A whistleblower complaint made public this week accuses Emil Bove, President Trump’s nominee to the federal appeals court, of suggesting the Justice Department should ignore court orders blocking the deportation of Venezuelan migrants. Former DOJ lawyer Erez Reuveni, who filed the complaint, claims Bove made the remark during a March meeting, allegedly urging the department …
This article critiques the mythologized self-image of lawyers as neutral experts, arguing that in the absence of broader societal consensus, their function becomes both overextended and ideologically fraught, raising urgent questions about the legitimacy and limits of legal authority in postmodern, fragmented democratic societies.
The article calls for renewed attention to the civic and justice-oriented dimensions of legal training and leadership.
This article critiques mainstream legal education reform discourse for neglecting social justice values and embracing neoliberal frameworks.
This study investigates the professional challenges faced by lawyers in authoritarian regimes.
This article examines whether lawyers should participate in legal proceedings that offer only the illusion of justice, potentially legitimizing a flawed system, or instead refuse involvement to preserve professional integrity.
The article invites contemporary lawyers to learn from this integration of daily legal work and political struggle as a model for resistance within unjust systems.
Björn Ahl, “Retaining Judicial Professionalism: The New Guiding Cases Mechanism of the Supreme People’s Court.” The China Quarterly, vol. 217 (2014): 121–39. Summary: In 2011 and 2012, the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) published its first “guiding cases.” Guiding cases serve as decision-making models that must be taken into account by lower courts when deciding similar …
The article also offers a framework for action, including filing disciplinary complaints and embracing a more publicly engaged model of legal ethics scholarship.
Bjorn Ahl, “Judicialization in authoritarian regimes: The expansion of powers of the Chinese Supreme People’s Court.” International Journal of Constitutional Law, Volume 17, Issue 1 (January 2019): Pages 252–277 Summary: Over the past two decades courts in China have undergone tremendous changes as they developed into more professional and efficient institutions for solving legal disputes. …