International Judicial Academy– Upcoming Events

• March 13–20, 2010 → Intellectual Property Law Seminar in Washington, DC for judges from Peru, Chile, and Argentina
• June 5–12, 2010 → Intellectual Property Law Seminar in Washington, DC for judges from Mexico
• September 26 – October 2, 2010 → Sixth Sir Richard May Seminar on International Law & International Courts in The Hague, Netherlands
• October, 2010 → Technology/Business/Intellectual Property Seminar in Washington, DC for judges from Argentina and Chile
• November, 2010 → Two-day Alternative Dispute Resolution Seminar in Washington, DC for judges from China

IJA Elects New Members to the Board of Directors
At its annual meeting in January, 2010, the Board of Directors of the International Judicial Academy elected two new members who will replace outgoing Directors Professor Jon Gould and Judge Mary A. Gooden Terrell.  The new members of the Board of Directors are the Hon. Nancy V. Alquist, Associate Judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland, and the Hon. Leslie M. Alden, Circuit Court Judge for the 19^th Circuit of Virginia.  Judge Alquist has participated in several IJA seminars, most recently as a speaker at an insurance seminar held Buenos Aires last June.  Judge Alden is the current President of the International Association of Women Judges. 

Egyptian Justice Is IJA’s Second Vice-President
Dr. Adel Omar Sherif, Deputy Chief Justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt, has been selected as Vice-President of the International Judicial Academy for Education and Judicial Cooperation – Eastern Hemisphere. His appointment was approved by the Board of the Directors of the International Judicial Academy at its annual meeting in January, 2010.  As a Vice-President of the Academy, Justice Sherif will be responsible for assisting the Academy in developing judicial and other educational programs in the geographical areas of the Middle East, Europe, Africa, India, Southeast Asia and Australia.  He will assist the Academy in identifying potential funding sources for programs, planning and conducting programs in those areas, and securing faculty and participants for such programs.  The Academy plans to pursue programs on international environmental law, an area of special interest to Justice Sherif and the Academy.

Justice Sherif holds a number of law degrees, including an LL.B. in Law and Economics, an Advanced Studies Diploma in Public Law, an Advanced Studies Diploma in Administrative Law, and a Ph.D. in Constitutional Law, from Cairo and Ain Shams Universities in Egypt.  He is currently a faculty member at Helwan University Law School in Cairo, and a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at Dedman School of Law, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX.

Justice Sherif has made significant contributions to the development of international judicial cooperation through his involvement in the activities of various international judicial forums, including his membership in the Judicial Group on Strengthening Judicial Integrity, which developed the Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct.  He has served as the Rapporteur for a series of international human rights conferences known collectively as “The Cairo Conference” and two regional and international conferences on building judicial capacity with respect to environmental law.  He has written and published widely on various legal topics including human rights, constitutional issues, Islamic law and environmental law.  

Academy Selects Randy Liu as Director of China Programs
The International Judicial Academy has announced the appointment of Mr. Randy Liu as Director of China Programs for the Academy, effective January 1, 2010.  Mr. Liu will be responsible for developing opportunities for Academy programs for Chinese judges and other legal professionals both in China and the United States, as well as in other countries. He will assist the Academy with planning and conducting programs for Chinese judges and other legal professionals, and will also help with the selection of participants for these programs.

Mr. Liu is President of Laurel International Corporation, a Maryland corporation that plans, arranges, and conducts U.S. – China exchange programs and Chinese visitor programs to the United States.  Mr. Liu founded Laurel International in 1992.  The main business operations of Laurel International are: (1) sponsoring and organizing Chinese government officials and business executives to participate in business exchange programs in different areas, including law, courts, education, health, environment, and agriculture; (2) organizing U.S. delegations to visit China, including delegations of federal and state government officials and NGO officers; (3) co-sponsoring the University of Kansas China Exchange Program, in which Laurel International helps with the logistical arrangements for trainee programs in the U.S. and China; and (4) assisting the Chinese Ministry of Justice with visits to the U.S. by Chinese judges.  The total number of educational programs in which Mr. Liu is involved each year ranges from 40 to 50. He has planned and conducted hundreds of exchange programs for Chinese professionals and students and arranged for hundreds of visits by Chinese professionals to the United States.

Mr. Liu was born in Beijing, China and became a U.S. citizen in 1992.  He earned a B.A. degree in educational management from Beijing Normal University in 1982.  After teaching for several years, he immigrated to the United States where he received English training programs at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia.  He speaks fluent English and Chinese.  Mr. Liu assisted the Academy in establishing an IJA registered office in Hong Kong in 2008.

Judge Fernandez Promoted to IJA Assistant Vice-President
The International Judicial Academy has announced the promotion of Judge Javier Fernandez of Argentina to the newly created position of Assistant Vice-President for Latin American Programs.  Judge Fernandez will continue to serve as the Academy's Director of the Argentina Office. In his new duties, Judge Fernandez will assist Academy Vice-President Ricardo Li Rosi in developing and conducting programs in Latin America.  The Academy already regularly conducts programs in Argentina and Chile and will begin conducting programs in Mexico and Peru this year.

IJA Launches New Website
In January, 2010, the International Judicial Academy launched a new version of its website.  The site is now fully available in Spanish.  Included in the new website are photographs and bios for IJA staff in Washington, DC, Argentina, and Chile and information on the Academy’s newly appointed Counselors in International Law.

IJA Activities in Mexico
The Academy’s activities in South America have recently expanded to include Mexico.  Mexican judges participated in an Academy seminar for the first time this past October,  2009 for a program in Washington, DC on intellectual property.  Four judges from Mexico attended the seminar.  Later that month, Dr. James Apple and Dr. Ricardo Li Rosi, the President and Vice-President of the Academy, traveled to Mexico City for a series of meetings with members of the Mexican judiciary.  The productive exchanges of information and ideas led to the establishment, in December, 2009, of a Mexican Committee of the Academy.  The committee was formed in conjunction with the Association of Magistrates and Judges of the Judiciary of the Federation of Mexico.  The President of the Mexican Committee is Hon. Jorge Arturo Camero Ocampo, a Circuit Magistrate on the Tenth Three-Judge Court in Administrative Matters for the First Circuit.  Twelve other judges and magistrates sit on the Academic Committee and the Executive Committee.  As part of this new relationship with the Mexican judiciary, the Academy plans to conduct a seminar on intellectual property law for Mexican judges in Mexico City in early March and a later seminar in Washington, DC.

Addition to IJM Editorial Staff
Carolyn A. Dubay was recently selected as Associate Editor of the International Judicial Monitor.  She was Editorial Assistant and Reporter for the Monitor during the summer and fall of 2009.  From 2008 – 2009, Ms. Dubay was a senior research associate at the Federal Judicial Center.  She served as a Supreme Court Fellow at the Supreme Court of the United States for the 2007 – 2008 term.  Formerly, she worked for the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, where she was an attorney in the Article III Judges Division of the Office of Judges Program.  As an attorney at the AO, Ms. Dubay provided counsel for administrative concerns of Article III judges and program support to the Judicial Conference of the United States Committee on International Judicial Resources.  Ms. Dubay holds a B.A. in history from Duke University and a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law.  After finishing law school in 1995, Ms. Dubay was an associate at Jones Day in New York, from 1995-1996.  In 1996, she left private practice and served as a law clerk to the Hon. Joanna Seybert of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York for two years.

New Publications From Academy Counselors in International Law

International and Transnational Criminal Law
In late December, 2009, Aspen Publishers released a new international law casebook, International and Transnational Criminal Law, written by David Luban, Julie R. O’Sullivan, and David P. Stewart.  Prof. Stewart is a Visiting Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center and one of the Academy’s Counselors in International Law.  Dr. Luban and Ms. O’Sullivan are also professors at the Georgetown University Law Center.  The authors bring a wide range of knowledge and experience, including government service, negotiation of international agreements, prosecution of federal white-collar crimes, and scholarship in international law, philosophy, and ethics.

International Human Rights in a Nutshell
In October, 2009, West Publishing Company published the 4^th Edition of International Human Rights in a Nutshell.  Professor David P. Stewart, Professor Dinah Shelton, the Academy’s second Counselor in International Law, and Judge Thomas Buergenthal of the International Court of Justice collaborated on this edition, which was released seven years after the publication of the third edition in 2002.  West notes, “This guide offers a reliable source on international human rights law for students, practitioners, and professors. It provides an overview of the international, regional, and domestic human rights systems.”

Private International Law Seminar in New York City
On November 20, 2009, the Academy conducted its first one-day seminar on private international law issues for judges in the main courthouse of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn.  Fourteen federal and state judges from New York attended the program.  Chief Judge Raymond Dearie of the Eastern District hosted the seminar on behalf of the Academy.  Senior Judge John M. Walker, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit moderated the sessions.  Among the topics addressed were an introduction to private international law, personal jurisdiction as it relates to the Internet, and family law.  Prof. David Stewart of the Georgetown University Law Center gave a presentation on the Alien Tort Claims Act.  Prof. George Bermann of the Columbia University Law School spoke about international arbitration.  The final presentation of the day was from Jeremy Morley, a private practitioner who specializes in international divorce, adoption, and custody cases.  The Academy plans to conduct a similar one-day program in Washington, DC this spring.