Justices to Examine Technological Revolutions at Global Constitutionalism Seminar

On September 23-25, Yale Law School will host its fourteenth Global Constitutionalism Seminar, an event that brings together leading Supreme Court and Constitutional Court justices from around the world to discuss in strict confidentiality important legal issues of the day. The theme of this year’s seminar will be “Technological Revolutions.”

Fourteen justices will attend, including Stephen Breyer of the United States Supreme Court, as well as justices from Italy, Canada, Israel, Hong Kong, Germany, the United Kingdom, and other countries.

They’ll spend the long weekend meeting with faculty, students, and each other to consider technological revolutions and their implications for fundamental values. Specific topics selected for discussion include freedom of speech and the Internet, surveillance and the right to anonymity, organ transplantation, and technology and the laws of armed conflict.

Justice Brun-Otto Bryde of the Constitutional Court of Germany will give remarks during Friday’s luncheon. And Harvard Law Professor Yochai Benkler, faculty co-director of Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, will speak on Saturday.

One of Yale Law School’s premiere international programs, the Global Constitutionalism Seminar was founded in 1996 to promote international understanding of common issues of constitutional law. It is directed this year by Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science Bruce Ackerman ’67 and Robert R. Slaughter Professor of Law Jed Rubenfeld.