University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law

Honorable Justice Emmanuel Ugirashebuja of Rwanda speaking to classroom of students
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Bright International Jurist-in-Residence Program

Overview

Launched in 2007, the Bright International Jurist-in-Residence Program invites a distinguished jurist from a foreign country to the Law School, first hosted by the late Judge Myron H. Bright (1919–2016), Senior Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The Jurist-in-Residence program is sponsored by Paul & Karen Sullivan Law School Endowed Fund and Case Lombardi and Pettit, A Law Corporation.

Highlights
  • The first year, 2007, The Honorable President Emeritus Aharon Barak of the Israel Supreme Court and Judge Bright served as jurists-in-residence, meeting with students, faculty, and the community.
  • The 2010 Bright International Jurist was His Excellency President Hisashi Owada of the International Court of Justice, The Hague, Netherlands.
  • The Honourable Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella of the Supreme Court of Canada visited the Law School as the 2014 Bright Jurist-in-Residence. Justice Abella joined faculty members for lunch, taught several classes at the Law School, and gave a public talk, “Bending the Moral Arc: Giving Voice to National and International Rights in the Ongoing Quest for Justice,” at the Hawai‘i Supreme Court. During the course of her visit, she also had breakfast with the Hawai‘i Women Lawyers and lunches with the Hawai‘i Supreme Court, members of the Federal Court, and the Federal Bar Association.
  • The Honorable Justice Antonio Herman Benjamin of the National High Court of Brazil was the 2016 International Jurist-in-Residence and offered a public address titled “Emerging Comparative Environmental Law Trends.” He also met with the Chief Justice and the Justices of the Hawai‘i Supreme Court, the judges of Hawai‘i’s new Environmental Court, Governor David Ige, state legislators, and a cross-section of Hawaiʻi environmental lawyers.
  • The Honorable Justice Joseph Williams of the New Zealand Court of Appeal (and later Supreme Court of New Zealand), a recognized expert on indigenous rights law and a leading authority on Maori land and legal issues, visited the Law School from April 2-6, 2018.
  • The Honorable President Justice Emmanuel Ugirashebuja, president of the East African Court of Justice, was the Law School’s 2019 International Jurist-in-Residence from March 4-8, 2019.
  • The Honorable Justice Katsuya Uga of the Supreme Court of Japan was the Law School’s 2022 International Jurist-in-Residence from May 2-4, 2022. Justice Uga shared his observations of the Japanese judiciary with faculty and students at the Law School, as well as Professor Mark Levin’s Law & Society in Japan class. Justice Uga’s special presentation on the legal system in Japan was held at the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court and open to members of the Hawaiʻi legal community. He also spoke with the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court Justices and the Consul General of Japan in Honolulu about judicial processes and public access to judicial proceedings. For more information on Justice Uga’s jurisprudence and key decisions involving human rights, gender equality, ethnic and sexual minorities, democratic processes, and the natural environment, please see here for an article published in the Asian-Pacific Law & Policy Journal written by Chiako Fukushima ’23.
For More Information

For more information, contact Camille A. Nelson, Dean and Professor of Law, at (808) 956-6363.