Since 1997, Mr. Nguyen The Hung has worked for the International Relations Department of the Ministry of Public Security (IRD-MPS) as the program officer for international affairs and humanitarian affairs. As program officer, Mr. Hung provides assistance to international NGOs and local NGOs (CSOs) operating in Vietnam. He graduated in 2007 with a Master of Arts in criminal law from the People’s Public Security Academy. Mr. Hung also attained a Bachelor of Arts in international business management from the People’s National Economy University in 1996 and Bachelor of Arts in criminal law in 1991 at Institute of Law.
Aldir Guedes Soriano is an Attorney at Law and a Professor of Public International Law at Universidade do Oeste Paulista – Unoeste in Presidente Prudente in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He is a member of the Law and Religious Liberty Commission of the Order of Attorneys of Brazil (Sao Paulo Section). Dr. Soriano is also a postgraduate in Public Law from the Brasiliense Public Law Institute – IDP and in Constitutional Law from Salamanca University (Spain). He has several works on human rights and religious liberty published in books, in chapters of books and doctrinal articles published in newspapers and magazines.
Stepan Danielyan is current editor-in-chief of both Religion and Society, a scientific journal, and the Religions in Armenia website (www.religions.am). He also serves as chair of “Collaboration for Democracy,” an NGO operating from Yerevan, and is a former producer and political commentator for Armenian National TV. Co-founder of Armenia’s “Mashtots” Daily in the early 1990’s, Mr. Danielyan is also an engineer and author of more than 400 articles and interviews in international and local magazines.
Mr. Rochow practices from Howard Zelling Chambers, which grew from the chambers that he, with Steve Roder, (now Supreme Court Registrar), founded in 1992. He appears at first instance and on appeal in a variety of areas of commercial law, specializing in trade practices and competition matters. Mr. Rochow has had broad commercial litigation experience. He has most frequently appeared in the Federal Court of Australia (Adelaide Registry) and the Supreme Court of South Australia. He also appears in other registries of the Federal Court. Mr. Rochow has also appeared in the High Court of Australia, District Court of South Australia, South Australian Industrial Relations Court and other State and Territory jurisdictions. He has appeared before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Australian Competition Tribunal and the Delegate for the Registrar of Trade Marks.
The range of matters in which he has been and continues to be retained to advise and appear before superior courts include trade practices contraventions, interpretation of statues, construction of contractual terms, restraint of trade, failure to use trade marks bona fide, annual valuation of land, negligent misstatement and pure economic loss, caveats over real property titles, indefeasibility of real property title, shareholder disputes, international product liability and sale of goods. Mr. Rochow has also had broad experience in the mediation of disputes.
Dr. Ping Xiong is a lecturer at the Law School of University of South Australia. Dr. Xiong’s research interest is in the field of international economic law with a focus on intellectual property policy in international trade, and its implications for free trade agreements and for international human rights protection. Dr. Xiong is also interested in comparative approaches to Chinese law and laws in other jurisdictions. Dr. Xiong is a member of the International Law Association and a member of the Australia and New Zealand Society of International Law.
Dr. Augusto Zimmermann LLB, LLM, PhD (Monash) is Senior Lecturer and Associate Dean for Research at Western Australia’s Murdoch University, School of Law. Dr. Zimmermann has been awarded the 2012 Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research, and has also been awarded two consecutive Faculty Dean’s Research Awards, in 2010 and 2011. Among other things, Dr. Zimmermann has been appointed by the WA Governor in Executive Council to the Law Reform Commission of Western Australia, in June 2012. He is also the Founder and President of the Western Australian Legal Theory Association (WALTA) and a Vice-President of the Australian Society of Legal Philosophy (ASLP).
Since 1988 Rik Torfs has been a full professor at the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium), where he was Dean of the Faculty of Canon Law from 1994-2003. He has in addition been since 2000 visiting professor at both the University of Strasbourg (France) and the University of Stellenbosch (South Africa). The author of nearly 350 articles and numerous books dealing with canon law, law, and Church and State relationships, Professor Torfs is editor of the European Journal for Church and State Research, is a member of the Board of Directors of the European Consortium for State-Church Research, and is a newspaper columnist and host of his own television program. In 2009 he became a member of the Commission for Intercultural Dialogue (Assises de l'Interculturalité) of the Belgian government.
On 13 June 2010 he was elected a member of the Belgian Senate.
In addition to pursuing a successful career as a journalist for over 15 years, Ninoska has held important government positions as national deputy (2006-2010) and president of the Municipal Council of Cochabamba. Currently, she serves as City Councilwoman. In addition to her extensive background in journalism and Bolivian politics, she has actively participated as a speaker at international conferences on religious freedom issues. Ninoska graduated from the Faculty of Communication and Journalism of the Bolivian Catholic University in 1995.
Gilberto Viana Antonio Garcia, is a practicing lawyer specializing in religious liberty. He holds postgraduate and Master of Laws degrees. He has been a University Professor for over two decades. He served as State Counselor of the Order of Lawyers of Brazil (Rio de Janeiro) from 2007 to 2009. Member of the IAB - Institute of Brazilian Lawyers; President of the Rotary Club of St. John Meriti in Rio de Janeiro from 2007 to 2008; Vice-President of the Evangelical Association of Lawyers of Brazil from 2009 to 2011. Dr. Garcia is a frequent speaker on religion and law, and is the author of over 200 articles and books on religion and the law. Site Manager: www.direitonosso.com.br
Ligia Dias Fonseca is a seasoned attorney, with experience across a broad array of fields and is former president of the National Bar Association of Cape Verde (2001-04). She graduated from the Faculty of Law, University of Lisbon (1987) and received advanced training in advocacy from the Portuguese Bar Associated (1987-89). She has extensive experience with legislative drafting projects (Code of Practice for Commercial Businesses in Cape Verde; International Shipping Registry; development or amendment of laws relating to the environment, health, food quality, water supply, health facility licensing, and other matters). For many years, she has also advised domestic and foreign companies on commercial, labour, and general corporate matters. Ms. Dias Fonseca is a founding member (and has been a board member) of the Association for Solidarity and Development, a human rights NGO and a member of MORABI, an NGO promoting social and economic development for women. Ms. Dias Fonseca is a founding member of the Cape Verdean Women in Law Association and a member of the Fédération Internationale Des Femmes Des Carrières Juridiques. In addition to her native language (Portuguese), Ms. Dias Fonseca is fluent in English and has some faculty in French. She is the First Lady of Cape Verde.
LIU Peng is a senior research fellow in the Institute of American Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), Beijing, China, and a non-residential fellow, Center for the Study of Law and Religion, Emory University Law School, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. He is also the founder and director of Beijing Pu Shi Institute for Social Sciences, a private think tank and the first and only institute working on the issues of religion and rule of law in China since 1999. LIU Peng is considered one of the most influential advocates for religious freedom and the rule of law in China with his own institute and website (www.pacilution.com).
Maria Patricia Ariza Velasco, Attorney-at-Law, specializing in criminal law, administrative law, and philosophy of law. Candidate for master's degree in defense of human rights before international organizations. Prosecutor Delegate to the State Council. Antioquía administrative court judge. Local Prosecutor. Recipient of the Order of Merit for Democracy Medal from the Senate of the Republic. University teacher and lecturer. Author of the book "Law and Women. Yesterday and Today".
Jose Dario Salazar Cruz, Attorney-at-law graduate from the University of Cauca. He specialized in commercial law at the Universidad Javeriana, and in public law at the Universidad Externado in Bogota, Colombia. He has a Master’s in Administrative Law from the University of Sergio Arboleda. He was a representative to Congress for the Department of Cauca from 1990-2002, and then was elected to the Senate in 2002 where he has served as a Senator to the present. He is a member of the First Commission to the Senate and presides over the Third Constitutional Permanent Committee dealing with Economic Affairs. He was a spokesman of the Colombian Conservative Party (2007-2008). He was voted a member of the National Conservative Party and later appointed President (2010-2011). He is an Editorialist (editorialist) for the following newspapers: La Republica, El Liberal de Popayan and El Meridiano de Córdoba. He recently sponsored important initiatives in Congress, including: an Anti-corruption Statute (anti-corruption statute); "First Employment" law; National General Budget Law for 2011 and the law issued by the National Development Plan for 2010-2014. He is the author of Law 1236, of 2008, which increased the penalties for sexual offenses against minors; and the author of the draft law "For the Right to Live" initiative for constitutional reform.
Bishop Elvis Samuel Medina was born in the Dominican Republic. Bishop Medina has represented the evangelical community in events hosted by Billy Graham Ministry in Washington D.C. and Brazil. As an educator, Bishop Medina has been an active participant in the Latin-American Association of Educators and Theologians and in the Ministry of Tourism to Israel. He received his law degree from Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) in 1997. He also received a bachelor’s degree in theology from the National Evangelical University in Santo Domingo in 2001 and a master’s degree in advance education from UASD. As pastor of the Evangelical Church he has devoted his life to serving the youth in his community, encouraging them to pursue studies and self-development. He has been an active defender of religious liberty, human rights, democracy, and education. He is married to Mrs. Dorkas Jimenez de Medina and has four children.
Reverend Fidel Lorenzo was born in the Dominican Republic. He is married to Mrs. Altagracia Gomez and has four children. He completed studies in Psychology from the Inter-American University. He also studied Information Technology in the Dominico Americano Institute and received advance leadership training from the Haggai Institute in Hawaii. Reverend Lorenzo started his ministerial education in the Theological Mennonite Seminar. In 1984, he founded his first church in the Dominican Republic. From 1990 until the present Reverend Lorenzo has dedicated his efforts to establishing and supporting the Mennonite and Methodist community. He is currently president of the Dominican Council of Evangelical Unity, one of the largest evangelical communities in the Dominican Republic. Reverend Lorenzo actively promotes human rights and religious liberty and is involved in the promulgation of a draft religion law in the Dominican Republic.
Marine Solomonishvili is a graduate of the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts-Faculty of Architecture and a Faculty Member of Journalism at the Moscow Central Scientific Research Institute of Education. She has also she worked as an architect. In addition to her professional activities, she has achieved success in different pursuits, including painting, graphics, and applied art. As a Journalist, she has worked at different newspapers and is now the Head of the Jewish Information Center.
Since 1997, she has been the President of the International Foundation LEA & Council of Jewish Women in Georgia and a Network of women with different ethnic minorities. Since 2005, she also has been an Expert at the Council of Ethnic Minorities of the Office of the Public Defender (Ombudsman) of Georgia.
Marine actively works on different issues, including development of gender equality and interfaith and inter religious dialogue among different ethnic/religious community. She works on monitoring Government plans for new laws, related documents and their implementation, offering recommendations and notes in the process of development of various governmental programs, and on the development of recommendations for the Public Defender and other officials.
She systematically participates in local and international conferences and symposiums and has published many articles, which have been printed and published as books. She is also the author of several projects.
Sven Speer, M.A., is the founding Chairman of the Forum Open Religious Policy, an advocacy network campaigning for the opening of the state for all religions and secular outlooks. He is a scientific staff member at the German Bundestag focusing on integration and Islam. He has worked at the Institute for Migration Research and Intercultural Studies at the University of Osnabrueck and the Cluster of Excellence ‘Religion and Politics’ at the University of Muenster. He was a fellow with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom and with the German Marshall Fund of the United States in Washington, D.C.
Professor Emmanuel Kwabena Quansah holds the degrees of LL.B and LL.M from the University of London, United Kingdom; LL.D from the University of South Africa, Pretoria South Africa. He is a Barrister of Gray’s Inn, London, Barrister and Solicitor of Ghana and Attorney of the High Court of Botswana. He has taught various law courses at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels at universities in Nigeria, Botswana and Ghana. In 2008, he was one of 20 scholars who were invited by the Centre for the Study of Law and Religion, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia to a roundtable conference to discuss contemporary problems in the relationships between law, religion, and human rights in selected African countries in Durban, South Africa. He is currently the Dean of Research and Graduate Studies, Mountcrest University College, the first private university accredited to offer law courses at undergraduate and postgraduate levels in Ghana.
Carlos Sabino, Sociologist, Buenos Aires University, 1970. Doctor in Social Sciences, Central University of Venezuela, 1987. History and Sociology Professor, Francisco Marroquín University, Guatemala. Emeritus Professor, Central University of Venezuela. Adjunct Fellow, Independent Institute Member, Honorary Board, RELIAL Member, Academic Council, CADAL.
Selected Publications: The Dawning of Liberty, the Independence of Latin America; Guatemala, the Silenced History, 1944-1989, two volumes; Everyone Makes Mistakes, Memories; The Failure of Interventionism in Latin America.
Dr. Pachauri obtained his school education at La Martiniere College Lucknow. He then did graduated from St.Stephen`s College Delhi University. Following his graduation, he obtained an LLB from Law Faculty Delhi University, and a PhD in Public Administration from Osmania University Hyderabad. He was selected in the Indian Administrative Service in 1968 and retired in 2005 in the rank and pay of a Secretary to the Government of India. He has rich administrative experience at the District level, State level and National level in addition to a large amount of experience in matters influencing the message of Secularism, religious harmony, and communal riots from his experience as a Member Secretary of The National Integration Council of India.
Dr. Pachauri was also Secretary of The Justice Liberhan Ayodhya Commission of Inquiry, which inquired into the facts and circumstances resulting in Demolition of the Babri Masjid on 6th December 1992.This also caused unprecedented communal rioting across the length and breadth of India and abroad. The Inquiry Report was presented in Parliament and his contribution was mentioned in it.
Cekli Setya Pratiwi received her undergraduate degree from Universitas Brawijaya Malang in 1998 and a Master's Degree in Laws (LL.M) from Utrecht University in 2006. She also works as Director of the Human Rights Central Study at the Faculty of Law Universitas Muhammadiyah. In 2006-2008, she was the head researcher for "Research of Judge's Verdict in East Java," research which was conducted together with the Indonesian Judicial Committee, with results published in the KY Journal. She has published widely in areas of Indonesia law including the state legal system, human rights, international law, and Indonesia's judicial system. She is also a member of the International Ford Foundation Program (IFP) on Human Rights.
Silvio Ferrari is Professor of Canon Law at the University of Milan and Professor of Church-State Relations at the University of Leuven in Belgium. He has been visiting professor in Paris (École Pratique des Hautes Études) and Berkeley (University of California) and has worked for many international organizations, including the European Union and the Organization for the Security and Cooperation in Europe. He founded, together with other professors, the European Consortium for Church and State Research. Professor Ferrari is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Institut Européen en Sciences des Religions (EPHE, Paris) and of the Board of Experts of the International Religious Liberty Association (Silver Spring, Maryland). His main fields of interest are Law and Religion issues in West Europe; Comparative Law of Religions (in particular Jewish Law, Canon Law and Islamic Law); Relations between Israel and the Vatican.
Professor Ferrari is Life Honorary President of the International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies and is an Editor-in-Chief of the Oxford Journal of Law and Religion.
José T. Martín de Agar has been a Catholic priest since 1976. He is a Doctor of Canon Law (1976) and Law (1984), an Assistant Professor of Canon Law in 1974 (Faculty of Canon Law of Navarra), and a Professor of Church-State Relations and State Law on Religion since 1978 in the same university.
Since 1984, he has taught such subjects in Rome at the Faculty of Canon Law at the Pontifical University of Santa Croce since its Foundation. In 2011, he obtained his Doctorate honoris causa from the University Pazmany Peter (Budapest).
His interests include freedom of religion, conscientious objection, canon law, religious marriage, church-state agreements, and concordats. He has written a canon law handbook, the English version is: Handbook on Canon Law, Wilson & Lafleur (Canada) second ed. 2008 and a monograph on Catholic Marriage in Spanish Civil Law.
He is also an editor of two volumes on concordats from 1950 to today and another on the edicts of the Conference espiscopales in over 70 countries. He designed and runs a website: bibliotecanonica, which contains writings of canon law, church-state issues and similar commentary from various authors.
Mr. Tasuku Matsuo, founding partner of the Tokyo law firm of Matsuo & Kosugi, is a world-renowned expert on both domestic-Japanese and transnational law. With over fifty years of professional experience, Mr. Matsuo is an authority on corporate litigation, labor disputes, bankruptcy, international commercial matters, and acquisitions.
After graduating with an LL.B from Waseda University in 1953, Mr. Matsuo established his own practice. He continued his pursuit of an international education, receiving his M.C.L. from the University of Washington Law School in 1969. He returned to the United States as a Teaching Fellow at the Columbia University Law School in 1984. He has twice served as a Visiting Professor at Leuven Catholic University in Belgium (1989, 1993), at the University of Melbourne Law School (1994), and at Nihon University's Global Graduate School in Tokyo (2002). He was a Lecturer at his alma mater, Waseda University (1997), and at the Nihon University Law School (2004).
Rev. Hanna Kildani is a Jordanian Catholic priest of the clergy of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. He is the author of Modern Christianity in the Holy Land, published by AuthorHouse in 2010, and currently serves as General Secretary of the Council of Church Leaders in Jordan. Rev. Kildani holds a PhD in history from Saint Joseph Jesuit University in Beirut along with bachelor degrees in philosophy and theology from the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. He speaks Arabic, English, French and Italian and is active in several associations and societies, particularly in the field of interfaith dialogue.
Dr. Jinwol Lee is a Buddhist Monk and Zen Master. He belongs to Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, the major traditional Mahayana Buddhism in Korea, and serves as the acting chairman of the Committee for Internal Relations. He is the President of URI Korea Multiple Cooperation Circle, and is a trustee of the URI Global Council, elected in the Asian Region in 2002. Formerly a professor of Buddhist Studies at the Seoul Graduate School of Buddhism and the Dean of Religious Affairs of Dongguk University, Jinwol is now a professor teaching Buddhist meditation and culture at the Department of Seon (Chan/Zen) Studies of Dongguk University at Gyeongju Campus, a thousand-year-old capital city of Silla Dynasty. He is working as an Executive Committee Member of the Asian Conference for Religion and Peace. He was a member of the Presidential Commission on Sustainable Development in South Korea. Having taken modern scholarship in 1984, he graduated from Dongguk, a Buddhist University then from Sogang, a Jesuit University in 1986. In 1990, he earned a Masters of Arts in Religious Studies from the Graduate School of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. In 1998, he obtained a Ph.D from the University of California at Berkeley.
Mr. Sorsonephit Phanouvong is the Director of the Department of Home Affairs and the Department of Ethnics and Religious Minorities at the Ministry of Interior. He was born in 1963 in Xieng Khouang Province, Northwestern of Laos. He is married and has 3 children. He has worked for the Department of Religious Affairs, Lao Front for National Construction since 1982. He got a promotion and then became the new Director of Home Affairs under the Ministry of Interior and Prime Minister Headquarter Office.
Mr Qunheuane Phothirath was born on June 20, 1952 in Ban Houa Xang, Nasaythong District, Vientiane Province. He is now living in Ban Dong Nathong, Sikhot District, Vientiane Municipal, Vientiane Province. He married Ms. Thongsouay in 1975 and they have 8 children. He was a teacher in 1975 then was transferred to the administration at Nasaythong District in 1977. He has been the President of the Lao Front for National Construction of Vientiane Capital since 2006. His workplace is in the Vientiane Capital Governor’s office, Ban Phonxay, Saysetha District, Vientiane Capital.
Jallah A. Barbu is a Liberian lawyer. He read law at the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law (undergraduate) in Liberia and Indiana University School of Law, Bloomington (graduate). He also holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Liberia. Mr. Barbu is a member and former Secretary of the Liberian National Bar Association and the Bar of the Supreme Court of Liberia. He was the first Vice Chairperson and is now the Chairperson of Liberia’s Law Reform Commission in addition to his membership on the Law School’s faculty, teaching Constitutional Law and Moot Court.
Jesus Rogelio Alcantara Méndez is an Attorney-at-Law for The Center of Economic Research and Teaching (CIDE) and a Professor in Theology at the Universidad Iberoamericana. He has an education in Gender Theory from the College of Mexico and graduated from the Coexistence University Seminar in the Holy Land from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has been a Law Professor in Public Policy and Comparative Law. He has participated in research and teaching projects in CIDE and in the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO). He is the co-author of the book Case Study Administrative Law from the Oxford Editorial series, and author of the essay "Spain: Church and the Democratic Transition," published by CIDE. He is currently an Advisor to the Mexico Sub-secretary of Population, Migration and Religious Affairs in the Ministry of the Interior.
Maximo Moscoso was born April 18, 1960. Degree in Economy (graduated from the Polytechnic School). Additional Education: Degree in Political Analysis (Universidad Iberoamericana), Degree in Mexican Electoral System (Technological University of Netzahualcoyotl), Degree in Federal Public Administration (Universidad Iberoamericana). Employment Information: latest job positions in the last ten years: (i) Religious Associations General Coordinator (State of Tabasco 2007 to date), (ii) Sub-secretary of Political Development (State of Tabasco, 2003-2006), (iii) State Delegate (Federal Delegation of ISSSTE in Tabasco, 2001 to 2003).
Dr. Saldaña Serrano studied law in Mexico, obtained a doctorate in Spain, and pursued postdoctoral research in Spain and Italy with a focus on human rights and the integration of Roman legal thought within European and Latin American legal systems. He has taught in Chile, Spain, Argentina, and Mexico. At the Federal Judiciary Institute of Mexico he teaches judicial ethics, specializing in the circuit and district courts. Dr. Saldaña Serrano also serves as editor of the two-volume national report “Judicial Ethics in Mexico” and investigator at the legal research institute of the Nacional Autonomous University of Mexico. He has authored and coordinated several books, including Current Issues in Human Rights, Human Rights and Human Nature, State Power and Religious Freedom, Ten Years of Entry into Force of the Law on Religious Associations and Public Worship in Mexico, and The Rules of the Law of Religious Associations and Public Worship. The Supreme Court of Mexico has published, as part of its Judicial Ethics series, two of his works: The Principles of Judicial Objectivity and Commentary on the Model Code of Judicial Ethics for Enforcers of Justice of the United Mexican States.
Sophie van Bijsterveld graduated in law at the University of Utrecht in 1983. She received a doctorate in Law at Tilburg University in 1988. Currently, she is professor of religion, state and society at the School of Humanities.
She has published extensively in the fields of (international) human rights protection, religious liberty, constitutional law, and hybrid governance.
As of June 2007, Dr. van Bijsterveld has been a member of the Dutch Upper House of Parliament [Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal] for the Christian Democratic Party (CDA). She is also a Member of the Board of the Scientific Institute of the Christian Democratic Party in the Netherlands.
Brenda Ninoska Martínez Aragón was born November 22, 1976, in Jinotepe, Nicaragua. She graduated with honors from the Catholic University Redemptoris Mater in Managua, receiving a law degree in 1999. In 2000 she was admitted by the Supreme Court of Justice as a Notary Public and to the practice of law. As a fellow of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (AECI), she graduated in 2003 with a master's degree in computer science and law at the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain. Since August 1999 Ms. Martinez has been part of Taboada & Asociados which subsequently integrated with some of the region´s foremost law firms to form Consortium Centro America Abogados (Central America Legal Consortium.) As a partner of Taboada & Asociados, she serves as Director of the Real Estate Department. Ms. Martinez works with nonprofit organizations and devotes much of her time to pro bono service.
Tore Lindholm is associate professor (philosophy) at the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Oslo and board member of the Oslo Coalition on Freedom of Religion or Belief and of the Human Rights Committee of Church of Norway. His research interests focus on (1) the grounds for embracing universal human rights and in particular the right to freedom of religion or non-religious conviction and (2) the two-way traffic between human rights and religions (in particular with respect to Islam and Muslims). He co-edited, with Cole Durham and Bahia Tahzib-Lie, the volume Facilitating Freedom of Religion or Belief: A Deskbook (Brill 2004), which is now published in Indonesian and Russian translations, with a Chinese translation under way. Lindholm co-initiated and sat on the steering committee of the Norwegian Research Council Ethics Program 1990-2001. He co-edited a book on An-Naíimís Islamic reform thinking, Islamic Law Reform and Human Rights: Challenges and Rejoinders (1993, with Kari Vogt) and with Cora Alexa Døving and Sidra Shami produced Religious Commitment and Social Integration: Are there significant links? A pilot study of Muslims in the Oslo area with a family background from Pakistan (2010). He is author of The Cross-Cultural Legitimacy of Human Rights: Prospects for Research (1990/1994); Article 1: A new beginning? in The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: A Common Standard of Achievement (1999); Ethical justification of universal rights across normative divides in Universal Ethics (2004); and Perspectives and Proposals from Scandinavian Scholars (2002).
Marylin Elizabeth Vallarino Bartuano de Sellhorn is a current member of Panama's National Assembly. Ms. Vallarino graduated from the University of Panama's School of Public Administration, receiving a Customs Degree. She has served as a Legislator in the National Assembly of Panama since her first term of office commenced in 2004. Her current term will run through 2014. She worked in 2009 as the Chairperson of the National Assembly's Committee on Women, Children Youth and Family. Ms. Vallarino is serving as the 2009-2014 Chairperson of the Commission on Equality and Gender, Children and Youth of the Latin American Parliament. She is the President of the Foundation for the Integral Development of Women and Family (FUNDADER) which she founded in 2003. Since 1998 she has been President of the Customs Agency Sellhorn, S.A. She is also currently the International Vice President of Legislators for Early Childhood, a position she has held since 2003.
Mr. Arata Solís earned his law degree from the National University of San Marcos and was admitted to the Lima Bar of Lawyers in 1990. He earned a master's degree in civil and commercial law from San Martin de Porres University. He is a professor of property law at the Universities of Lima, San Martin de Porres and the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. His principal areas of practice are property law, contracts, public law, and urban planning, with special emphasis on land registration law.
He has developed specialized consultancies in property rights and public records for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). He has provided advice on matters in his areas of specialization to institutions of the Peruvian government like the Property Registry Authority (Superintendencia Nacional de Registros Públicos), the Special Commission on Privatization (Proinversión), and the Government Property Authority (Superintendencia de Bienes Estatales).
Mr. Arata Solís was a member of the commission charged with of amending the regulations of the Law of Urban Development, representing the Property Registry Authority (Superintendencia Nacional de Registros Públicos) and was also a member of the committee responsible for reviewing the draft of the property registration's regulations, representing the Board of Deans of the Peruvian Bar of Lawyers. Additionally, he was a consultant in property registration issues for the public investment project "Registration with National Jurisdiction" (Inscripción Registral con Competencia Nacional - IRCN) of the Peruvian Property Registration Authority (Superintendencia Nacional de Registros Públicos).
Jorge Luis Salas Arenas, Supreme Judge, Supreme Court of Justice of Peru. The Supreme Court of Justice of Peru is the highest court in the country and is the institution that guarantees the right to a second hearing in judicial processes. As supreme judge, he deals with matters related to human rights. Dr. Salas Arenas has also participated in the developing of a policy of inclusion of the different religions in Peru and the government. He is a lawyer with a master's degree in civil law. He graduated with a doctorate in law from the University of Alcalá de Henares, Spain. Professor at the Faculty of Law.
Juan Carlos Valderrama Adriansen, Lima Peru, is a professor of religious freedom in the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. He is also a lawyer with a bachelor's degree in law and history, with studies in master's degree in constitutional law. Mr. Valderrama is the Founder President of the Institute of Church law, founder and Past President of the Latin American Consortium of religious liberty, a Member of the Academic Advisory Board and Member Academic Council of the IUSTEL Spanish magazine, and a member of the "Conssociato Iuris Canonicum Promovendo." He has published various articles in magazines on the right to religious freedom and participates in various international conferences as a speaker since 1997 to date on this subject. He has been a lawyer of various ecclesiastical institutions during the past 45 years. Today, he focuses on legal research of the right to freedom of religion.
Ricardo P.C. Castro, Jr. is a Principal of Baker & McKenzie International and a Partner in Quisumbing Torres, its Manila member firm. He was Managing Partner of the Manila office for eight years and has been a member of the Policy Committee and Regional Council of the international firm. His practice covers litigation, domestic and international arbitration, corporate compliance and immigration law.
He obtained his Bachelor of Arts (Summa Cum Laude) and Bachelor of Laws degrees at the University of San Agustin in Iloilo City, Philippines. He was admitted to the Philippine bar in 1975. He has a Master of Management degree from the University of the Philippines in the Visayas. He took up specialized studies at the Harvard Business School in Massachusetts, U.S.A. and at the Kellogg School of Management of the Northwestern University in Illinois, U.S.A. He also attended the Academy of American and International Law of the Southwestern Legal Foundation in Texas, U.S.A.
He was a lecturer in college courses while studying for his law degree. Later, he was a law school professorial lecturer and bar reviewer. Presently, he lectures at the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education program of the Philippine Supreme Court. In 2004, he was named by the Supreme Court to be a bar examiner for that year.
He is a member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Inter-Pacific Bar Association and the Immigration Lawyers Association of the Philippines. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Academy of American and International Law.
He is a member of Lions Clubs International and has occupied different positions in the club. In 1992, he was elected District Governor and, subsequently, Chairman of the State Council of Governors of the Philippines. He was Secretary-General of the Orient and Southeast Asian Lions Forum.
He is presently a member of the Board of Directors of Christoffel Blindenmission (CBM), an organization based in Germany and Switzerland which provides assistance to the disabled in the world’s 70 poorest countries.
He is married to Laly Dabao-Castro, a certified public accountant, and they have five children.
Jeremy I. Gatdula is a lawyer specializing in international economic law and the World Trade Organization, and a natural law advocate.
Mr. Gatdula is with the School of Law and Government Project Office of the University of Asia and the Pacific. He is also a partner at David and Gatdula Law Offices and special counsel on international economic matters for the Philippines Department of Trade and Industry.
Mr. Gatdula lectures on public international law and international economic law for various institutions, including the Ateneo Law School, University of the East College of Law, and the University of Asia and the Pacific. He was a Bar Examiner for Political Law and Public International Law for the Philippine Bar Exams of 2009. Mr. Gatdula is also the author of or has edited several articles on public international law, international economic law, and natural law.
Mr. Gatdula is a Lay Commissioner for the Episcopal Commission on Social Communications and Mass Media of the Catholic Church in the Philippines and is legal counsel for EWTN Foundation Philippines. He is an opinions columnist for BusinessWorld and hosts the weekly television show Naturang Batas: Likas na Tama at TV Maria.
Mr. Gatdula holds a Bachelor of Science degree, major in management (San Beda, 1991). He received his Bachelor of Law degree from Arellano in 1995. He took his oath as member of the Philippine Bar in 1996. On scholarship from the Cambridge Overseas Trust, he went to the University of Cambridge for his Master of Law degree (specializing in international law), which he received in 2000.
Mr. Gatdula was born on 13 February 1970.
Elbakyan Ekaterina - Doctor of Philosophy (1997), Senior Research Fellow (1999), a specialist in the field of religious studies, philosophy and sociology of religion, professor of sociology and management of social processes at the Academy of Labour and Social Affairs, Head of the Center for Religious Studies "ReligioPolis", the author of 452 scientific works published in Russia and abroad, including six books, a member of the editorial boards of several scientific publications on theological issues, executive secretary of the editorial board of scientific-theoretical journal "Religion." She graduated from the Philosophy Faculty of Moscow State University, Department of Philosophy of Religion and Religious Studies (1985), and completed postgraduate studies at the same institution (1989). From 1992 to 2002 she worked at the research center "Religion in Contemporary Society" Russian Independent Institute for Social and National Problems. Currently professor of sociology and management of social processes of the Academy of Labour and Social Affairs (Moscow)
Dr. Elbakyan is a professor at the State University of Labor and Social Relations. She is the director of Religiopolis Center, a religious studies research center. She is also a member of the European Association for Religious Studies. Dr. Elbakyan's studies center on philosophy and sociology of religion. She has also studied religion and economics, and religious humanitarian activity. Dr. Elbakyan received a Ph.D. from Moscow State University. She has published extensively on topics dealing with religion and philosophy in Russia. She has authored or co-authored more than 200 works. Dr. Elbakyan serves on the editorial board of a scholarly journal on the topic of religious studies.
Prof. William Schmidt was born in 1969. He is Councellor of the Russian Federation (First Class), Professor of Religious Studies, Specialist in Religious Studies, Philosophy of Religion, Social Philosophy, Expert in Russian and Slavic Middle Ages. Has has engaged in dialog between civil political and religious institutions.
He graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy, Moscow Lomonosov State University. He completed doctoral studies at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and post-doctoral studies at the Russian Presidential Academy of Public Administration. His post-doctoral dissertation is “Patriarch Nikon and his Heritage in the Context of Russian History, Culture and Thought: A Demythologizing Essay”.
He is the author of two books and over fifty papers. He is also the head of the Research and Publishing Project, "Anthology of National [Russian] Religious Studies." Chief Editor of the Journal of Interdisciplinary Research in Religion and Culture “Eurasia: National Spiritual Traditions” and dean of the Faculty of Religious, Ethnic Cultural, and Regional Studies of the Russian Orthodox University.
As the Executive Director of the Samoa Law Reform Commission, Ms. Tuala-Warren advises the Prime Minister, Cabinet, Attorney General, Ministries and Government agencies on matters of law reform in Samoa, oversees the law reform processes and manages SLRC operations. She has participated and presented at various conferences in Asia and the Pacific on subjects such as law reform, women’s health, law, ethics and social justice. She is a former law partner at Tuala & Tuala of Somoa, and Law Lecturer at the University of Waikato School of Law (New Zealand). She is admitted to the High Court of New Zealand (1998) and holds practicing certificate as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Samoa. Education: University of Waikato (New Zealand), LLLM (with Distinction); University of Waikato, LLB; University of Sydney (Australia), B. Economics.
Shaun de Freitas is an Associate Professor in the Department of Constitutional Law and Philosophy of Law at the University of the Free State, South Africa. Professor de Freitas lectures in Public International Law, Constitutional Law as well as Philosophy of Law, with special areas of interest in Constitutional Theory and History as well as the relationship between Law and Religion. He has published in various scholarly journals and is a co-editor of the Journal for Juridical Science; and the International Journal for Religious Freedom.
Mr. Taras Antoshevskyy is director of the Religious Information Service of Ukraine. Mr. Antoshevskyy lectures at Catholic University in Lviv and widely throughout Ukraine on the topic of religion. Mr. Antoshevskyy is generally regarded as the leading Catholic expert on religion in Ukraine. Mr. Antoshevskyy has pursued graduate work in the field of religion, but his studies were interrupted due to the demands placed on his time by the Religious Information Service. Mr. Antoshevskyy widely participates in religious symposia throughout Ukraine.
Maksym Vasin is a lawyer, an expert on church-state relations, and a human rights defender. He has worked on the new version of the Law of Ukraine “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious organizations” as a member of several interdepartmental working groups of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine (2006), the State Committee of Ukraine on Nationalities and Religions (2009) and the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine (from March 2011 till now).
Since March 2011, he has been a member of the Working Group of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine which prepares draft laws in the field of freedom of conscience. In June 2012, he was elected chairman of the Commission on Religious Issues of the Public Council of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine.
Mr. Vasin is also the author of scientific publications on the harmonization of church-state relations and legislative support of religious freedom. He participates in both international and Ukrainian conferences related to these problems and actively researches and monitors these fields.
Jeffrey Haynes is recognised as an international authority in five separate areas: religion and international relations; religion and politics; democracy and democratisation; development studies; and comparative politics and globalisation.
He has written many books, journal articles and book chapters, totalling around 160 such publications since 1986. They include a 17,000-word discussion paper for the Geneva-based United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, ‘Religion, Fundamentalism and Identity: A Global Perspective’ (1995) and a 15,000-word study for the Commonwealth Secretariat, ‘Political Transformation in the Commonwealth’ (2009).
Between 1993 and 2012, Jeff Haynes produced 30 books (14 single authored, 1 co-authored, 12 edited and 2 co-edited).
Courtney Brode is Vietnam and Laos Program Assistant at the Institute for Global Engagement (IGE). She is a 2008 graduate from Baylor University with a B.A. in International Studies and a minor in French. Her international experience includes a study abroad in Paris, France, and missions’ trips to Uganda, Nicaragua, and Mexico. Courtney also travels to Southeast Asia regularly to visit family in Malaysia and Singapore. Prior to joining IGE, she was Marketing Coordinator for MPT Services and served as Resource Development Intern for Mosaica, a D.C based multicultural nonprofit consulting firm. She is a native of Dallas, TX and resides in Washington, D.C.
As Associate Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies, Elizabeth Clark has co-organized and taken part in dozens of conferences and academic projects with other scholars and with government leaders from around the world. She has from the beginning played a major role in organizing the Annual International Law and Religion Symposium at Brigham Young University. She has taken part in drafting commentaries and legal analyses of pending legislation and developments affecting religious freedom, and has assisted in drafting amicus briefs on international religious freedom issues for the U.S. Supreme Court.
Before joining the Center, Professor Clark was an associate in the Washington, D.C., office of Mayer, Brown & Platt, where she was a member of the Appellate and Supreme Court Litigation Group. Professor Clark also clerked for Judge J. Clifford Wallace on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Professor Clark graduated summa cum laude from the BYU Law School, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the BYU Law Review.
Drawing on her multilingual talents in Russian, Czech, German and French, Professor Clark has been active in writing and lecturing on church-state and comparative law topics. She has taught classes on Comparative Law, Comparative Constitutional Law, International Human Rights, and European Union law at the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University. She has published numerous articles and chapters on church-state issues and has been an associate editor of three major books: Facilitating Freedom of Religion and Belief and two books on law and religion in post-Communist Europe. Professor Clark has also testified before Congress on religious freedom issues.
Dr. Ram A. Cnaan is a Professor and Senior Associate Dean at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Policy and Practice. He is the director of the Program for Religion and Social Policy Research. He is the past president of ARNOVA (Association for Research on nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary action). He received his doctorate from the School of Social Work at the University of Pittsburg, his B.S.W. and M.S.W. from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel. He has published numerous articles in scientific journals on a variety of social issues and served on the editorial boards of nine academic journals. He is considered an international expert in the areas of faith-based social care, volunteering, reentry, and social policy. He is the author of The Other Philadelphia Story: How Local Congregations Support Quality of Life in Urban America.
Suzan Johnson Cook, sworn in as Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom in May 2011. Prior to joining the State Department, she served as the senior pastor and CEO of the Bronx Christian Fellowship Baptist Church in NYC. She received her Bachelor of Science in speech from Emerson College in Boston in 1976 and a Master of Arts from Columbia University Teachers College in NYC in 1978. She completed a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in NY and a Doctor of Ministry from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, in 1983 and 1990, respectively. She was also the recipient of the President's Administrative Fellowship at Harvard University, where she served as Associate Dean and later as professor.
Derek H. Davis (B.A., M.A., J.D., Baylor University; Ph.D., University of Texas at Dallas) is formerly Dean of the College of Humanities, Dean of the Graduate School, and Director of the UMHB Center for Religious Liberty at University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, Belton, Texas. He is also the former Director of the J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies and Professor of Political Science, Baylor University, and Editor of Journal of Church and State. He is the author or editor of eighteen books, including Original Intent: Chief Justice Rehnquist & the Course of American Church-State Relations (Prometheus, 1991), Religion and the Continental Congress, 1774-1789: Contributions to Original Intent (Oxford, 2000), The Oxford Handbook of Church and State in the United States (Oxford, 2010), and the Routledge International Handbook of Religious Education (2012). He has also published more than 150 articles in various journals and periodicals. He serves numerous organizations given to the protection of religious freedom in American and international contexts.
Professor Gary Doxey, former ICLRS Managing Director, rejoined Center in 2009 after three years during which he served as president of the Mexico City South Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In April 2011 Professor Doxey called as an Area Authority Seventy of the Church. Before joining the law school, Professor Doxey served under Governor Olene S. Walker of Utah as chief of staff – the state’s top appointed official, head of the cabinet, and chief operating officer of the executive branch. Prior to that, he served six years as general counsel to Utah Governor Michael O. Leavitt. Professor Doxey has spent much of his career in Utah state government, serving as deputy commissioner of financial institutions and as associate general counsel to the Utah Legislature. He is also a professor of history at Brigham Young University and has taught at the University of Utah. He spent his early legal career as a commercial law practitioner and was a judicial clerk for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Utah. He has a Ph.D. from Cambridge University and a J.D. from BYU. He speaks or reads several languages and is the author of many scholarly publications. In January 2011 he was named chair of the Center's Development Committee.
International Center for Law and Religion Studies,
J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University
W. Cole Durham, Jr., is Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies, a position he has held since the Center was officially organized on January 1, 2000. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, where he was a Note Editor of the Harvard Law Review and Managing Editor of the Harvard International Law Journal, Professor Cole Durham has been heavily involved in comparative law scholarship, with a special emphasis on comparative constitutional law. He is currently the President of the International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies (ICLARS), based in Milan, Italy, and a Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Oxford Journal of Law and Religion. From 1989 to 1994, he served as the Secretary of the American Society of Comparative Law, and he is also an Associate Member of the International Academy of Comparative Law in Paris—the premier academic organization at the global level in comparative law. He is serving as a General Rapporteur for the topic "Religion and the Secular State" at the 18th International Congress of Comparative Law held in July 2010. He has also served as Chair both of the Comparative Law Section and the Law and Religion Section of the American Association of Law Schools in earlier years.
Professor Durham has taught at the Brigham Young University Law School since 1976, and he was awarded the honorary designation of University Professor there in the fall of 1999. Since 1994, he has also been a Recurring Visiting Professor of Law at Central European University in Budapest, where he teaches comparative constitutional law to students from throughout Eastern Europe, and increasingly from Asia and Africa as well. He has also been a guest professor in Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany and at the University of Vienna. In January, 2009, he was awarded the International First Freedom Award by the First Freedom Center in Richmond, Virginia.
Allen Hertzke is Presidential Professor of Political Science and Fellow in Religious Freedom at the University of Oklahoma. He is the author of Representing God in Washington, an award-winning analysis of religious lobbies, which has been issued in a Chinese-language translation, Freeing God’s Children: The Unlikely Alliance for Global Human Rights, and coauthor of Religion and Politics in America, a comprehensive text now in its fourth edition. He is editor of The Future of Religious Freedom: Global Challenges, forthcoming Oxford University Press. He is Senior Scholar for the Berkley Center at Georgetown University and Visiting Senior Fellow at the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University. In 2012 he was selected to the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. A frequent news commentator, Hertzke has been featured in such outlets as the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, London Times, Time, New Republic, USA Today, Christian Science Monitor, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Weekly Standard, BBC World Service, PBS, and National Public Radio. He has held positions in Washington, D.C. as visiting senior fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life and visiting scholar at the Brookings Institution. Between 2008 and 2010 he served as lead consultant, first for the Pew Charitable Trusts and then the John Templeton Foundation, to develop strategic recommendations for advancing religious freedom around the globe. A winner of numerous teaching awards, Dr. Hertzke has lectured at the National Press Club, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs, and before numerous audiences in China.
Scott Hibbard is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at DePaul University, where he teaches courses on Middle East Politics, International Relations and American Foreign Policy. He spent the 2009-2010 academic year teaching at the American University of Cairo as part of a Fulbright Award from the Department of State. Hibbard received his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University (2005), and holds advanced degrees from the London School of Economics and Political Science (MSc Political Theory, 1989), and Georgetown University (MA Liberal Studies, 1988). Hibbard also worked in the U.S. Government for 12 years. This included five years as a Program Officer at the United States Institute of Peace (1992 to 1997) and seven years as a legislative aide in the United States Congress (1985-1992). Hibbard is the author of Religious Politics and Secular States: Egypt, India and the United States (Johns Hopkins University Press, September 2010), and co-author (with David Little) of Islamic Activism and U.S. Foreign Policy (Washington, DC: U.S. Institute of Peace Press, 1997).
David Kirkham, currently a professor in the BYU Department of Political Science, came to the International Center for Law and Religion Studies in July 2007 from the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, where he served as Associate Dean and Professor of International Politics and Democratic Studies. Dr. Kirkham has also been an Associate Professor of History, Director of International History, and Director of International Plans and Programs at the United States Air Force Academy. He also conducted international negotiations and diplomatic activities for several years for the US Government and United Nations, including as Senior Humanitarian Affairs Officer at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva (with duties primarily in Africa). He has lived fifteen years of his adult life in five European countries (Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, France and Belgium) and officially represented the United States and the UN in more than forty nations on six continents. He began his career in the early 1980's with a five-year law practice for the US Air Force in England and in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Kirkham's writing and teaching address international human rights, global democratization, constitutionalism, revolution, diplomacy, the United Nations, international humanitarian relief, and the global challenges posed by ideological extremism. He speaks French and German and holds a Ph.D. from George Washington University and a Juris Doctorate from the J. Reuben Clark Law School. Dr. Kirkham is married to the former Judith Hunter, and they are the parents of eight children.
As Director of International and Government Relations, Tina Ramirez oversees all outreach to Congress and the various executive agencies, as well as represents the Becket Fund at international organizations on various projects.
Tina has spoken before the United Nations Human Rights Council, various congressional briefings, and travelled extensively throughout the world. She most recently visited Iraq to assist refugees fleeing Baghdad and Iran and address women’s rights. She has also visited the Sahrawi refugee camps in Algeria and met with government officials, civil society groups, and religious communities about many other issues including democratic development and transition, terrorism, sex-trafficking, refugees, and religious freedom in the Balkans (Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia), Bangladesh, Burma, Egypt, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Lebanon, Morocco, Nigeria, Romania, Sudan, Syria, Thailand, and Turkey.
Tina earned a B.A. in History and Political Science and an M.A. in education from Vanguard University (VU) in California and a M.A. in Human Rights from the University of Essex in the U.K. She also has a certificate from the International Institute for Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, where her studies focused on international religious freedom. Tina was also a teacher for three years, during which time she developed curricula to promote human rights and international religious freedom.
Eric Rassbach is Deputy General Counsel at the Becket Fund and has served since 2004. In his practice he has represented people and institutions from many different faith backgrounds, including Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jains, Jews, Muslims, Santeros, and Sikhs, as well as governmental entities. He represents clients in trial and appellate litigation and acts as counselor to religious institutions and governments dealing with church-state issues. He has also been active overseas and has represented clients in appeals to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France and in the highest courts of several countries. Eric is a well-known commentator on church-state issues and has been quoted in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Times of India, the Wall Street Journal, and many other publications.
Before joining the Becket Fund, Eric worked at Baker Botts LLP in Houston, where he practiced international project finance, including the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline project. He also served as a law clerk to United States District Judge Lee Rosenthal in Houston, Texas.
Eric graduated from Haverford College with a degree in Comparative Literature, is a member of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University, and is a graduate of Harvard Law School.
Eric speaks German fluently and has reading knowledge of Spanish and French.
Professor Frank S. Ravitch is the Walter H. Stowers Chair in Law and Religion at the Michigan State University College of Law, and Director of the Kyoto, Japan Summer Program. He is the author of the books, Marketing Creation: The Law and Intelligent Design (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2011); Masters of Illusion: The Supreme Court and the Religion Clauses (NYU Press 2007); Law and Religion, A Reader : Cases, Concepts, and Theory, 2nd ed. (West 2008) (First Ed. 2004); Employment Discrimination Law(Prentice Hall 2005) (with Pamela Sumners and Janis McDonald); and School Prayer and Discrimination: The Civil Rights of Religious Minorities and Dissenters (Northeastern University Press, 1999 & paperback edition 2001). Professor Ravitch is currently working on a treatise with the late Boris Bittker and Scott Idelman called Religion and the State in American Law, which is supported by a grant from the Lilly Endowment. He has also published a number of law review articles dealing with law & religion, civil rights law, and disability discrimination in journals such as the Georgia Law Review, Wake Forest Law Review, BYU Law Review, Boston College Law Review, and Cardozo Law Review. In 2001, Professor Ravitch was named a Fulbright Scholar and served on the Faculty of Law at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan, where he taught U.S. Constitutional Law and Law & Religion and engaged in research. Currently, he directs the Michigan State University College of Law Japan Summer program.
Professor Ravitch has written a number of amicus briefs addressing constitutional issues, and other issues, to the United States Supreme Court. He regularly serves as an expert for print and broadcast media and speaks on topics related to church/state and civil rights law to a wide range of national, international and local organizations.
Brett Scharffs is Francis R. Kirkham Professor of Law at the J. Reuben Clark Law School and Associate Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies. His teaching and scholarly interests include comparative law and religion, philosophy of law, and international business law. Professor Scharffs is a graduate of Georgetown University, where he received a B.S.B.A in international business and an M.A. in philosophy. He was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, where he earned a B.Phil in philosophy. He received his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he was Senior Editor of the Yale Law Journal.
Professor Scharffs was a law clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, and worked as a legal assistant at the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal in The Hague. Before teaching at BYU, he worked as an attorney for the New York law firm, Sullivan & Cromwell. He has previously taught at Yale University and the George Washington University Law School, and is a visiting professor each year at Central European University in Budapest.
In his fifteen-year academic career, Professor Scharffs has written more than 50 articles and book chapters, and has made over 150 scholarly presentations in 20 countries. His casebook, Law and Religion: U.S., International, and Comparative Perspectives, co-written with his colleague, W. Cole Durham, Jr. was published by Aspen/WoltersKluwer in early 2010; the work has been translated into Chinese and soon-to-be Vietnamese, and a second edition is slated for 2013. He is currently finishing work on another book, Law and the Limits of Logic, which will be published by Harvard University Press. He recently served as a program chair of the Law and Religion Section of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS). He is married to Deirdre Mason Crane Scharffs and has three children, Elliot, Sophelia, and Ella. He enjoys coaching his son’s baseball team, riding his mountain bike, and golf.
Robert Smith has served as the Managing Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies since 2006. In this role he oversees the activities of the Center, including supervising the Annual International Law and Religion Symposium and numerous international conferences each year, in addition to overseeing academic publications and participating in law-reform consultations. He serves as the Center’s Regional Advisor for the United States and teaches a course on the taxation of religious organizations at the J. Reuben Clark Law School.
Professor Smith is a co-author, along with W. Cole Durham, Jr. and William Bassett, of the treatise Religious Organizations and the Law, published by Thomson West. This two-volume, three-thousand-page work for lawyers representing religious organizations in the United States is updated annually. Professor Smith has also co-authored numerous articles on religious freedom and other legal topics, and he is a speaker at international conferences on religious topics.
Before joining the law school, Professor Smith served as Executive Vice-President and General Counsel to CaseData Corporation. Previously, he was a shareholder and chairman of the Corporate and Tax department at the law firm of Kirton & McConkie in Salt Lake City. He also practiced with large law firms in Washington, D.C. and Chicago, Illinois. He spent his early career working as a CPA for Deloitte & Touche in California and Washington, D.C.
Professor Smith received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from BYU and is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Notre Dame, where he earned a Masters of Business Administration degree. He is also a magna cum laude graduate of the J. Reuben Clark Law School, where he was named to the Order of the Coif and served as Editor-in-Chief of the Brigham Young University Law Review.
Katrina Lantos Swett, Ph.D, serves as the Chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. In April of 2012, she was appointed to USCIRF by Senator Harry Reid and was elected to serve as Chair in June. Dr. Lantos Swett is the President of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice- a human rights organization which she established in 2008 to carry on the work of her father, the late Congressman Tom Lantos. In addition she teaches Human Rights and U.S. Foreign Policy at Tufts University a subject she also taught at the University of Southern Denmark during her husband’s tenure as Ambassador to Denmark. While living in Copenhagen, Katrina led a successful advocacy effort to convince the Danish government to take action against illicit trafficking of women and children through Denmark.
Katrina’s first job after law school was as a Legislative Assistant and later Deputy Counsel to the Criminal Justice sub-Committee of the Senate Judiciary Committee under then Senator Joe Biden. She currently serves on the Board of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, the Budapest based Tom Lantos Institute and on the New England College Board of Trustees.
Lantos-Swett graduated from Yale University with a degree in Political Science. She received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and later earned a PhD in history at The University of Southern Denmark.
Hien is East Asia Program Officer at the Institute for Global Engagement (IGE). She joined IGE from Fresno, California.
Hien graduated from Hanoi University (previously called Hanoi Foreign Language University), Vietnam, with a bachelor’s degree in English, and from Fresno Pacific University in California with her master’s degree in peacemaking and conflict Studies. Her thesis examined perceptions and attitudes of Vietnamese Christians on conflict and peacemaking. She has prepared bilingual (English and Vietnamese) training manuals and provided several workshops on conflict resolution and peacemaking to Vietnamese and multi-cultural Christian groups.
Prior to joining IGE, Hien worked with UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) in Hong Kong as a camp aide in the Voluntary Repatriation Program. She also worked with World Vision Vietnam in Hanoi. While in Fresno, Hien worked for a multi-cultural humanitarian organization, FIRM (Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries), to assist the Vietnamese community and other Southeast Asian refugee populations in the city.
Judge Wallace is native of San Diego, a Navy veteran, and a 1955 graduate of the University of California Boalt Hall School of Law. He has devoted more than fifty years to the law, as partner in a San Diego law firm, as a United States District Judge for the Southern District of California, and as member, and from 1991-1996 Chief Judge, of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Since assuming Senior Judge status in 1996, Judge Wallace has spent much of his time traveling every continent of the world to promote the rule of law in developing countries. A prolific writer, lecturer, and teacher, he has taught courses in judicial administration in the United States and throughout the world and has consulted with more than fifty judiciaries worldwide. He developed the concept of the Conference of Chief Justices of Asia and the Pacific and originated the idea and developed the concept for the American Inns of Court. Throughout his long and distinguished career of professional, church, and community service, Judge Wallace has received a great many honors, recognitions, and awards, including the 2005 Edward J. Devitt Distinguished Service to Justice Award, generally regarded as "the most prestigious honor conferred on a member of the federal judiciary," and the 2009 Distinguished Service Award for Religious Freedom from the International Center for Law and Religion Studies.
Professor Dr. Do Quang Hung is the head of the International Politics Department and Faculty of Political Science for the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. He is also the former director of the Religion Research Institute at the Vietnam Social Science Academy. He received a degree in Orient studies from the Russian Scientific Academy in 1985. His majors are history and religion of Vietnam. His publications are mainly related to religion history and culture; religion, politics, and society; and religion law in Vietnam.
Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Van Hieu is the Director of the Office for International Affairs and Programs for the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. He received his doctoral degree at Vietnam National University, Hanoi. His majors are linguistics and international relations.
Mr. Pham Quoc Thanh is the Vice Dean for the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. He received a Master of Arts degree in history at Vietnam National University, Hanoi. His research orientations focus on Vietnam’s contemporary history and Vietnamese politics.