News Publication Date: 27 May 2016
Deemster Doyle visited Washington during the week commencing 16 May 2016 to attend an international judicial conference and to meet up with Sonia Sotomayor, a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and other judges from numerous countries.
The conference was attended by senior judicial representatives (including chief justices and members of constitutional and supreme courts) from over 40 countries worldwide including Albania, Benin, Canada, Denmark, Fiji, Guyana, India, Japan, Norway, Pakistan, New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Ukraine, Uganda, United States of America and Vietnam.
The conference focused on the rule of law, court administration and caseload management, protection of individual rights, transparency and judicial resources, judicial ethics and judicial independence.
On Tuesday 17 May 2016 the Island’s First Deemster attended a private meeting with Justice Sonia Sotomayor at her chambers within the Supreme Court. On Wednesday 18 May 2016 the First Deemster met with Le Thi Thu Ba, the Deputy Permanent President of the Vietnamese Central Judicial Reform Steering Committee. They are translating Deemster Doyle’s Oxford lectures on the Rule of Law for distribution amongst the Vietnamese judiciary. On Thursday 19 May 2016 His Honour attended the Supreme Court as a special guest of Justice Sotomayor to witness the handing down of three judgments. On Friday 20 May 2016 Deemster Doyle attended a formal dinner at the Supreme Court.
Deemster Doyle commented:
'It was a great privilege to meet up with Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic and third woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court, and to be her guest at a sitting of the Supreme Court. It was also useful to meet and exchange views with senior members of the judiciary from over 40 countries. Many of the cases dealt with by the Island’s judiciary have an international flavour, and it was helpful for me to meet with judges from numerous jurisdictions so that we could better understand the constitutions and legal systems of our respective jurisdictions.'