Santa Clara University

Legal scholars and practitioners from around the world will speak at the Santa Clara Law Review’s Symposium 2005, “International Law in the United States Legal System: Observance, Application and Enforcement,” on Fri., Jan. 28, 2005, at the Hotel Valencia in San Jose, California.   “The symposium will provide a forum for dialogue, debate, and analysis about the growing significance of international law in American jurisprudence,” says Donald J. Polden, dean of Santa Clara University’s School of Law.

The symposium will address a variety of questions on international law, including: the limits and constraints of the U.S. legal system in applying international law; the observance and enforcement of international institutions’ decisions in the U.S. legal system; the application of international human rights law in light of the Supreme Court’s 2003 decisions; and, a discussion on international law moving forward.

The Honorable Rosalyn Higgins, of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, will deliver the keynote address.  Her speech will consider the perspectives from an international bench on the application and enforcement of international law in domestic legal systems.  Judge Higgins became the first woman elected to the ICJ in 1995 and, subsequently, was made Dame Commander of the British Empire.

Judge Higgins will be joined at the symposium by Bertrand Ramcharan, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louis Henkin, Columbia University law professor and chief reporter for the Restatement on United States Foreign Relations Law, and other internationally distinguished scholars and practitioners.

"The symposium promises to make a major contribution to the field of international and constitutional law, and to provide the Santa Clara community with a lively and stimulating forum, ” says Beth Van Schaack, Associate Professor of Law at Santa Clara University. 

About Santa Clara Law Review

Board members of the Santa Clara Law Review are responsible for organizing the annual symposium.  Each year the symposium addresses a legal issue of significant importance.  The Santa Clara Law Review is a legal periodical edited and published by Santa Clara University law students.  The Santa Clara Law Review is committed to publishing four high-quality issues annually, creating a valuable source of legal information for students, professors, practitioners, and judges.  This year’s symposium is dedicated to Professor George J. Alexander, Professor Emeritus at Santa Clara University School of Law and Advisor Emeritus to the Santa Clara Law Review.

The symposium is open to the public and attorneys may register to receive MCLE credit for their attendance.  Additional information about purchasing tickets, registration, and a complete list of speaker biographies and panel descriptions is available at www.scu.edu/law/lawreview/symposium.html.

For questions concerning this symposium, contact Elizabeth Wheeler, Lead Symposium Editor, at ejwheeler@scu.edu.

About Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University, a comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic university located in California’s Silicon Valley, offers its 8,047 students rigorous undergraduate curricula in arts and sciences, business, and engineering, plus master’s and law degrees. Distinguished nationally by the fourth-highest graduation rate among all U.S. masters’ universities, California’s oldest higher-education institution demonstrates faith-inspired values of ethics and social justice. More information is online at www.scu.edu.