguments before a tribunal made up of Professor John Andrew Spanogle Jr., Professor Gregory Maggs, and Chair of the D.C. Bar International Dispute Resolution Committee Mark Kantor.

Ms. Patterson and Ms. Bhargava won this year’s Spanogle Competition and will compete in next spring’s 2013 Willem C. Vis International

Commercial Arbitration Competition. Their stellar scores over the past academic year also qualified runners-up Ms. Powers and Ms. Dalmut to compete in the prestigious international ADR competition.

“The arbitration problem was extremely realistic,” says Professor Maggs. “It was a delight to see the competitors handle the issues. Their thorough preparation was quite apparent. Both sides did very well.”

“The Pamela Spanogle International Arbitration Competition was both challenging and incredibly rewarding,” says Ms. Patterson. “So many businesses operate on a global scale; therefore gaining experience

Winners Anika Patterson and Priyam Bhargava (left) and runners up Jacqueline Powers and Elizabeth Dalmut flank the Spanogle Finals judges Mark Kantor, chair of the D.C. Bar International Dispute Resolution Committee, and Professors John Andrew Spanogle Jr. and Gregory Maggs.

in the resolution of commercial disputes is invaluable. The Pamela Spanogle International Arbitration Competition has been one of the best experiences I’ve had in law school.”

“This is another example of the great opportunities at GW Law,” says Assistant Dean and Director of Advocacy Programs David M. Johnson. “Professor Andy Spanogle not only devotes his time to students interested in international arbitration competitions, but also helps fund four students each year to travel to Hong Kong or Vienna to compete in the Vis Competition.

“Professor Spanogle’s efforts have also helped create this on-campus competition, which went from the smallest of all our competitions a few short years ago to the second largest this past spring. The process resulted in the selection of four truly excellent students to represent GW in the Vis Competition next year.

I am certain that they will learn much, represent the school well, and have a great time.”

Righting International Wrongs Arturo Carrillo Litigates Case before Inter-American Court of Human Rights Professor Arturo Carrillo, director of the International Human Rights Clinic at GW, litigated the Clinic’s first case before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in San Jose, Costa Rica on Feb. 24.

The case, initially filed in 2005, aims to bring justice to a Colombian cameraman, Richard Vélez, who filmed human rights abuses and then was attacked and persecuted for it by the Colombian security forces. Mr. Vélez and his family were forced into exile in 1997 as a result of this persecution.

“GW Clinic students and I have been litigating this case on behalf of Mr. Vélez and his family since the GW International Human Rights Clinic was founded in 2004,” says Professor Carrillo. “To make it to the InterAmerican Court and have the clients tell their story to impartial international judges after seven years of litigation is very exciting. The impunity in this case is appalling, and this is their only chance of having justice done.” A final judgment is expected later this year (there is no appeal).

Funding for litigation expenses was provided by Microsoft as part of its support for the Global Internet Freedom and Human Rights project at GW Law.

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Professor Arturo Carrillo (right) with clients Richard Vélez and Sara Román.

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Abdul El-Tayef

(Above) Judge Thomas Buergenthal (second from right) speaks with (l to r) President Steven Knapp, Ambassador Francisco Altschul, and Manatt/Ahn Professor of International Law Dinah Shelton after the Special Diploma and Medal of Recognition ceremony. (Below) Judge Buergenthal (center), Ambassador Altschul, and President Knapp with GW Law Buergenthal Scholars (LLM students who are scholarship recipients).

El Salvador Honors Thomas Buergenthal

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Bracey also discussed Judge Buergenthal’s immense contributions to ending human rights violations in El Salvador, promoting justice and advancing the study of human rights law around the world.

Judge Buergenthal said El Salvador’s transformation from a civil war with opposing sides to a democracy in which all sides work peacefully in a legislature was the ultimate hope of the members of the commission. The suffering endured by the El Salvadoran people had a lasting impression on him, he added.

Judge Buergenthal’s work helping to expose and correct these human rights abuses and improving the lives of the people of El Salvador serves as a strong example for law students that it is possible to make a difference in the world through human rights law.

—Kathryn Auerbach Abdul El-Tayef

This May at GW Law, the Honorable Legislative Assembly of El Salvador awarded Professor and Judge Thomas Buergenthal with a Special Diploma and Medal of Recognition for his human rights work in El Salvador during the 1990s. Judge Buergenthal, who resumed his tenure at GW Law as Lobingier Professor of Comparative Law and Jurisprudence in 2010 after serving on the International Court of Justice for a decade, served on the United Nations Truth Commission for El Salvador that was mandated by the U.N.-brokered peace agreements ending El Salvador’s civil war.

The ceremony highlighted Judge Buergenthal’s dedication to ensuring that the commission achieve its goals of investigating the violence that occurred in El Salvador and advising the country on a process for national reconciliation and justice.

Ambassador of El Salvador to the United States H.E. Francisco Altschul Fuentes said the awards represent El Salvador’s appreciation to Judge Buergenthal for his important work on behalf of the El Salvadoran people. Ambassador Altschul said his country now has “working institutions and free, independent powers today that they did not have 30 years ago, and human rights violations have disappeared.”

Discussing the scope of his influence on human rights in this region of the world, Professor Dinah Shelton said the Inter-American Court of Human Rights owes its success to Judge Buergenthal.

“His role as president of the court was precedent-setting,” said Professor Shelton. “He fostered legitimacy and unanimity that helped develop and strengthen the court throughout the Western Hemisphere.”

George Washington University President Steven Knapp, Associate Dean for International and Comparative Legal Studies Susan Karamanian, and Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Chris

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Shulman Lecture Features Former Botswanan Justice (Below) In February, former High Court of Botswana Justice Unity Dow (left) presented the Shulman Foundation Lecture: “A Conversation about Human Rights in the 21st Century.” Afterwards, Justice Dow and Professor Karen Brown continued the discussion.

GW Law Hosts Botswanan Dignitaries University Leaders Share Conversations

Chris Flynn

(Above) In April, Vice Chancellor of the University of Botswana Thabo Fako (fifth from left) and his colleagues met with GW President Steven Knapp, GW’s Associate Provost for International Programs Donna Scarboro, and GW Law Professors Roger Fairfax and Karen Brown.

Combating Human Trafficking The Law School and the American Bar Association co-hosted a March webcast titled “Combating Human Trafficking: The Government’s Response.” The panel consisted of experts from the U.S. Department of Justice, International Justice Mission, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. Department of Labor.

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Why Regulate International Finance?

The International and Comparative Law Colloquium hosted University of Virginia Law School Professor Pierre Hugues Verdier in February to present his paper, “Why Regulate International Finance?�

Professor Edward Swaine, who presided over the event, was joined by Professor Art Wilmarth and Associate Dean Susan Karamanian for a photo before the lecture.

GW Law at ASIL In March, the Law School co-sponsored the Manley O. Hudson Award Ceremony at the annual meeting of the American Society of International Law. Here, Professor James Crawford of Cambridge University (seated on right) prepares to present his Hudson address. Also pictured are ASIL President Donald Donovan (at podium) and Professor Sean Murphy.

I Came to Testify At the White House in March, the National Endowment of Humanities hosted a screening of the PBS film, I Came to Testify: Women, War & Peace in Bosnia. Afterwards, GW Law hosted a reception on campus featuring a talk by Samantha Power, special assistant to President Barack Obama and senior director for multilateral affairs and human rights (center), who was joined by faculty, students, and guests including NEH White House Liason Courtney Chapin (left) and Judge Patricia Wald, former Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, who also served as a judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

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Muslim Women Lawyers Convene KARAMAH: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights hosted its 10th annual Law and Leadership Summer Program at GW Law in June.

This year, KARAMAH welcomed more than 20 participants from countries including Kosovo, Afghanistan, Kenya, Belgium, and the U.S. The program’s keynote address was delivered by Christina Tchen (right), chief of staff to First Lady Michelle Obama, who spoke about her career, passions, commitments, and issues impacting all women across religious and state lines.

Russian Minister Visits GW Law During their February visit to GW Law, the Hon. Alexander Konovalov, Justice Minister of the Russian Federation, and the deputy minister, the Hon. Yuri Lyubimov, met with Professor Sean Murphy, Professor Thomas Morgan, Professor Ralph Steinhardt, and students.

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Professor Dinah Shelton and Professor Don Anton’s presentation on their new book was followed by comments by Professor Elizabeth Burleson, Pace University School of Law; Thoko Kaime, lecturer in law and deputy director, Environmental and Regulatory Research Group, The University of Surrey; Marcos Orellana, director, Human Rights and the Environment Program, Center for International Environmental Law; Vanessa Retana, senior program officer, Rights and Livelihoods Program, World Wildlife Fund; and Kristen Walker, vice president, Social Policy and Practice, Conservation International.

Environmental Protection and Human Rights In March, GW Manatt/Ahn Professor of International Law Dinah Shelton and Australian National University College of Law Professor Don Anton gave a presentation about their book, Environmental Protection and Human Rights, followed by a panel discussion with distinguished experts. The event was presented as part of George Washington University’s “Moving the Planet Forward: Turning Innovation into Action” program and was co-sponsored by the Environmental Law Institute, the Center for International Environmental Law, the GW Journal of Energy and Environmental Law, and the GW Environmental Law Association. It was made possible by the late Dorothy Shapiro and the J.B. and Maurice Shapiro Family Trust.

Co-authors Professor Dinah Shelton and Professor Don Anton listen to questions from the audience.

Insights from the General Court of the European Union In March, the Law School hosted a luncheon talk by Judge Savvas Papasavvas of the General Court of the European Union. Professor Steve Charnovitz and students joined Judge Papasavvas for a photo after the talk and discussion.

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Abdul El-Tayef

New Perspectives on Comparative Law Junior comparative law scholars from around the world came to GW in April to present their work at the inaugural New Perspectives on Comparative Law conference. The event, featuring concurrent panel discussions, was hosted by the American Society of Comparative Law Younger Comparativists Committee (YCC). During a plenary session, the Best Paper Award was presented to Harvard Law School Climenko Fellow and Professor Jill Goldenziel for her paper, “Veiled Political Questions: Islamic Dress, Constitutionalism, and the Ascendance of Courts.” GW Law Professors Francesca Bignami and Thomas Colby

provided comments on the paper. The conference was organized by YCC Chair and Boston College Law School Professor Richard Albert, YCC Program Chair and University of Miami Law School Markus Wagner, and GW Law Professor Claudia Haupt, LLM ‘09.

Nick Gingold

Conference organizers and panelists pose for a portrait after the event: From left to right: University of Miami Law School Professor Markus Wagner; Boston College Law School Professor Richard Albert; GW Law School Professor Claudia Haupt, LLM ’09; Harvard Law School Professor Jill Goldenziel; GW Law Professor Thomas Colby; and GW Law Professor Francesca Bignami.

Haupt Heads to New York For the past three years, GW Professorial Lecturer in Law Claudia E. Haupt, LLM ’09, has been teaching, among other courses, Legal Research and Writing for international LLM students. Professor Haupt will continue this focus in teaching when she heads to Columbia University Law School this fall where she has been named an associate-in-law.

In scholarship news, Professor Haupt recently published a book, Religion–State Relations in the United States and Germany, a comparative analysis of the constitutional law of religion-state relations in the United States and Germany focusing on the principle of state neutrality. She also has an article forthcoming in the George Washington Law Review, “Transnational Nonestablishment.”

“I am truly grateful for the opportunities GW Law has provided since I first arrived here as an LLM student in 2008,” says Professor Haupt. “I have been able to develop my research agenda, I have had the pleasure of teaching very talented and engaged JD and LLM students, and I have very much benefited from interacting with a highly distinguished yet easily approachable, genuinely interested, and eager to help set of teachers, colleagues, and friends. While I am very much looking forward to future adventures at Columbia Law School, I will miss the incredibly supportive environment at GW Law that I have been so fortunate to have been a part of for the past four years.”

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Jessica McConnell Burt

Dean Paul Schiff Berman (second from left) speaks with lecturer Dunja Mijatovi, Professor Arturo Carrillo, and Professor Dawn Nunziato during the first event of the speaker series.

Distinguished Speaker Series Inaugural Year Recap Global Internet Freedom, Human Rights Featured

Freedom of the Media

Professor Dawn Nunziato and Professor Arturo Carrillo this year brought to GW Law an engaging lecture series featuring prominent free speech and human rights experts.

The Global Internet Freedom and Human Rights Distinguished Speaker Series featured five events addressing these important issues and providing students and practitioners with a chance to participate in these timely discussions. The speaker series is presented through the generous support of Microsoft and is also publicized on the Technology/ Academics/ Policy (TAP) website.

The speaker series kicked off Oct. 3 at the Law School with Dunja Mijatovi, representative on freedom of the media at the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe. An expert in media law and regulation, she previously served as chairperson of the European Platform of Regulatory Authorities, the world’s largest network of media regulators. She is co-founder of the Communications Regulatory Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, established in 1998. In that role, Ms. Mijatović encouraged a legal and policy framework for media in the post-war society.

She is a graduate of the University of Sarajevo, the University of Bologna, and the London School of Economics.

Internet Freedom: A Comparative Assessment Later in October, Ian Brown, senior research fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute, spoke to students, practitioners, and faculty about internet freedom through the lenses of various nations and their laws.

Dr. Brown has served as a trustee of Privacy International, the Open Rights Group, and the Foundation for Information Policy Research. He has also served as an adviser to Greenpeace, the Refugee Children’s Consortium, Amnesty International, and Creative Commons UK. In 2004, he was voted one of the 100 most influential people in the development of the internet in the United Kingdom during the previous decade.

The audience engaged in a lively Q&A session with Ian Brown, senior research fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute, at the close of the presentation.

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law briefs

Nobel Peace Prize nominee Frank La Rue of the United Nations spoke about the right to freedom of opinion and expression.

Nick Gingold

The speaker series welcomed Frank La Rue, special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression at the United Nations, in January. The U.N. Human Rights Council, which appointed him to the post of special rapporteur in March 2008, recently renewed his mandate until 2014.

Mr. La Rue has been involved in the promotion of human rights for 25 years. He is the founder and president of the Center for Legal Action for Human Rights (CALDH) in his native Guatemala—a renowned NGO that has brought pioneering human rights cases to Guatemalan courts as well as to the Inter-American Human Rights System. He has also held a number of other important posts, serving as presidential commissioner for human rights in Guatemala, human rights adviser to the minister of foreign affairs, and president of the governing board of the Centro-American Institute of Social Democracy Studies. In 2004, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Jessica McConnell Burt

The Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression

Transatlantic Global Online Freedom The series wrapped up its first year in May with a conference jointly hosted by the George Washington University Law School and the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.

The conference, titled Transatlantic Global Online Freedom and Corporate Responsibility, examined how the internet has become the most important medium for worldwide communication and trade, while offering unprecedented possibilities for censorship, monitoring, and surveillance by authoritarian regimes. Western companies that supply information technology to such regimes facilitate this censorship, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

Panelists, professors, and students from the University of Groningen and GW Law gathered for a group photo after the conference.

Consent of the Networked In February, GW Law and the Microsoft Policy & Innovation Center hosted journalist and activist Rebecca MacKinnon for a talk on the intersection of the internet, human rights, and foreign policy.

Co-founder of Global Voices Online and the Bernard L. Schwartz Senior Fellow at New America Foundation, Ms. MacKinnon’s work examines U.S. policies related to the internet and human rights. Her first book, Consent of the Networked: the Worldwide Struggle for Internet Freedom, was published this year by Basic Books.

In addition to co-founding Global Voices Online, a global citizen media network, she is a founding member of the Global Network Initiative, a multi-stakeholder initiative to advance principles of freedom of expression and privacy in the information and communications technology sector. Ms. MacKinnon worked as a journalist for CNN in Beijing for nine years, serving as Beijing bureau chief and correspondent, and later as CNN’s Tokyo bureau chief and correspondent.

Journalist and activist Rebecca MacKinnon spoke about the intersection of the internet, human rights, and foreign policy.

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Nick Gingold

Nick Gingold

A delegation of Moroccan Supreme Court judges visited GW Law for a day of discussions about the U.S. judicial system and rule of law.

Nick Gingold

Moroccan Supreme Court Judges Visit GW Law

(Above) Associate Dean Alfreda Robinson (Left) Professor Zol Rainey

Members of the Moroccan Supreme Court and Moroccan Attorney General’s Office visited GW Law this spring to learn about the U.S. courts and judicial system. Associate Dean Alfreda Robinson and Professorial Lecturer in Law Zol Rainey presented a lecture to the high-level delegation, which was invited to GW Law by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

During their visit, the four participants—three magistrates and a general attorney of Morocco’s highest court—engaged with Dean Robinson and Professor Rainey in discussions on topics including U.S. federal, state, and local judicial systems; judicial reform; promoting the rule of law; and trial processes and court procedures.

The lessons and discussions are particularly important in the wake of the Arab Spring. Morocco has adopted a new constitution, and there is a strong interest at the most senior level of the Moroccan judiciary in reforming the operations of the justice system by drawing on the expertise of other non-civil law countries.