Global Jurisprudence Collquium: International Court Judges discuss Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Former Yugoslavia, the Rule of Law, and The Future of The Courts

Decisions of International Legal Institutions: Compliance and Enforcement

Judges serving on the most important international courts will gather at Stanford Law School to discuss their experiences in trying to promote the rule of law and to end human rights abuses. The judges will address the challenges international courts face in ensuring that governments, security forces, and individuals comply with their judgments. The participants will come from the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the Former Yugoslavia, the European Court of Human Rights, the International Criminal Court, the Court of Justice for the European Communities, and the Special Court for Sierra Leone. The judges will participate in three panels throughout Friday, March 18, 2005, in Room 290 at the law school.

The number and range of international judicial institutions has increased exponentially in recent decades. The new international courts champion international law through rulings that override the exclusive sovereignty of national governments, national courts, and national security forces. Yet in the absence of a central mechanism for the enforcement of international law, international courts and tribunals still depend on voluntary compliance by the very governments subject to their decisions. The explosion in the number of these courts combined with their pathbreaking judgments and the resistance of some nations toward them, means that the new international courts are key agents of change within international law and international relations.

The summit on March 18 will address this controversy, asking: How successful have these international judicial bodies been in strengthening the international legal system? What kind of struggle do they face in overriding the authority of reluctant or non-compliant states? What kind of impact have their rulings had in promoting the rule of law? And have their judgments played a meaningful role in countering impunity for those who have devastated the lives of thousands through the perpetration of human rights abuses and war crimes?

In a series of panel discussions, the jurists will candidly discuss the role of their courts and the challenges they face in strengthening compliance with international law in cases against both individuals and national governments.

Sponsored by Stanford Law School and the Stanford Rule of Law Program; the Stanford Institute for International Studies, and the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law; Santa Clara University School of Law and the Institute of International and Comparative Law; and the Stanford Law Review.

This extraordinary summit is open to the public and to the press. There is no cost to attend, but registration is required and available online at: www.globaljurisprudence.org