Georgetown Law and Dean William M. Treanor Honored for ‘Upholding and Strengthening the Rule of Law’

At its 29th World Law Congress in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on May 6, the World Jurist Association (WJA) presented both Georgetown Law and Dean William M. Treanor with awards recognizing their efforts to defend and advance the rule of law.

The WJA, founded in 1963, is an international non-governmental organization with the mission of promoting “a world ruled by law, not force.”

Georgetown Law received the inaugural Rainer Arnold Prize for Upholding and Strengthening the Rule of Law, which was named for Rainer Arnold (1943–2025), a longtime professor at Germany’s University of Regensburg and a member of the WJA advisory board. Treanor, who has served as dean of Georgetown Law since 2010 and will step down from that position this June, received the WJA Medal of Honor for Academic Merit in recognition of his professional career and personal commitment to the defense and strengthening of the rule of law. King Felipe VI of Spain, SFS’95, was also a speaker at the ceremony, and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor received the WJA’s World Peace and Liberty Award.

In his acceptance remarks, Treanor reflected on the important role law schools play in upholding the rule of law around the world. “We are in a time in which the rule of law and democracy are under attack in the United States and around the world. We must all work together to fight,” Treanor said. “It is a privilege for me and for the Law Center to defend that principle, and it is for us at Georgetown a moral imperative.… Nothing is more important.”

The event brought together more than 5000 people and 40 Chief Justices of national and constitutional courts, including Chief Justice Holta Zaçaj, L‘08, President of the Constitutional Court of Albania. The next World Law Congress will take place in Albania in 2027.

While in Santo Domingo, Treanor also met with more than 30 Georgetown Law alumni at a reception hosted by Leon Patiño, L’14, managing partner of the law firm Patiño Cáceres and a member of the Georgetown Law Latin American Law Alumni Advisory Board.

“It was inspiring and energizing to meet and exchange ideas with so many people – many of them Georgetown graduates – who are so committed to defending the rule of law during these especially challenging times,” Treanor said. “I thank the World Jurist Association for the invitation and the honor.”