Jurists Discuss Global Challenges
The Anderson Lecture welcomed two distinguished jurists to Yale Law School on Sept. 14 for a conversation on global challenges to constitutionalism.
Moderated by Judith Resnik, Arthur Liman Professor of Law and Chair of the Global Constitutionalism Seminar, the event brought together Justice Prof. Dr. Susanne Baer of the German Constitutional Court and Italian Minister of Justice Marta Cartabia.
Dean Heather K. Gerken, Sol & Lillian Goldman Professor of Law, described the seminar as a beacon for democracy and the rule of the law.
“With democracy and individual rights under attack across the globe, with the slide to authoritarianism and authoritarian habits occurring in too many places, Global serves as a signal fire,” Gerken said. “It serves as a beacon, a reminder of shared values and shared commitments, and it brings together a storied group to reassess, recommit, and renew.”
The lecture is part of the Gruber Program for Global Justice and Women’s Rights and takes place during the annual Global Constitutionalism seminar. After Gerken’s introduction, Baer discussed pressing topics including climate change, COVID-19, gender inequality, and incarceration.
Baer is one of 16 justices on the German Constitutional Court. She is also the Professor of Public Law and Gender Studies at Humboldt University of Berlin and L. Bates Lea Global Law Professor at the University of Michigan Law School. She has taught at the Central European University in Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, and Canada. Baer studied law and political science and joined movements against discrimination and domestic violence. In addition, she directed the Gender Competence Centre to advise the German federal government. She also co-drafted German standards for equality in research. At Humboldt University, she served as Vice-President, Vice Dean of the Law Faculty and Director of Gender Studies, founded the Law and Society Institute Berlin, and the Humboldt Law Clinic in Fundamental and Human Rights.
Cartabia is a full professor of constitutional law at Bocconi University, President emeritus of the Italian Constitutional Court, and has been serving as Minister of Justice since 2021. Her research focuses on national and European constitutional law, constitutional adjudication, and protection of fundamental rights. In 2012, Cartabia was an Inaugural fellow at the Straus Institute for Advanced Study in Law and Justice, and the Clynes Chair in Judicial Ethics at Notre Dame University. She is a member of the Inaugural Society’s Council of The International Society of Public Law. Since December 2017, she has served as a Substitute member for Italy of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe.
The Robert P. Anderson Memorial Fellowship Lecture was established by former law clerks and friends in memory of Robert P. Anderson ’29, Senior Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
