The American Bar Association will present a series of programs and events in London and Runnymede, England, in conjunction with the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta.
The ABA London Sessions, which run from June 11-15, will be the culmination of a year-long celebration of the historic charter. The three-day meeting will feature preeminent speakers and 16 continuing legal education programs that focus on the Great Charter's impact and relevance on the rule of law today. The sessions will be capped off Monday, June 15, with a rededication ceremony at the ABA memorial in Runnymede. Following the official ceremony to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta at Runnymede Meadows, the ABA will rededicate its 58-year-old memorial to Magna Carta at Runnymede, with a program featuring ABA President William C. Hubbard and the Princess Royal.
Other speakers at the events will include Lord David Neuberger, president of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom; Cherie Blair, QC, an active campaigner on human rights issues and women's equality and wife of former Prime Minister Tony Blair; Baroness Emma Nicholson of Winterbourne, a member of the House of Lords and the prime minister's trade envoy for Iraq; Beatrice Mtetwa, a Zimbabwean human rights lawyer and recipient of the ABA's International Human Rights Award in 2010; A.E. Dick Howard, constitutional law expert and Magna Carta scholar; and Sir Robert Worcester, chairman of the Magna Carta 2015 800th Anniversary Commemoration Committee.
The ABA's Magna Carta traveling exhibit, "Magna Carta: Enduring Legacy: 1215-2015," will also be on display in London. Curated by the Library of Congress, the exhibit features 16 banners, 13 of which reflect images of Magna Carta and precious manuscripts, books and other documents from the Library of Congress's rare book collections.
Some of the highlights of the sessions include:
- Opening Session- Features remarks from Lord David Neuberger, president of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, and U.S. ambassador to England, Matthew W. Barzun.
- The Magna Carta: "What if . . . . ?" Counter-Factual Perspectives on U.S. Legal History - What if there had been no Magna Carta? A panel of legal luminaries including Delissa A. Ridgway, judge, U.S. Court of International Trade in New York; Professor Ian S. Williams, University College of London Law; and Bernice B. Donald, judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Memphis, explore in a highly-interactive, roundtable format, "alternate history."
- Legal Ethics in the U.S. and the United Kingdom: Common Goals, Different Approaches The program will highlight specific differences between the ethical rules in the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct and provisions of The Solicitors Act. Panelists include Myles Lynk, professor, Arizona State University College of Law; Dennis Rendleman, ethics counsel, American Bar Association; J. Charles Mokriski, partner, Proskauer Rose LLP, New York; Angela Robertson, general counsel, Eversheds LLP, London; and Alison Hook, managing director, Hook International, London.
- Global Trends in the Regulation of Insider Trading & Market Abuse: Europe, the United States and Asia - In the wake of the financial crises that began in 2008, there has been a dramatic uptick in the number and the scope of insider trading enforcement actions and criminal prosecutions. In the U.S., the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice have made it clear that they will aggressively pursue civil and criminal actions against insider trading with increased attention on hedge funds, "expert networks" and other market participants. There has also been a new aggressive stance taken by the regulators in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong on insider dealing and market abuse, where criminal prosecutions are on the rise.
- A Magna Carta for True Local Government: 800 Years of Lessons from the United Kingdom and the U.S. - This panel will address the evolving nature and role of local government from the perspective of elected representatives, current and former municipal government officials and academic experts in urban planning law and policy from the United Kingdom and the U.S., and lessons learned relative to local government power, autonomy and intergovernmental relationships over the past 800 years.
- "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" - Do American Lawyers Have Any Place Litigating or Arbitrating in Foreign Jurisdictions? - A panel will address the stereotypes, as well as the differences and similarities, between U.S. and United Kingdom lawyers. Panelists will also discuss some of the cultural, procedural and ethical differences that U.S. lawyers must be aware of before practicing overseas.
- Global Corporations and the Rule of Law Experts will share insights on the newly-launched United Nations framework for business and the rule of law, trends in corporate human rights accountability and litigation, and the latest research initiatives on how rule of law features in investment decision-making and justice sector reforms.
- The Magna Carta's Continued Influence on Modern-Day Human Rights -- This panel will explore the influences of the Magna Carta on modern-day human rights concerns. Panelists will discuss the progress that has been made, identify areas in need of improvement and suggest practical solutions that can allow the Magna Carta's principles to bear fruit centuries later.
- The Independence of the Judiciary, 800 Years after the Magna Carta -- This session will examine historical and modern threats to judicial independence and offer insight into what can be done to ensure that governments maintain a fully independent, accountable and adequately supported judiciary.
- The Enduring Influence of the Magna Carta on Contemporary Constitutions -- This presentation will demonstrate the influence of the Magna Carta today. It will show that a surprisingly high percentage of rights found in modern constitutions date back to the earlier period, and that the Magna Carta rights in particular remain among the most popular today. They are among very few rights found in the vast majority of contemporary constitutional texts, and can thus be considered the universal core of modern constitutions.
- Closing Plenary Session - Program to be moderated by Magna Carta scholar and constitutional law expert A.E. Dick Howard from the University of Virginia and includes speakers: Justice Richard Goldstone; The Right Honorable Lord Igor Judge, former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales; The Right Honorable Baroness Patricia Scotland of Asthal; and The Honorable Diane Wood, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit. There will be closing remarks by Sir Robert Worcester, chairman of the Magna Carta 2015 800th Anniversary Commemoration Committee.
- Magna Carta: Foundation of Liberty The national commemoration event to mark the 800th anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta will take place in the presence of HM The Queen, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, The Duke of Cambridge, The Princess Royal, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence and other dignitaries from the UK and around the world.
As part of the celebrations, a major new art installation will be unveiled in the meadows, there will be musical and spoken word performances and a rededication of the American Bar Association's Magna Carta Memorial. The Princess Royal will join ABA President Hubbard and past ABA President and ABA Magna Carta Anniversary Committee Chair Stephen N. Zack in a ceremony following the main Magna Carta anniversary celebration to rededicate the ABA memorial.
Published: Thu, May 28, 2015
