Universal Rights in Practice

This symposium examines critical issues in human rights and the rule of law, including sentencing enforcement, correctional education, and recidivism prevention. We also explore how international judicial bodies interact with national legal systems, analyzing the intersection between global frameworks and domestic justice practices. The program features practical case studies demonstrating how human rights are implemented and managed in real-world contexts.
The symposium will address fundamental questions: What do universal human rights mean in contemporary society? How do these principles benefit our communities? And what legal and institutional mechanisms exist to uphold justice and protect individual rights across different legal traditions?

Welcoming Remarks:
Barbara Faedda, Executive Director, Italian Academy; Ambassador/Permanent Observer of the European Public Law Organization (EPLO) to the United Nations
Spyridon Flogaitis, Director, EPLO; Professor of Public Law, University of Athens

Keynote Speaker:
Giuliano Amato, Former President of the Italian Constitutional Court

Speakers:
John Bessler, Professor of Law, University of Baltimore School of Law
Marian Da Silva, TrialWatch Legal Fellow, Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute
Olatunde Johnson, Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’59 Professor of Law, Columbia Law School

Moderator:
Sarah Maree Knuckey, Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann and Bernstein Clinical Professor of Human Rights, Columbia School of Law

Special Intervention:
Miguel Ángel Moratinos, United Nations Under-Secretary-General; High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) 

...and others to be announced  

Co-Sponsor: 
European Public Law Organization (EPLO)

Organizer: 
Barbara Faedda  
Executive Director, Italian Academy; Ambassador/Permanent Observer, EPLO

Click here to register.

Check-in for registrants begins 30 minutes before the event. 
This event is in-person only.
The organizers do not intend to make a video recording for publication.

This conversation is part of the Italian Academy’s “Rule of Law” initiative, conceived by Barbara Faedda, which includes the 2023 roundtable “People, Rule of Law, and Supreme Courts Now,” the 2024 dialogue “Tales from the Legal Front Line,” the 2025 dialogue “Liberation! 80 Years Since the End of World War II in Italy,” and the 2021 collection of essays titled Rule of Law: Cases, Strategies, and Interpretations.

“It is essential…that human rights should be protected by the rule of law.”
    Universal Declaration of Human Rights