Archive: August 2021
A Report from the 2015 United States–United Kingdom Legal Exchange
INTRODUCTION1 This paper was originally presented at the United Kingdom-United States Legal Exchange in London, England, in September 2015. The Exchange, sponsored by the American College of Trial Lawyers, originated […]
An Uphill Battle: How China’s obsession with social stability is blocking judicial reform
During the past three years, China has proclaimed a judicial reform campaign that aims to follow the “rule by law” (yifa zhiguo) in civil dispute resolutions. In delivering the 2014 […]
Criticism of the Judiciary: The Virtue of Moderation
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi once described the judiciary as the “cancer of democracy.” This presumably had much to do with his personal situation of being accused several times […]
The Innovation and Limitations of Arbitral Courts
In recent years, governments from the state of Delaware to the Emirate of Dubai have created institutions specially designed to adjudicate transnational commercial disputes. These institutions are hybrids between courts […]
The Collapse of Judicial Independence in Poland: A Cautionary Tale
In late 2019, the Polish Sejm approved yet another law aimed at cabining the structure and function of the judiciary. The new law, popularly referred to as a “muzzle” law, empowers a disciplinary chamber to bring proceedings against judges for questioning the ruling party’s platform. The law allows the Polish government to fire judges, or cut their salaries, for speaking out against legislation aimed at the judiciary, or for questioning the legitimacy of new judicial appointees.