A University of Notre Dame Law School professor who helped train the judges presiding over the arraignments of Saddam Hussein and other former Iraqi leaders says the proceedings “represent a victory for the rule of law.”p. Jimmy Gurulé cautioned, however, that the court must ensure that Saddam no longer use the defendants chair as a soapbox.p. One of the principal challenges for the Iraqi Special Tribunal will be to prevent the court proceedings from becoming a stage for Saddam to communicate anti-American propaganda,Gurulé said.He needs to be reeled in.p. “The Iraqi court should prevent what has regrettably transpired during the proceedings conducted by the Ad Hoc Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.”p. Gurulé and nine other legal experts – including Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day OConnor and Anthony M. Kennedy – trained 20 Iraqi judges in May at the Conference on the Rule of Law in Iraq at The Hague, Netherlands. The jurists, including the judge who presided over Saddams arraignment today, comprise a tribunal that will determine legal charges against Saddam and other members of Iraqs overthrown Baathist government and eventually try them.p. Gurulé conducted a conference workshop on judicial ethics and legal ethics. Other experts addressed topics such as the role of the judiciary in building constitutionalism, the role of judges as fact-finders, transitional justice, and the role of prosecutors.p. Gurulé is a prominent scholar of international criminal law, terrorism, terrorist financing, and anti-money laundering. He has served in several public law enforcement positions, including as U.S. Treasury undersecretary for enforcement, where he was the point person in the hunt for the financiers of terrorism in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on America.
Contact: Jimmy Gurulé, 574-631-5917 or gurule.1@nd.edu
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