Post Date: September 21, 2006
Aharon Barak, retired president of the Supreme Court of Israel, will address the HLS community today as he receives the 2006 Gruber Justice Prize, an award recognizing individuals who have furthered the cause of justice through the legal system.
Reknowned for championing an activist judiciary and the rule of law, President Barak recently retired from Israel’s top court after 11 years in charge and 28 years of total service. Barak has spoken widely of how his experience as a Holocaust survivor has shaped his outlook and desire to preserve the democratic rule of law in times of peace and in war.
“We, the judges in modern democracies, are responsible for protecting democracy both from terrorism and from the means the state wants to use to fight terrorism,” said Barak in 2002.
Barak will speak today, Thursday, September 21 at 4 p.m., in the Ames Courtroom of Austin Hall. For additional information regarding the awards, please visit the Peter Gruber Foundation.