1/2/2012
WASHINGTON, DC, December 23, 2011 — Institution
Quraysh for Law & Policy partnered with Covington & Burling recently to
host 20 high-ranking Saudi Arabian judicial representatives as part of a
cultural exchange program sponsored by the Office of the Middle East Partnership
Initiative (MEPI) at the U.S. Department of State.
This visit is part of
an ongoing project, the Saudi Judicial Engagement Project, administered by the
International Institute of Education (IIE) in consultation with Institution
Quraysh and the Aspen Institute’s Justice and Society Program. Eighteen judges
and two Ministry of Justice officials from across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
participated in dialogues and field visits on the two-week study tour of
Washington, DC, Philadelphia, Wilmington and New York City.
The Saudi
Arabian officials visited the Supreme Court of the United States, the Federal
Judicial Center, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Delaware Court of Chancery,
the U.S. Court of International Trade, the New York County District Attorney’s
Office, and the United States Bankruptcy Court, among others.
“This visit
marks the beginning of an unprecedented level of intellectual exchange between
the Saudi Shari'ah law and the American common law. Theoretical dialogues
intertwined with practical observances served to further build the bridge of
understanding between these two legal traditions,” said Malik Dahlan, Principal
and Chief Lawyer of Institution Quraysh. A Saudi lawyer and Harvard Law School
graduate, Mr. Dahlan continued, “With in-depth knowledge and practice in both
the U.S. and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Institution Quraysh is honored to
serve as a strategic advisor to the project in the U.S. and Saudi Arabia and to
contribute to judicial networking between East and West.”
The Saudi
Judicial Engagement Project recognizes the importance of a modernized judiciary
in an increasingly global legal environment and seeks to complement the King
Abdullah Project on the Development of the Judiciary. As part of the King’s
judicial reforms, Saudi Arabia has established specialized commercial courts and
granted more autonomy to administrative court officials in sentencing. A major
focus of the U.S. study tour was to provide the visiting judges with an
introduction into how the U.S. court system adjudicates complex commercial
disputes, including cases that deal with bankruptcy, intellectual property and
international trade.
At Covington's Washington office, the delegation
learned about the inner-workings of the American judicial system from
Covington’s Robert Long, Peter Trooboff and Bruce Wilson, who moderated the
conversation. Mr. Long presented an overview of judicial procedure in the United
States, explaining the unique role of judges and lawyers. Most intriguing to the
esteemed visitors seemed to be the balance of power between Congress and the
Supreme Court. Mr. Trooboff provided insight on the nation’s implementation of
the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements, stating that the treaty
generally applies to exclusive choice-of-court agreements in international
contracts between businesses. The delegation was also hosted at Covington's New
York office for further discussions.
A planned second phase of the
project includes a judicial engagement conference in Saudi Arabia, to be held in
2012. This conference will enable the Saudi Arabian judicial representatives who
came to the United States to engage their American colleagues further in this
important dialogue.
This project is funded through the U.S. Department of
State, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, Office of the Middle East Partnership
Initiative (MEPI). MEPI is a unique program designed to engage directly with and
invest in the peoples of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). MEPI works to
create vibrant partnerships with citizens to foster the development of
pluralistic, participatory, and prosperous societies throughout the MENA region.
MEPI partners with local, regional and international non-governmental
organizations, the private sector, academic institutions and governments. More
information about MEPI can be found at: www.mepi.state.gov.
“This exchange is only the second
of its kind, and the most extensive official engagement to date with members of
the Saudi judiciary,” said Meryl Chertoff, director of Aspen Institute’s Justice
and Society Program. “I am impressed by their intense interest in the American
justice system, and how willing they are to describe their own jurisprudence.
While grounded in religious principles, there is much that is familiar in their
system, and so a comparative dialogue is as enlightening as it is novel. The
Justice and Society Program is privileged to be part of this conversation at its
very beginning.”