Democratic Institutions Under Pressure: A Judicial Perspective

This Program is part of a larger series of three Programs being held in London on June 16, 2025, Paris on June 19, 2025, and New York, on a date in the Fall not yet determined, under the main following sponsorships: School of Law, London School of Economics and Political Science, NYU Law, and Sciences Po Law School.

We cordially invite you to a Program that will explore the current status of our democracy and our world.

The Program, "Democratic Institutions Under Pressure: A Judicial Perspective" will be conducted by three extraordinary experts, Retired US Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, Retired UK Supreme Court Justice Lord Jonathan Sumption, and Former Member of the French Conseil Constitutionnel Noëlle Lenoir. It will be moderated by New York University School of Law Professor Sam Issacharoff. 

Luis Vassy, President of Sciences Po, will be present and will offer a few words of welcome, and Guillaume Tusseau, Professor of Public Law at Sciences Po Law School, will deliver the opening remarks.

These are difficult times. Many countries around the world face concerns about the abilities of their institutions—especially their courts—to uphold their core democratic principles, including the rule of law.

Across the democratic world, legislatures have been diminished, traditional politicial parties are struggling, the population is polarized, and countries are governed primarily through their executive branches, often leading to autocracy.

How do legislative, executive, and judicial institutions share this responsibility in practice? Can they?

What can courts do—especially in the absence of other robust checks and balances—when their own role--and that of the other two branches—is under attack? Can democracy be saved? Can the Rule of Law be brought back to life, where it belongs?

This Program brings together three of the most renowned and experienced Judges and Justices to address these difficult but extraordinarily important questions.