Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
Constitutional Roundtable
presents
The Judge:
A Documentary Retrospective of the Illustrious Career of
President Aharon Barak
President of the Supreme Court of Israel (Emeritus)
12:30 – 2:00
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Classroom C - Flavelle House (lower level)
78 Queen’s Park
This Israeli-made documentary film provides a retrospective on the remarkable “life in the law” of The Hon. Aharon Barak, the recently retired President of the Supreme Court of Israel and frequent Distinguished Visitor to our Faculty. President Barak was a Justice on this Court for 28 years, and President for the last 11.
“The Judge” highlights some of the outstanding moments in President Barak’s varied and illustrious career, which include his early academic excellence and deanship at the Faculty of Law, Hebrew University; his forceful affirmation of the rule of law as Attorney General of Israel (the highest independent legal officer in the Israeli government); his crucial role in drafting the peace treaty with Egypt (including a cameo appearance by President Jimmy Carter), and his leadership role on the Supreme Court of Israel in delineating the basic structure of public law in a constitutional democracy. Under his leadership, the Court added to its crushing work-load a full docket of constitutional cases of the greatest importance, many deliberated upon as first instance judicial reviews of the state’s response to terrorism. A number of these judgments stand as the only examples of legal resolution of vexing questions that arose first in Israel and that now arise in all democracies dealing with domestic terrorism. These judgments have had great influence on the highest courts in many jurisdictions because they provide a template for a court of law to meld analysis of constitutional rights and duties with international law.
The documentary demonstrates the great controversy of President’s work, which generated a veritable industry of opposition in many parts of Israeli society.
The documentary includes intimate interviews with President Barak that illuminate the understanding of law, legal institutions and international principles that shaped his teaching, scholarship, public service, and reasons for judgment in tens of thousands of cases spanning the full range of private and public law. It also includes some indication of the many honorary degrees and other honours that he has received in his own country and far beyond in recent years.
Most striking, perhaps, are segments that reveal aspects of the personal life of this very private man. Many Israelis have noted that these segments dramatically transformed their understanding of a person whom they thought they knew very well. Examples include video of President Barak, with his wife, Elika, the former deputy president of the National Labour Court of Israel, and other members of his family, to his birthplace -- Lithuania. This visit included a visit to the Jewish ghetto where the Nazis housed the local Jewish population pending transportation to the death camps, his reunion with the surviving members of the peasant families that risked their lives hiding him and his mother during the Holocaust, as well as a visit to the Constitutional Court of Lithuania.
President Barak will be happy to answer questions after the documentary.
A light lunch will be served.
For more information about this workshop, please contact Lorraine Weinrib at l.weinrib@utoronto.ca / 416-978-5075 or Nadia Gulezko at n.gulezko@utoronto.ca.
