Ruth Gavison, "Constitution-making as a Form of Nation Building: The Israeli Experience"

Ruth Gavison, PhD, is one of Israel's leading public intellectuals and legal thinkers. She is currently serving as Haim H. Cohn Professor of Human Rights at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she teaches legal theory and human rights. Gavison is a founding member of the Israeli Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and has served for many years as its Chairperson, as well as its President in the years 1996-1999. She has won numerous national and international prizes for her work, including the Emet Prize for Law and Political Science for her academic and public activities in promoting democracy, human rights, and the rule of law in Israel. Her talk focused on the challenges of constitution-making in Israel, one of the few societies without a single authoritative document called a constitution.

This lecture, which was recorded May 5, 2010, was sponsored by the Jewish Law Students Association, the International Law Society, and the Center for Jewish Studies.