Categories: International and Comparative Law Constitutional Law Human Rights

Instructor(s)

Williamson Jr., Brady

Course Data

Course Description

The Arab Spring has brought dramatic change to the Middle East, some anticipated, some not, in the legal and constitutional structures in half a dozen countries. Egypt today is in the midst of a constitutional drafting and referendum process that offers lessons in both process and substance and that, for good or ill, may prove a precursor for similar developments in other countries. The instructor spent a week in Cairo in December 2012 during the tumultuous period just before the voters' approval of the new Egyptian constitution (replacing the 1971 constitution), interviewing a diverse range of officials, lawyers, academics and others. In addition, new parliamentary elections will take place in February or March, which will provide a contemporaneous context for the course. The course will draw on these developments as well as the Arab Spring experience over the last two years of countries from Morocco to Iran. (Note: depending on the number of students, and their interests, the course may be offered as independent study.)

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