XVIiI
International Judicial Conference
May 20-22, 2015 Antalya, Turkey
18th Annual International Judicial Conference
Antalya, Turkey
May 20-22, 2015
Sponsored by The Furth Family Foundation
Co-sponsored by
The Constitutional Court of Turkey
The University of Michigan Law School
International Foundation for Electoral Systems
Wednesday, May 20
10:00 18:30
Conference Registration
Ramada Plaza Antalya
Gençlik Mahallesi Fevzi Çakmak Caddesi No: 22
07100 - Antalya - TURKIYE
16:00 16:30
Session Panel Meetings
Carnavale I – Floor -2
19:00
21:00
Welcoming Reception
Indigo’s Pub – B Block Floor -2
Thursday, May 21
Carnavale I Floor -2
9:00
Opening Remarks
 Frederick P. Furth, Esq., Founding Partner, The Furth Firm LLP, Conference
Chairman, IFES Board of Directors
 Judge Osman Alifeyyaz Paksüt, Constitutional Court of Turkey
 Daniel A. Crane, Associate Dean for Faculty and Research and Frederick Paul
Furth Sr. Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School
9:30
Session One – International Law in Domestic Legal Systems
Moderator: Timothy Dickinson, University of Michigan Law School
Commentator: Daniel A. Crane
Speakers:
 Justice Abdul Karim Pharaon, Court of Cassation, Abu Dhabi
 Mr. Ivo Pospíšil, Secretary General, Constitutional Court of the Czech
Republic
 Judge Alejandra Claudia Velazquez, Argentina
This panel will discuss the extent to which international law is integrated into
domestic adjudication. In particular, panelists will explore the following
questions: Under what circumstances, if any, can domestic courts apply
XVIiI
International Judicial Conference
May 20-22, 2015 Antalya, Turkey
international law even in the absence of specific domestic implementing
legislation? Does international law take precedence over some or all of domestic
law, for example, constitutional law, statutes, decrees and regulations? How do
domestic courts rank various forms of international law, including treaties,
traditional international law, general principles, and jus cogens, for purposes of
domestic application? Have rules of international law reshaped the substance of
domestic legal norms, for example in the areas of fundamental rights, due process,
and/or the interpretation of statutes, either because domestic courts chose to
follow an international law model or were legally bound by international law to
do so?
10:15
Coffee Break
10:45
Comments
10:55
General Discussion
12:00
Lunch – Mood’s Restaurant – Floor A
13:30
Session Two – Docket Management and the Role of Highest Courts
Moderator: Julian Mortenson, University of Michigan Law School
Commentator: Daniel Halberstam, University of Michigan Law School
Speakers:
 Senior Judge J. Clifford Wallace, Chief Judge Emeritus, U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
 Justice Niels Grubbe, Supreme Court of Denmark
 Justice Chiranit Havanond, Supreme Court of Thailand
 Judge Osman Alifeyyaz Paksüt, Constitutional Court of Turkey
This panel will explore how highest courts manage their caseload while
preserving fairness to litigants and fidelity to their basic mission. Panelists will
discuss the following questions: What is their highest court’s basic mission –
justice, proper application of the law, consistency in the application of the law by
lower courts, or a combination of these and/or other objectives? Does the highest
court conduct fact-finding proceedings or does it only perform appellate review?
What distinguishes cases that come to the highest court from those that do not?
How does the highest court exercise its discretion (to the extent it has any) to take
or reject petitions for review? What is the scope of judicial review? Can the
highest courts (on their own or on the motion of a party) consult another court, for
example a lower court, a component state high court in a federal system, or an
international court, in the course of their proceedings? Who has standing to bring
a case to the highest court? Is the highest court underused or overloaded, and, if
so, what are the strategies for improvement or reform?
14:30
Coffee Break
XVIiI
International Judicial Conference
May 20-22, 2015 Antalya, Turkey
15:00
Comments
15:10
General Discussion
16:30
End of Session
19:00 21:00
Dinner hosted by The Furth Family Foundation
Mood’s Restaurant
Friday, May 22
Carnavale I
9:00
Session Three – Judicial Independence and Outside Influence
Moderator: Daniel A. Crane
Commentator: Timothy Dickinson
Speakers:
 Deputy Chief Justice Adel Omar Sherif, Supreme Constitutional Court, Egypt
 Chancellor Carl Singh, Supreme Court of Guyana
 Former Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, Supreme Court of Pakistan
 Justice Vasyl Humeniuk, Supreme Court of Ukraine
This panel will go beyond the formal boundaries of judicial appointment and
judicial tenure to examine various forms of influence that may affect the
independence of the judiciary. Panelists will explore the following questions: Is
the parties’ access to judges limited to the public courtroom, conferences in which
the opposing parties are present, and the filing of briefs to which opposing parties
may rMeespond? What kind of access do interest groups have to judges outside
the formal process of adjudication? What role do non-parties to a case play in the
process of adjudication? What rules govern judges’ extra-judicial employment or
compensation? What are the rules governing recusal in cases of conflicts of
interest? To what extent are codes of conduct and ethics rules applicable to a
judge’s family? Who monitors compliance with codes of conduct and ethics
rules, and by what means? Are judicial salaries competitive with salaries earned
in comparably high-level government service or in private practice?
10:00
Comments
10:10
General Discussion
10:40
Coffee Break
11:10
General Discussion Continues
11:55
Group Photograph
12:00
Lunch – Mood’s Restaurant
XVIiI
International Judicial Conference
May 20-22, 2015 Antalya, Turkey
13:30
Session Four – The “War on Terror” and the Rule of Law
Moderator: Daniel Halberstam
Commentator: Julian Mortenson
Speakers:
 Deputy Chief Justice Adel Omar Sherif, Supreme Constitutional Court, Egypt
 Chief Justice Bart Katureebe, Supreme Court, Uganda
 Justice Dr. Julio César Chalar, Supreme Court, Uruguay (retired)
 Dr. Issam M. Saliba, Senior International Law Specialist, U.S. Library of
Congress
This Panel will explore the challenges that the so-called “global war on terror”
poses to the preservation of the rule of law and judicial independence. In
particular, panelists will examine the following questions: Are the judicially
protected rights of terrorism suspects different from those of ordinary criminal
suspects in regards to investigation, pre-trial detention, trial, and/or punishment?
To what extent are terrorism suspects treated differently from prisoners of war?
Does the judiciary generally grant the government special deference in civil antiterrorism measures, as compared to civil measures that combat other unlawful
behavior? Does the law specifically define “terrorism,” “terrorism suspects” or
similar concepts, and how broad are these definitions? Has the “war-on-terror”
led courts to reconsider or revise basic rights, either in the formulation of those
rights or in their general application?
14:30
Comments
14:40
Coffee Break
15:10
General Discussion
16:30
Concluding Remarks
 Daniel A. Crane
 Judge Osman Alifeyyaz Paksüt
 Frederick P. Furth
17:00
End of Session
19:00 21:00
Dinner hosted by The Constitutional Court of Turkey and The Furth Family
Foundation
Carnavale III – Floor -2
Ramada Plaza Antalya
Saturday, May 23
10:00
Tour of Perge, Sponsored by the Furth Family Foundation
Meet in Hotel Lobby