Justice Sara L. Ellis, Judge US District Court, Northern District of Illinois, spoke about the re-entry systems where people who have already been charged with crimes are coming out of prison. And “The reentry court fits in with the rule of law as it is a programme where we are looking at people who have been marginalized. So many people in our criminal justice system don’t have the tools that you and I have to make different choices so it is important that justice requires practical solutions.”

Justice Douglas L. Tookey, Judge, Oregon Court of Appeals spoke about the impact of the Covid pandemic and how it brought remote working to the courts and had an impact on access to justice during that period.

Justice Todd W. Eddins, Judge, Supreme Court of Hawaii focused on how the legal profession is the first line of defense for the protection of individual rights and how it is absolutely essential in a democracy.

Justice Jenny Rivera, Associate Judge, New York State Court of Appeals spoke about the standards that judges apply to what lawyers do in the courtroom in the way they represent their clients. So when a lawyer fails to provide effective assistance of counsel, the lawyer is said to be ineffective. That can initiate a claim that can be brought to court which could reverse a conviction because the lawyer was ineffective.

Further discussions included Justice Jenny Rivera, Associate Judge, New York State Court of Appeals, Justice Josephine L. Staton, Judge, US District Court, Central District of California and Prof. Camille Nelson, Dean, William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaii who spoke to the JGLS law students about interdisciplinary law that exists in a political, economic, social and historic space and that democracy is not only representation, but also about basic values, the centre of which are human rights, and a delicate balance between majority rule and individual rights.

The Judicial Colloquium was followed by an interview and interaction that the JGU Vice Chancellor had with the judges and jurists from the US.