Constitutional Democracy and the Role of High Courts in Times of Crisis: The Case of Mexico

Date: 

Friday, October 23, 2020, 12:00pm


This event is virtual, to register click here.

Introduction: Carmel Shachar, Executive Director, The Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School
Speakers: Justice Alfredo Gutiérrez Ortiz Mena, Supreme Court Justice, Mexican Supreme Court Sofia Charvel, Director of the Undergraduate Law Program, Full time Professor, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM)
Moderated by: Alicia Ely Yamin, Senior Fellow in Global Health and Rights, The Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School; Senior Advisor on Human Rights, Partners in Health

How do modern constitutional democracies preserve the rule of law during crises and states of exception or emergency? The COVID-19 pandemic has offered a window into the various mechanisms used by judiciaries to maintain the health of democracies in extreme circumstances. Join us on October 23rd, 2020 for a discussion of approach taken in Mexico. Mexican Supreme Court Justice Alfredo Gutiérrez Ortiz Mena (LLM ’98) will describe comparative global strategies as well as the particulars of the Mexican Supreme Court’s approach. Professor Sofia Charvel of the ITAM Law School will provide broader background on the government’s institutional and legal response to Coronavirus in Mexico’s federalist system. Following the presentations, PFC Senior Fellow Alicia Ely Yamin will moderate questions and answers from the audience.

Sponsored by the Global Health and Rights Project (GHRP), a collaboration between the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School, the Global Health Education and Learning Incubator (GHELI) at Harvard University, and the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University.

See also: Virtual, Mexico