Talk given at Faculty of Law by Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court John G. Roberts

For ten years now, students from the South Texas College of Law have been spending the start of the summer at the CU Faculty of Law’s regular summer courses. This year, students had a one-off opportunity to attend a talk given by the Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court of the United States of America, John G. Roberts.

The occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Faculty of Law summer school, in cooperation with the South Texas College of Law, saw a gala event held on 1 July in the Great Aula of the Carolinum and moderated Professor Milan Damohorský, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Law. Apart from representatives of both institutions and their students, the event was also attended by the highest representatives of the Czech justice system and the Ambassador of the United States of America to the Czech Republic, Norman L. Eisen.

All those in attendance were first welcomed by CU Rector, Professor Václav Hampl. “The chief task of the university is to maintain a high standard of education, research and its application in practice. Fruitful international cooperation is one of the key tools for achieving this. The programme whose tenth anniversary we are here to celebrate is one example of how to bridge the gaps between our two worlds, including the academic ones, that appeared after the fall of the Iron Curtain,” said the Rector.

In his speech, the Dean of the CU Faculty of Law, Professor Aleš Gerloch, praised the benefits of the summer school to the students and teachers of both institutions. “They gain, not only new knowledge of the legal systems, but also of the culture and history of both countries,” added the Dean, reminding his audience that the summer school also included visits to Lidice and Terezín (Theresienstadt), places that should never be forgotten.

Guests were greeted by the American Ambassador, Norman L. Eisen, who provided reminiscences of his own time as a lawyer, thanks to which this international educational programme is a subject very close to his heart, while also emphasising the importance of similar projects, expressing his support for their further development.

Professor Donald J. Guter, President and Dean of the South Texas College of Law, thanked CU Rector Professor Václav Hampl, and Charles University as a whole, for making the international educational project possible. As an expression of his gratitude, he then presented the Rector with a gift in the form of a glass clock. The Dean of the Faculty of Law, Aleš Gerloch, and Vice Deans Milan Damohorský and Jan Kuklík, were then presented with honorary medals of the South Texas College of Law on the event of the tenth anniversary.

Dean Gerloch then presented Dean Guter and Vice Dean Professor Catherine G. Burnett with commemorative medals of the Faculty of Law. Later in the afternoon, this gift was also presented to Justice John G. Roberts at a formal reception in his honour.

Over five hundred students have participated in the summer school in the ten years since it was founded. At the event in the Carolinum, the five-hundredth registered student, Kenneth Graham, received small commemorative items to mark his sojourn at Charles University this year.