This year's Law School Alumni Weekend, on the theme "Yale in a Wider World: The International Role and Rule of Law," will feature two events that are free and open
to the public: a talk by Martin C.M. Lee, chair of Hong Kong's Democratic Party, and a panel discussion on "Revolution and Repair: Coming to Terms with the Injustices of Past Regimes," looking at the aftermath of the upheavals in South Africa, Chile and the former Soviet republics.
Law School alumni currently live and work in more than 80 countries around the globe, from Argentina to Zimbabwe. Among the graduates who will attend this year's campus gathering on Friday-Sunday, Sept. 26-28 are three members of the International Court of Justice who will be honored for their achievements by the Law School's alumni association.
Mr. Lee will present the Ralph Gregory Elliot Lecture on the topic "Freedom and the Rule of Law in Hong Kong" at 4 p.m. on Friday in Rm. 127, Sterling Law Buildings, 127 Wall St.
A barrister by profession, Mr. Lee was first elected to Hong Kong's Legislative Council in 1985. There, he fought for full democratic elections, opposed press censorship and sought to safeguard the rule of law. A former chair of the United Democrats of Hong Kong, the colony's first political party, Mr. Lee founded the Democratic Party in 1994. The party leaders maintain that Hong Kong needs to develop democratic institutions and preserve freedom, human rights and the rule of law if the territory is to continue to prosper under the rule of the People's Republic of China. In the 1995 elections (the last Hong Kong held as a British colony), Democratic Party candidates captured 85 percent of the popular vote, winning 19 seats and becoming the largest party in the Legislative Council. Beijing officials, however, said that the elections were "unfair and unreasonable" and "did not reflect the will of the Hong Kong people." When Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule on July 1 of this year, Beijing disbanded the Legislative Council and replaced it with a Provisional Legislature.
The panel "Revolution and Repair: Coming to Terms with the Injustices of Past Regimes" will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday in the Law School's Levinson Auditorium. The participants will be Alex L. Boraine, vice chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the Republic of South Africa; Jorge Correa '82 LL.M., former executive director of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the Republic of Chile; and Tina Rosenberg, foreign-policy editorial writer for The New York Times and author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book "The Haunted Land: Facing Europe's Ghosts After Communism." The panel will be moderated by Professor Robert A. Burt of the Law School.
Also on Saturday, the Yale Law School Association will present Awards of Merit to three alumni judges who are serving on the International Court of Justice, The Hague. They are: Rosalyn Higgins '62 J.S.D. of England; Shigeru Oda '52 LL.M. '53 J.S.D. of Japan; and Stephen M. Schwebel '54 LL.B. of the United States, who is president of the court. The awards will be presented at the Alumni Luncheon in University Commons. The event, which is closed to the public, will also feature remarks by John H.F. Shattuck, assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor.
For further information about the Law School Alumni Weekend, call 432-1690.