From the Director's Desk
Last week I became Co-President-Elect of the International Society of Public Law (ICONยทS) alongside Judge Marta Cartabia, President of the Italian Constitutional Court. Also elected were Professor Sergio Verdugo, Secretary-General-Elect, and Professor Michaela Hailbronner, Deputy-Secretary-General-Elect. We will take office in July 2021, when Professors Lorenzo Casini and Rosalind Dixon--two outstanding leaders--complete their Co-Presidency.
As the election results were announced last week, I thought of my mom. After her divorce when I was 3, she decided to move my sister and me from my native Canada back to her home in Haiti to raise us among her family and friends. She could have kept us there, in Port-au-Prince, surrounded by loving and resilient people but without the promise of much else. Instead she made what must have been the most difficult choice she could have: she moved us back to Canada, on her own with two young kids, so that we might have a better shot at life. Things were not easy for her in Ottawa. She worked day and night, yet somehow managed to raise a compassionate and fearless daughter, and also to point her rowdy son down the right path. I owe much to Canada, but infinitely more to my mom. I will dedicate my term as Co-President to her, and to her vision for a fair, just, and peaceful world.
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This week, I host Professor Emmett Macfarlane in my online course on The State of Canada's Constitutional Democracy (last week: Professor Naiomi Metallic), Professor Samuel Issacharoff in my online course on The Future of Liberal Democracy (last week: Professor Cora Chan), and President Adrian Saunders of the Caribbean Court of Justice in my online course on Judging in Times of Crisis (last week: Justice Russell Brown of the Supreme Court of Canada).
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This edition of The Leaflet features a video on clerking at the Supreme Court of Canada, two new articles on constitutional amendment, and one new book on Europe. As always, I welcome your suggestions for collaborations and new programs.
Richard Albert
