Global Constitutionalism Seminar

The Global Constitutionalism Seminar is a signature international program of Yale Law School, dating back to 1996. In 2011 it became part of the Gruber Program for Global Justice and Women’s Rights.

This annual convening presents a forum where some of the world’s foremost jurists can confidentially and freely discuss the most important legal issues of the day with leading academic lawyers. The Seminar brings together a small group of Supreme Court and Constitutional Court judges from around the world and Yale Law School faculty members. The group meets at Yale Law School for several days in an intensive seminar-style setting.

Discussions are marked by a rare combination of intellectual seriousness, candor, verve, and a sense of common purpose. In advance of the meeting, a book is prepared that focuses on selected topics. Past meetings have considered structural questions about judicial review, precedent, separation of powers and federalism, and the developing law — nationally and transnationally — on equality, free expression, national security, indigenous rights, terrorism, dignity, and detention.

Currently, our co-Directors are Cristina Rodríguez ’00 and Claudia Flores. The seminar has been directed by various Yale Law School professors over the years, including Paul Gewirtz, Robert Post ’77, Bruce Ackerman ’67, Jed Rubenfeld, and Judith Resnik.  

In 2012 the Law School joined with the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Peace Palace to hold a special convening of the Global Constitutionalism Seminar in The Hague. The occasion also marked the Centennial of the Carnegie Corporation of New York and of The Peace Palace, in celebration of Andrew Carnegie’s vision for international justice. This unique partnership reflects a common aspiration of the Yale Law School Global Constitutionalism Seminar, the Gruber Foundation, and the Carnegie Corporation: to create an international rule of law, in which justice can flourish in peace.