Pacific McGeorge Hosts International Gathering to Examine Relationship of Judicial Independence and Economic Well-Being
October 28, 2005
The history of great legal systems seems to be part and parcel of the history of great cultures and successful societies. From Plato’s Republic to the great Roman Code of Justinian, and from the Analects of Confucius to the Napoleonic Code, legal history appears to be inextricably interconnected with political, social and economic strength. Is this just anecdotal or coincidental? An artifact of the way we write or study history? Or is there something more fundamental at work? Recent empirical scholarship suggests a connection between fundamental characteristics of a country’s legal system and its capacity for economic growth and development. The potential implications of this research are far-reaching for international policy-makers, for governments and agencies that fund economic development and for businesses looking to compete in global markets. Understanding how historical and existing legal regimes have influenced economic development may suggest opportunities for legal reform. What legal systems are likely to provide the best environment for investment and business? Is a common law system really more conducive to economic development than a civil law system? What is the role of an independent judiciary in fostering economic development? Does private international arbitration provide an alternative that promotes economic development? We will explore these and other questions in a conference of academics, practitioners and judges who will focus on the issue of whether, and if so, how, legal and judicial infrastructure affects economic development. 8:30 – 8:45 Conference Introduction Clark Kelso, Professor of Law, University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law. 8:45 – 9:15 Legal and Judicial Infrastructure and Economic Development Daniel M. Klerman, Professor of Law and History, University of Southern California 9:15 – 10:30 Commentary and Discussion Troy Paredes, Professor of Law, Washington University School of Law. 10:30 – 11:00 Break 11:00 – 12:30 Private Dispute Resolution and Economic Development Susan D. Franck, Professor of Law, University of Nebraska School of Law. 12:30 – 1:30 Lunch and Speaker – J. Clark Kelso, Professor of Law, University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law 2:00 – 3:30The Role of Judicial Independence Dr. Jing Liu, Justice, Supreme Court of China. Guest Speakers Lisa B. Bingham is the Keller-Runden Professor of Public Service and Director of the Indiana Conflict Resolution Institute at the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Bloomington, Indiana. A graduate of Smith College (A.B. magna cum laude with high honors in Greek 1976) and the University of Connecticut School of Law (J.D. with high honors 1979), she practiced labor and employment law for ten years and was a partner in the law firm of Shipman and Goodwin, of Hartford, Connecticut, before joining Indiana University. Professor Bingham co-founded the Indiana Conflict Resolution Institute in 1997. The Institute is supported by a grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and conducts applied research and program evaluation on mediation, arbitration and other forms of dispute resolution. Professor Bingham is a member of the labor arbitration panels of the American Arbitration Association and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, and a member of the National Employment ADR Task Force of the American Arbitration Association. A winner of three teaching awards and four peer-reviewed awards for her research, she has published over twenty articles and book chapters. Susan Franck,Professor of Law, University of Nebraska School of Law. Professor Franck has practiced in the area of international dispute resolution on both sides of the Atlantic, in Washington, D.C., and in London. Professor Franck’s scholarship relates to the resolution of international disputes, including issues related to alternative dispute resolution and claims made under investment treaties. She is the author of several articles in the Fordham Law Review, Minnesota Law Review, New York Law School Journal of International and Comparative Law, Minnesota Journal of Business Law and Entrepreneurship as well as a forthcoming piece in the American Journal of International Law. Bruce J. Janigian, Vice President of the American University of Armenia and Acting Dean of the Law Department, is a member of the Public International Law and Policy Group, and leads the US delegation in the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. Mr. Janigian's international appointments have included the vice presidency and directorship of the Salzburg Seminar, Fulbright and visiting professorships in international law, attorney adviser for the US Agency for International Development, and legal counsel for the US Navy. His California appointments have included chairman of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board, and deputy director and general counsel of the California Employment Development Department. He has been a scholar at the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace and has taught public and private international law in the US and overseas for the past 30 years. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of UC Berkeley's honors program in International Relations, and holds law degrees from the University of California and the George Washington University. J. Clark Kelso,Professor of Law and Director, Capital Center for Government Law and Policy, University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law. An expert on state law and state courts, Professor Kelso has worked closely with the leadership in the California Senate and Assembly and within the Judicial and Executive Branches on constitutional amendments, legislation, and rules of court to improve and reform the California Judiciary and the administration of justice. He has served as California’s Insurance Commissioner, Director of the Department of General Services, and Scholar-in-Residence at the Administrative Office of the Courts. He currently serves as the State’s Chief Information Officer. Daniel M. Klerman, Professor of Law and History, University of Southern California School of Law. Professor Klerman's scholarship concentrates on legal history, class action lawsuits, and issues in intellectual property, trademark, and unfair competition. His recent publications include "Settlement and the Decline of Private Prosecution in Thirteenth-Century England," "Non-Promotion and Judicial Independence," and "Settling Multidefendant Lawsuits: The Advantage of Conditional Setoff Rules." Professor Klerman received the David Yale Prize, Selden Society, 2001, for distinguished contribution to the history of the laws and legal institutions of England and Wales. Daniel M. Kolkey, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, is a partner resident in the San Francisco office, a member of the Litigation Department, and co-chair of the Appellate and Constitutional Law Practice Group. Mr. Kolkey returned to the firm in November 2003 after five years as an Associate Justice on the California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District, in Sacramento. Named in 2004 by the Daily Journal Extra as one of the top 100 influential attorneys in California, Mr. Kolkey focuses on appellate litigation, writes a regular column on appellate practice, and serves as Governor Schwarzenegger's lead negotiator for tribal-state compacts under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. Mr. Kolkey is co-editor of The Practitioner's Handbook on International Arbitration and Mediation (Juris Publishing 2002) and was an adjunct professor teaching international arbitration at the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law from 2001-2004. Brian K. Landsberg,Professor of Law, University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law. Professor Landsberg worked for the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, from 1964-1986. He has been a professor at Pacific/McGeorge since 1986. In 1993, Professor Landsberg took a six-month leave of absence to accept a Clinton administration appointment to the No. 2 post in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, where he was an Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General. Professor Landsberg is the author of Enforcing Civil Rights: Race Discrimination and the Department of Justice. Dr. Jing Liu, has worked as a Judge in the Civil Court at the Supreme People Court of PRC since 1996. Prior to coming to S. P. C., Dr. Liu has worked as a Judge in the Appeal Court in An Hui Province for three years. Judge liu also is the professor of Law at National Judges College where judges are trained. She received her BA in law from East China University of Politics and Law in 1987 and received her MA in Civil law from Peking University in 1993. In 1996 she got her Ph.D. in Civil and Commercial from Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. J udge Liu's working and research are focused on Property law, Contract Law, Commercial Law, Judicial System, Judicial Conduct and Ethics. She handled more than a hundred civil and commercial cases fairly and independently. Some of these received good results between society and law, also as reference and guard to civil trial to other judges. In 2001,she took part in the projects of judicial conduct and ethics of the Supreme People Court of PRC and completed the task on the judicial efficiency. As a part of this Project, she went to the Netherlands to conduct three months research work at the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights, Faculty of Law of Utrecht University. She has published two books and has many articles in Journal of Law. Michael P. Malloy, Ph.D.,Distinguished Professor and Scholar of Law, University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law. An internationally recognized expert on bank regulation and on economic sanctions, Dr. Malloy is a frequent consultant to the federal government on issues involving bank regulatory policy and international economic sanctions. In addition to his many scholarly articles, he has authored or edited over 70 books and book-length supplements in such fields as banking regulation, economic sanctions, international banking and public international law. Troy Paredes, Professor of Law, Washington University School of Law . Professor Paredes teaches corporations, securities regulation, and corporate finance. His research interests include corporate governance; the impact of psychology on corporate decision making and investor behavior; the development of corporate governance and securities law systems in developing countries; and executive compensation. Paredes has written several articles and made numerous presentations on a wide range of topics about corporate governance, securities regulation, and law and economics. Sam Rugege, Deputy Chief Justice of Rwanda / Vice President of the Supreme Court. Justice Rugege who studied at Makerere, Yale and Oxford, was previously Professor of Law at the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town, South Africa, where he taught Constitutional Law for several years. He was involved in the writing of the 2003 Constitution of Rwanda which entrenches the independence of the judiciary, the rule of law and the protection of human rights. He is currently involved with the transformation of the judiciary in Rwanda which had lost credibility through the years of misrule that culminated in the genocide of 1994. He is author of scholarly articles on law and society including those on access to land, labor rights and customary law and governance. Wang Juan, Professor, National Judges’ College of China, graduated in 1995 from the Law School, Renmin University of China, Master’s degree of Civil and Commercial Law. Studied at the Law School of Columbia University as a visiting scholar in 1993. Studied at the Law School of Montreal University in 1999, degree of DESS. Worked as a judge at a basic court of Henan Province from 1986 to 1990. Now a professor of the National Judges College of Supreme Court of China. Listed in several publications, Author of more than 20 articles. Center for Global Business and Development The Pacific McGeorge Center for Global Business and Development pursues educational, scholarly and practical initiatives addressing the interface between the global economy and the legal profession. The Center is focusing on three principal areas of concern. The Center'sInstitute for Global Business is examining the legal implications of globalization of business enterprises and transactions. The Institute for Sustainable Development has undertaken a wide range of projects concerning emerging legal regimes governing global resources for sustainable development. TheInstitute for Development of Legal Infrastructure is studying - and aiding in the development of - legal infrastructures that are preconditions for economic development. The Institute for Development of Legal Infrastructure, a joint operation of the Center and the Capital Center for Government Law and Policy, is dedicated to the proposition that the rule of law provides a critical infrastructure for individuals, nations and regions participating in the global economy. What does this mean in practical terms? Consider the institutional challenges confronting the multilateral organizations spawned by the Bretton Woods conference of 1944: the IMF, the World Bank, and—most recently— the WTO. Transparency of trade and finance is critical for international security and stability and an essential element in economic development. Yet in pursuing such goals, the post- Bretton Woods system has repeatedly suffered major structural crises–refusal by the U.S. Congress to endorse the proposed International Trade Organization, resulting in the duct-taped GATT as a substitute; repudiation by most Eastern Bloc countries, robbing the system of the universality of economic and legal rules; persistence of aggressive monetary and exchange controls, inconsistent with the IMF Charter; termination of U.S. dollar convertibility in 1971 and the rise of “petrodollars” in international finance; the developing country debt crisis, beginning with Mexico in 1982; increasing prominence of regionalism in international economic arrangements, particularly international trade; and the devolution and economic transformation of the fifteen republics of the former Soviet Union (“FSU”). Ironically, these events both challenge the assumptions about the rule of law in the Bretton Woods system and at the same time underscore the necessity of vindicating those assumptions. In the absence of an acknowledged consensus of legal principles, the globalized environment of economic reconstruction and development is one of desperation and opportunism. Transforming the economies of the FSU republics–and those of significantly underdeveloped nations–puts development theory to the acid test. Many of these nations still lack a viable economic infrastructure or preexisting practices from which development can proceed. Legal infrastructure with respect to commerce and investment often must be created de novo. Development cannot simply aid in creating physical assets; to be effective it must assist in the building legal infrastructures on which economic stability and security depend. Bridges and roads are important, but they need to lead somewhere worth going.
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