The future of Judiciaries in Europe and Beyond
Date: 8th September 2021
Time: 14.00 UK time |15.00 CET | 19.00 EST
Venue: Online
Co-organised by
Event Details
Can - and should - there be a universal blueprint on how to run an effective judiciary anywhere in the world? Internationally, there are series of institutional attributes and practices a judiciary must possess in order for the rule of law to thrive in any society. However, since judicial institutions are products of distinct experiences particular to each country- is a one-size fits all template at all realistic?
Hosted by the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL) and alongside the Turkish-based NGO, Better Justice Association (BJA), this webinar will bring together experts from different jurisdictions to discuss what the future of judicial systems looks like and what concrete steps can be taken in order to make them relevant, reliable and stable institutions.
Of particular focus is the current state of the judiciary in Turkey to which the BJA has done extensive work. The BJA has recently published White Paper that proposes a number of innovative judicial reforms to improve accountability, transparency and fairness in the Turkish legal system. The White Paper "Judicial Reform A-Z", provides for a comprehensive set of practical solutions to improve the Turkish judiciary. Although it is specific to the Turkish context, it draws on a number of international principles and norms of the judiciary which makes them relevant to similar issues facing the judiciary in a number of countries across the world.
The webinar is open to all and especially for those who are keen to understand more about the judiciary in a comparative context.
Speakers
- Mehmet Gün, Founder and Chairman at the Better Justice Association; Founder Gün+Partners
- Hon Sir William Blair, Professor of Financial Law and Ethics at Queen Mary University of London, former High Court judge England & Wales.
- Dr. Sara Razai, Research Fellow & International Projects Lead at BIICL, Senior Researcher, UCL Judicial Institute
- Dr. David Kosař, Head of the Judicial Studies Institute and Associate Professor of Constitutional Law at the Faculty of Law at Masaryk University
Pricing and Registration
This event is free to attend but pre-registration is required.
Register here
Mehmet Gün,
In addition to the Better Justice Association, created to advocate for an independently functioning judiciary as a necessary foundation for a democratic Turkey, he is the founder of the prestigious Turkish law firm Gün+Partners and the Founder and Chairman of İSTA, the İstanbul Arbitration Association. Mehmet is based in Istanbul and is an active member of several professional associations, such as TÜSIAD (the Turkish Business and Industry Association) and is the Vice President of the Turkish Enterprise and Business Confederation.
Hon Sir William Blair
Sir William (Bill) Blair was Judge in Charge of London's Commercial Court until 2017, and currently holds judicial positions in Qatar and China. He serves on the Steering Group of the Standing International Forum of Commercial Courts. Bill holds various positions in financial regulation, and in addition to academic roles including at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, is an Associate Member in the International Advisory and Dispute Resolution Unit (IADRU) of leading barristers' Chambers 3VB London, from which he is now sitting as an international arbitrator.
Dr Sara Razai
An expert in empirical research on the judiciary in Arab societies, Dr Sara Razai's research has fed into policy-making and she has provided different actors and stakeholders with policy recommendations and programmatic responses at national and international levels. Her current research examines the role of law and judges in countries with complex historical experiences (such as colonialism, struggles for independence and socio-economic marginalisation).
In addition to her research, Dr Razai is the International Projects Lead at BIICL and is working closely with the Director toward expanding BIICL's presence internationally. She also holds senior research memberships at UCL Judicial Institute and the Paris-based Institut d'Études sur le Droit et la Justice dans les Sociétés Arabes.
Dr. David Kosař
David Kosař is Head of the Judicial Studies Institute and Associate Professor of Constitutional Law at the Faculty of Law at Masaryk University, Brno, in the Czech Republic. His work focuses on comparative constitutional law and judicial studies. His book "Perils of Judicial Self-Government in Transitional Societies" (CUP, 2016) won the International Academy of Comparative Law Canada Prize for the best monograph in comparative law published in the years 2014-2017. His newer books include and "Domestic Judicial Treatment of European Court of Human Rights Case Law: Beyond Compliance" (Routledge, 2020) and "The Constitution of Czechia. A Contextual Analysis" (Hart, 2021). He has just finished the ERC Starting Grant to study the effects of judicial self-governance ("JUDI-ARCH - The Rise of Judicial Self-Government: Changing the Architecture of Separation of Powers without an Architect", 2016-2021) and started to work on the ERC Consolidator Grant that studies informal judicial institutions ("INFINITY - Informal Judicial Institutions: Invisible Determinants of Democratic Decay", 2021-2026). He is a member of the Advisory Committee of the ELI-Mount Scopus European Standards of Judicial Independence, serves as a regular consultant for the OSCE and the Council of Europe and, on ad hoc basis, advises governments in drafting judicial reforms.
