Academic Year 2009-2010

Managing the Culture Clash in the Middle East: Do the Courts Matter?
Wednesday, September 23, 2009, 5:30PM
Cabot Intercultural Center, 702, The Fletcher School
Speaker: Eva Bellin, Associate Professor of Political Science, Hunter College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York

Summary

On September 23, 2009 Professor Eva Bellin explored the role that the courts may play in arbitrating what she calls the "dual inspiration" of many Middle Eastern and Muslim states. Dual inspiration refers to the fact that both religious and liberal democratic commitment are intrinsically woven into the foundational institutions of many of these states. The tensions that arise from this dual inspiration are often left to the courts to arbitrate. The courts, however, have shown significant variation over time and place in their rulings on this issue. Moreover, they have adopted quite different jurisprudential strategies to manage this tension.

Professor Bellin explored this issue in two country cases: Egypt and Israel. She focused on the rulings of the Supreme Constitutional Court/High Court of Justice in each. Although both high courts have been important forces for liberalism in their respective countries, neither has been unbridled. Professor Bellin explored the political, institutional, and attitudinal factors that have restrained the court in each. A comparison of the two cases suggests some important distinctions, notably, the degree to which the respective courts acknowledge the priority of religious principles as grundnorms. Comparison also suggests the paradoxical role political context plays in shaping court liberality. Professor Bellin suggested the generalizability of the experience of Egypt and Israel and its possible extrapolation to other countries in the Middle East and Muslim world also struggling to reconcile their multi-faceted cultural heritages.

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