The First Annual Lloyd N. Cutler Lecture on the Rule of Law: "The Rule of Law - Indispensable Pre-Requisite for Democracy"

At the invitation of Salzburg Global Seminar, the internationally renowned jurist Richard Goldstone delivered the first annual Lloyd N. Cutler Lecture on the Rule of Law in Washington, DC on November 9th.

The event was organized to launch the Lloyd N. Cutler Center for the Rule of Law, an initiative intended to help the Seminar expand and strengthen its program in this area, with which the late Lloyd Cutler (who chaired our Board of Directors from 1984 to 1994) was particularly associated. Justice Goldstone – perhaps the most experienced and widely respected judge and prosecutor in the field of international criminal law – was a friend of Lloyd Cutler and first attended the Salzburg Seminar at his invitation.

Now himself a Director of the Seminar, Goldstone chose as the theme of his lecture “The Rule of Law: Indispensable Prerequisite for Democracy”, giving examples both at a national level (both in his own country, South Africa, and in the US) and in the field of international criminal law. In the national context, he stressed that separation of powers between the branches of government is central to the Rule of Law, and challenged the recent United States practice of using “signing statements” to indicate that the President regards legislation as being unconstitutional and therefore having no binding effect on him. Justice Goldstone quoted with approval the report of an American Bar Association “Blue Ribbon Task Force” in July 2006, to the effect that such presidential assertions of constitutional authority “undermine the rule of law and our constitutional system of separation of powers.”

Date

Nov 09, 2009

Session no.

Cutler Lecture 1

Content overview

Richard J. Goldstone Transcript Photos About Lloyd N. Cutler Advisory Board

Richard J. Goldstone

Richard J. Goldstone is an international jurist and legal scholar whohas a distinguished record of service both to his native country ofSouth Africa and the larger global community. His legal studies werecompleted at the University of the Witwatersrand in 1962, and over threedecades he served as Judge of the Transvaal Supreme Court, judge ofthe Appellate Division of the Supreme Court and, for nearly a decade,Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. From 1991 to 1994, heled the South African Commission of Inquiry Regarding Public Violenceand Intimidation.

In 1994, he was appointed Chief Prosecutor of the United NationsInternational Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.He later led the International Independent Inquiry on Kosovo. Morerecently, he was appointed by the Secretary-General of the UnitedNations to the Independent International Committee that investigatedthe Iraq Oil for Food Program and, earlier this year, he led the UNFact Finding Mission on Gaza established by the President of the UNHuman Rights Council. He co-chaired the International Bar Association'sInternational Task Force on Terrorism and now serves as co-chair of itsHuman Rights Institute. He has held visiting appointments in the lawschools of Harvard, Georgetown, and New York Universities and, atpresent, Fordham University.

In the mid-1990s, Justice Goldstone was invited by Lloyd Cutler tojoin the Faculty of a law seminar, Human Rights: An International LegalPerspective, and he has returned to Salzburg to participate in numerouslaw programs since. He was instrumental in the founding of the Institutefor Historical Justice and Reconciliation, initially based at the Seminarand now an independent institution based in The Hague, and chairs itsBoard of Directors.

Justice Goldstone serves on governing and advisory boards of numerouslegal and educational bodies, including the Salzburg Global Seminar,and has been the frequent recipient of honorary degrees and specialawards. In recognition of his instrumental role in building the emerginginternational system of justice, he received the 2009 MacArthur Awardfor International Justice.

Transcript

The Rule of Law: Indispensable Pre-Requisite for Democracy
Justice Richard J. Goldstone

Photos

View full set on Flickr

About Lloyd N. Cutler

Lloyd N. Cutler (1917-2005), who has been described as the last "super lawyer," had a brilliant legal career. A founder of the Washington, DC law firm, Wilmer Cutler & Pickering, and White House Counsel to two US presidents, he fulfilled the calling of a public servant over his lifetime. He was a long-time champion of Salzburg Global Seminar and a friend and colleague to many of the distinguished jurists, attorneys and policymakers whom he encouraged to attend its sessions.

For almost 30 years, Cutler played a central role in guiding Salzburg Global Seminar, serving as board chairman from 1984 to 1994, and as the visionary who helped broaden the focus of Salzburg Global's distinguished series of law sessions.

As a lasting tribute to the Cutler legacy, Salzburg Global Seminar has established the Lloyd N. Cutler Center for the Rule of Law whose mission is threefold:

To seek solutions to global problems in areas where the law is inadequate or unfolding
To advance the role of independent judiciaries globally and promote universal access to justice
To employ innovative methods to engage new audiences and raise awareness of legal principles and why they matter.

Lloyd Cutler's influence on both people and institutions is felt thoughout the United States and around the world. In his tradition and his name, Salzburg Global Seminar continues to advance the Rule of Law through the Lloyd N. Cutler Center with the Salzburg Cutler Fellows Program and the Annual Lloyd N. Cutler Lecture.

To learn more about the Lloyd N. Cutler Center, please contact: president@salzburgglobal.org.