A passion for the rule of law: In conversation with Martin Krygier

Martin Krygier is one of the world’s foremost thinkers and communicators on the rule of law today. His writing and speaking on it has inspired and motivated scholars working on the topic from Australia to Europe and the Americas. In 2019, 36 of those scholars penned essays in honour of Krygier, published as a special issue of the Hague Journal on the Rule of Law (11.2-3).

This webinar brought Krygier together with four of the essay contributors to discuss how and why he became a rule-of-law guy, address some of the contentions in the essays, and take questions about why he is still so passionate when it comes to the ideal of the rule of law.

About the speakers:

Martin Krygier is Gordon Samuels Professor of Law and Social Theory, University of New South Wales; and Honorary Professor, School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet), at the Australian National University (ANU). He is the author of Philip Selznick: Ideals in the World (Stanford, 2012) and Civil Passions (Black Inc., 2005), and of over 60 articles and book chapters on the rule of law. In 2020 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to legal education and professional associations.

John Braithwaite is Emeritus Professor and Founder of the School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet), at the Australian National University (ANU).

Veronica Taylor is Professor of Law and Regulation at the School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet) at the ANU. Veronica is an international lawyer and socio-legal scholar. Her work centres on regulatory intermediation and institutional reform. Within international law and justice norm-making, she analyses the people and institutions that animate rule of law as foreign policy, commercial activity and a professional practice.

Nick Cheesman is a Fellow at the Department of Political and Social Change, Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs at the Australian National University (ANU).

Philip Pettit is L.S. Rockefeller University Professor of Human Values, Princeton University and a Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy at the ANU. He is the author of a number of books, including Not Just Deserts: A Republican Theory of Justice (1990), with John Braithwaite; Republicanism (1997); On the People’s Terms (2012); and Just Freedom (2014).

This event is jointly hosted by the School of Regulation and Global Governance and the Department of Political & Social Change, Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs in the ANU College of Asia & the Pacific.

Image credit: Martin Krygier photo by Nick Cheesman.