 Justice Richard J. Goldstone |
Justice Richard J. Goldstone will
headline Drake University’s spring 2008 Constitutional Law Distinguished
Speaker series Wednesday, March 26.
Goldstone will present “The
South African Constitution: The Recognition of Social and Economic Rights”
at 4 p.m. in room 213 of Cartwright Hall. The event is free and open to the
public.
“Justice Goldstone is one of
the most famous jurists in the world,” said Mark Kende, the James Madison
chair in constitutional law, professor of law and director of the
Constitutional Law Center. “He played a crucial role in the South Africa
transition from Apartheid to freedom.”
Goldstone is visiting professor of
law and the William Hughes Mulligan professor of international law at Fordham
University School of Law in New York City. Prior to his role at Fordham,
Goldstone was the Jeremiah Smith Jr. visiting professor of law at Harvard Law
School.
Work on the international front
He served as a justice of the
Constitutional Court of South Africa from July 1994 to October 2003. Goldstone
also served as:
- Chief
prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunals for the
former Yugoslavia and Rwanda - Chairperson
of the International Independent Inquiry on Kosovo that was established by
Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson - Member
of the international group of advisers of the International Committee of
the Red Cross - Chairperson
of the South African Commission of Inquiry Regarding Public Violence and
Intimidation (a kind of predecessor to the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission)
Goldstone’s current
appointments
He serves as:
- Co-chairperson
of the Human Rights Institute of the International Bar Association and a
member of the committee, chaired by Paul A. Volcker, appointed by the
secretary general of the United Nations to investigate allegations
regarding the Iraq oil for food program. - An
honorary bencher of the Inner Temple, London, an honorary fellow of St.
Johns College, Cambridge, and an honorary member of the Association of the
Bar of New York. - Board
member of the Human Rights Institute of South Africa, Human Rights Watch,
Physicians for Human Rights, the International Center for Transitional
Justice and the Center for Economic and Social Rights.
In addition, he is the author of
“For Humanity: Reflections of a War Crimes Investigator,” (2001) Yale
University Press. Former U.S. Supreme
Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor authored the forward to this book.
Recently, Goldstone was on the
United Nations Committee that selected Drake Law Alumnus Stephen Rapp to be
prosecuting Charles Taylor, former president of Liberia.
Drake Constitutional Law Center
The Constitutional Law Center invites the world’s leading
constitutional scholars to Drake as part of its Distinguished Speaker Series to
engage students and faculty in discussions about current issues.
The center will also host the 2008
Constitutional Law Symposium from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, April 5. The
event, which is open to the public, is titled “The Forgotten
Constitutional Amendments,” will feature prominent constitutional
scholars. Cost for the symposium is $10.
Read more information about the
center and its events online or register online.