Preface

Penn State International Law Review Penn State International Law Review Volume 28 Number 3 Penn State International Law Review Article 2 1-1-2010 Preface Preface Carl Monk Symposium Preface Carl Monk* the papers Many of you reading in this Symposium on the (IALS) Conference on International Association of Law Schools' Constitutional Law already know about IALS's conferences and its history. For those of you who may not know of IALS, I write this introduction so you can learn more about IALS, and put this Symposium into the larger context of the mission and goals of IALS.

The IALS was founded in 2005, but its history can be traced back to 2000, when the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) convened a conference of 50 leading legal educators from over 30 countries throughout the world. The Conference, now known as the "La Pietra" conference, was held at New York University's Villa La Pietra in Florence, Italy. The "Conference of International Legal Educators" explored the differences, but also similarities, in legal education in different countries and legal systems. This exploration of course included the fact that, in many countries, law is an undergraduate discipline, while in others it is a graduate and professional program that It also included a follows the earning of an undergraduate degree. discussion of the composition of law faculties and a brief look at comparative curricula. At the conclusion of the conference a resolution to urge the AALS to convene another conference to explore comparative curriculum in greater depth, and to consider formation of some type of international association, was passed unanimously.

The second conference, held in 2004 in Hawaii, consisted of about 150 legal educators from 50 countries; its title was "Educating Lawyers for Transnational Challenges." The conference had two primary goals: an in depth look at comparative curricula and to further explore the formation of an international association. At the conclusion of the conference, the attendees unanimously recommended that the Executive Director of the AALS convene a small working group to draft a Charter for an international association. The composition of that working group demonstrated inclusive association; from the following countries: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Ghana, India, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States. The working group adopted a Charter at a meeting in Istanbul, Turkey; the Articles of Incorporation were filed and approved in October 2005, in the District of Columbia. its 16 members were truly diverse and the commitment to a The Charter sets forth the mission of the Association. The first clause in the mission statement commits IALS to "foster mutual understanding of and respect for the world's varied and changing legal systems and cultures as a contribution to justice and a peaceful world." The primary activity of IALS is convening conferences, such as the Constitutional Law conference that is the subject of this symposium, so that law professors and deans can exchange ideas about how they can best teach their students about other cultures and legal systems, and how they can increase colloboration and cooperation with law schools in other parts of the world. these conferences are truly international in character, IALS and contributors to IALS provide subsidies to legal educators in developing countries so that they can attend these conferences. To assure that This Constitutional Law Symposium Issue of the Pennsylvania State University Law School International Law Review permits those who were not able to attend the conference to learn from those who wrote papers for the Conference. All participants at all IALS conferences are required to write short papers in advance of the conference. Papers from all of the conferences from 2000 to now have been published in one or more law reviews. This is not the first Symposium issueof an IALS conference that has been published by Penn State's International Law Review, and, on behalf of the members of IALS, I thank the Law Review for its commitment to the goals of IALS and its dissemination of papers published at its conferences. 2010]

As a professor of Constitutional Law, I assure that you will be enriched by reading these papers and incorporating the knowledge you gain from them into your teaching and scholarship. --- FOOTNOTES --- Part of the International Law Commons This Front Matter is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Reviews and Journals at Insight @ Dickinson Law. * Founding President, General Secretary/Treasurer, International Association of Law Schools.

PENN STATE INTERNATIONAL LAW REVIEW [Vol. 28:3 PREFACE