American University Washington College of Law Co-Hosts XVIIIth International Congress of Comparative Law

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON, DC, July 22, 2010 – American University Washington College of Law, George Washington University Law School, and Georgetown University Law Center are proud to be co-hosting the XVIIIth International Congress of Comparative Law from July 25 to August 1, 2010.  The event is presented by the International Academy of Comparative Law (IACL) and the American Society of Comparative Law (ASCL).  Between 450 and 500 participants are expected from around the globe.

The International Congress of Comparative Law is a meeting of the IACL held every four years to stimulate and conduct research, writing and intellectual exchange in all fields of law with a significant comparative law dimension.

“As part of our mission as a leader in international and comparative law, we are honored and pleased to be one of the schools hosting this important event,” said Claudio Grossman, dean of American University Washington College of Law.  “This meeting will engage the brightest minds in comparative law in addressing urgent legal issues of global impact, and we’re proud to name members of our faculty among these experts.”

The tradition at these congresses, which began with a first congress in The Hague in 1932, has been to examine a wide range of legal subjects and current problems facing many legal systems. These subjects and problems have traditionally been examined on a comparative basis, through a general report on each topic which draws upon and analyzes comparatively a series of national reports on the same subject.  These reports are then published after the event by a scholarly press.  The general reports for this congress will be published by Springer. 

This year’s Congress includes sessions on transparency, transitional social justice, government procurement, air and maritime law, private law theory, protection of privacy against the media, comparative family law, internet crimes, and many others.  Experts in comparative law from all over the world will be participating.

On Friday, July 30, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will be presenting a talk on the role of comparative law in constitutional cases.  Her presentation will include commentary from Miguel Maduro, professor and director of the Global Governance Programme, European University Institute, and a former advocate general in the European Court of Justice.

The event will begin with an opening reception at Katzen Arts Center at American University, with introductory remarks by Claudio Grossman, dean of American University Washington College of Law, George Bermann, president of IACL, Symeon Symeonides, president of ASCL, and David Snyder, chair of the Steering Committee for the XVIIIth International Congress of Comparative Law.  The distinguished opening plenary speakers include Justice Sabino Cassese, Constitutional Court of Italy;  Judge Diego García-Sayán, president, Inter-American Court of Human Rights;  Judge Bruno Simma, International Court of Justice; Judge Rosemary Barkett, United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit; and Carolyn Lamm, White & Case, Washington, D.C., the current president of the American Bar Association.  The remarks will be chaired by Jürgen Basedow, secretary-general of the International Academy of Comparative Law and director of the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, Hamburg, Germany

Other prominent participants include Meg Kinnear, Secretary General, International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), Washington, D.C., Marybeth Peters, United States Register of Copyrights, Washington, D.C., and Hon. Marek Safjan, Court of Justice of the European Communities, Luxembourg.  Additional participating faculty from American University Washington College of Law include Padideh Ala’i, Susan Carle, Christine Farley, Anna Gelpern, David Hunter, Fernanda Nicola, Jamin Raskin, Macarena Saez, Robert Vaughn, and Richard Wilson. 

The event is sponsored by the Czech Yearbook of International Law and Juris Publishing, Inc, and the full agenda is viewable here: http://www.wcl.american.edu/events/2010congress/agenda.en.cfm

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American University Washington College of Law

In 1896, American University Washington College of Law became the first law school in the country founded by women. More than 100 years since its founding, this law school community is grounded in the values of equality, diversity, and intellectual rigor. The law school’s nationally and internationally recognized programs (in clinical legal education, trial advocacy, international law, and intellectual property to name a few) and dedicated faculty provide its 1700 JD, LL.M., and SJD students with the critical skills and values to have an immediate impact as students and as graduates, in Washington, DC and around the world. For more information, visit wcl.american.edu.