Iraq Constitution Drafters & U.K. Attorney General To Headline Stanford Law Review Symposium

The Stanford Law Review and the Stanford Constitutional Law Center announced today that on February 16-17 they will host a symposium on the globalization of constitutional law. Topics include the writing of new constitutions and the balancing of constitutional rights with national security needs.

Lord Goldsmith, attorney general of the United Kingdom, will join Iraqi Ambassador Feisal Istrabadi and Sheikh Humam Hamoudi, Chairman of the Iraqi Constitutional Committee, at the two-day conference at Stanford Law School.

Panel topics include balancing constitutional rights and security; the “importing” and “exporting” of constitutional norms between the United States, Great Britain, and other countries; and the recent experience of drafting the new constitution in Iraq.

Discourse and thought about constitutional norms increasingly transcend national borders and founding documents. Spirited debate has arisen within the United States about whether and how foreign law should be utilized for purposes of construing the U.S. Constitution, but there is no doubt that citations to foreign law increasingly surface in U.S. court decisions.

Less attention has been paid, however, to the larger interplay between the constitutional norms of the U.S. and other nations.

What role does the U.S. Constitution play in other nations’ interpretations of their own constitutions? What are the constitutional benchmarks for nations, such as Iraq, constructing new constitutions and how do such nations choose between them in the face of divergence? What can nations learn from one another about common constitutional controversies—such as those surrounding security initiatives as they may impact civil liberties and larger constitutional norms?

This Symposium will explore these questions, gathering prominent scholars, practitioners, and judges from the U.S. and abroad in order to do so.

What: Stanford Law Review Symposium on “Global Constitutionalism”

When: Friday and Saturday, February 16-17, 2007

Where: Stanford Law School, Crown Quad, 559 Nathan Abbott Way, Stanford, CA 94305-8610

On the web: http://lawreview.stanford.edu/globalconstitutionalism/