Evening event: 'The Rule of Law under Challenge: The Enmeshment of National and International Trends' - Gregory Shaffer, Georgetown University Law Center

In-person event only.

Lecture summary: The goal of the rule of law is to protect individuals from the arbitrary exercise of power. Democracy and human rights depend on the rule of law. But today the rule of law is under growing threat in the United States and around the world. Trends regarding rule-of-law protections are transnational in scope. They involve shifting norms, institutions, and practices at the local, national, and international levels. This talk will assess how challenges are taking place at the international and national levels, and how these challenges are linked. It examines the ways in which international law and institutions are important for rule-of-law ends, as well as their pathologies, since power also is exercised beyond the state in an interconnected world. The rule of law is the result of persistent, hard fought struggles over time. Sustaining the rule of law is a never-ending struggle, one that current challenges make particularly daunting.

Gregory Shaffer is Scott K. Ginsburg Professor of International Law at Georgetown University Law Center and is the immediate past President of the American Society of International Law.  He has served as a member of the Board of Editors of the American Journal of International Law and the Journal of International Economic Law, among a dozen others. He received his JD from Stanford Law School, his BA from Dartmouth College, and practiced law in Paris with Coudert Brothers and Bredin Prat for over seven years. His publications include twelve books and over one hundred articles and book chapters, including The Rule of Law under Pressure: A Transnational Challenge (with Sandholtz, CUP); His book Emerging Powers and the World Trade System: The Past and Future of International Economic Law won the 2022 Chadwick F. Alger Prize of the International Studies Association for the best book on international organizations.

Chair: Prof Sandesh Sivakumaran, Centre Director