US Constitutionalism in Decline?: An International Perspective

Rothermere American Institute – 26 – 28 April 2010

Welcome to the webpage of the Rothermere American Institute’s comparative conference on US Constitutionalism. We have drawn together constitutional law theorists, eminent practitioners as well as political theorists, from a number of jurisdictions, to look closely at competing judicial approaches to four areas of law:

1.The relationship between rights and security in the context of secret evidence;

2. Socio-economic rights, due process and equality;

3. Different approaches to freedom of religion and belief; and

4. Contrasting approaches to balancing rights and public goals.

A full list of conference participants is available here.  The conference's programme and schedule is available here. The conference will follow a format of plenary workshops centering on a selection of cases from various jurisdictions.  Rather than a formal presentation of a paper, participants are asked to engage in a discussion on the selected cases.  In each session, lead presenters will offer reflections of between 10 and 15 minutes on the cases, followed by discussions involving all participants.  All participants are asked to read the materials provided.

In order to access the materials, please see the links below. Each link includes a brief explanation of the aims of each session together with pdfs of the relevant cases.

1. Secret Evidence

2. Socio-economic Rights, Due Process and Equality

3. Freedom of Religion and Belief

4. Balancing Rights and Public Goals

Should you have any questions regarding the contents of the sessions, please don't hesitate to contact the conference's research coordinator, Miles Jackson - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  Questions regarding logistics can be directed to Laura Harvey - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it before 31 March and outside the period of 16-21 April.

We are grateful to the British Academy, the Middle Temple, and the Law Faculty and Rothermere American Institute of the University of Oxford for their generous support of this conference.