William H. Taft IV, Legal Adviser, U.S. Department of State

John H. Jackson, Professor of Law, Georgetown Law Center

Rosa Ehrenreich Brooks, Associate Professor, University of Virginia School of Law

David J. Scheffer, Former U.S. Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues; Visiting Professor, George Washington University Law School

This symposium is part of a series of day-long events connected to the dedication of the Eric E. Hotung International Law Center Building on October 27. The dedication ceremony will be held at 12:30 p.m. and the keynote speaker will be United States Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.  For details, click here.

The morning symposium will examine the role of international law as the United States confronts global challenges in the years ahead. The discussion will focus on U.S. attitudes towards international law and its significance, both historically and currently, in a number of key areas:  the law governing the use of force; human rights law and international criminal law; international trade law; and international institutions.   

BACKGROUND ON THE HOTUNG BUILDING:

     With the opening of the Eric E. Hotung International Law Center Building, Georgetown Law will have achieved an important milestone that puts it at the very top of international institutions of higher learning. For the first time, all the components of the Law Center’s international programs will be together under one roof, enabling the Law Center to take the lead in furthering deep thinking on the major comparative, international, and other transnational law issues of our time – human rights, global trade, and comparative constitutional traditions.

     The Hotung building will be home to the John Wolff International and Comparative Law Library, which houses Georgetown Law’s extensive collection of international legal materials, as well as the Yoshiyuki Takada International and Graduate Program Suite, which administers one of the largest and most comprehensive international and comparative law programs in the world. Georgetown Law attracts applicants from around the globe; currently 298 students from 71 different countries are enrolled, comprising more than 12 percent of the entire student body.

     In addition to housing the international programs, the Hotung building will contain a state-of-the-art Supreme Court Moot Courtroom that is the only one of its kind.  It is designed to provide advocates the opportunity for a “dress rehearsal” in an environment strongly resembling the actual Supreme Court chamber. Many of the details are similar to those of the Supreme Court, including the carpet pattern, wood and leather finishes, light fixtures, curtains and clock. During the 2003-04 academic year, Georgetown Law Supreme Court Institute mooted more than half of all the cases heard before the Court. 

     The Hotung building will also feature the Timothy and Linda O’Neill Law Alumni Center, which overlooks Tower Green, creating a home base for alumni to visit the school  and meet current students.  It is Georgetown’s way of recognizing the vital role of alumni in building the modern Georgetown University Law Center. 

     The Hotung building is part of the Campus Completion Project, which also includes a Sports and Fitness Center that opened this fall. The Fitness Center features a lap pool, basketball and racquet ball courts, spinning and aerobic rooms, and a cyber café and lounge.

     The Hotung Building is named for Eric E. Hotung, a Georgetown University alumnus, entrepreneur and philanthropist, whose generosity helped to make the building a reality.

     The Campus Completion Project was designed by the architectural firms of Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson and Abbott (lead and design architect) and Ellerbe Becket (associate architect and engineering). Since the 1980s, Georgetown University Law Center has expanded from a one-building campus to one of the nation’s premier law school facilities.  A campus that began with Bernard P. McDonough Hall, Georgetown Law has expanded to include the Edward Bennett Williams Law Library, one of the finest law libraries in the nation; the Bernard S. and Sarah M. Gewirz Student Center, which provides on-campus housing for students, and now, the 97,000-square-foot Sport and Fitness Center and the 125,000 square-foot Eric E. Hotung International Law Center Building. 

ABOUT GEORGETOWN LAW

Georgetown University Law Center is one of the world’s leading law schools. It has the largest full-time faculty in the nation and is pre-eminent in several areas, including constitutional, international, tax and clinical law. Drawing on its Jesuit heritage, it has a strong tradition of public service and is dedicated to the principle that law is but a means, justice is the end. With this principle in mind, Georgetown Law  has built an environment that cultivates an exchange of ideas and the pursuit of academic excellence. It brings together an extraordinarily varied group of teachers, scholars and practitioners, as well as an outstanding student body.