The Rodel Judicial Fellowship Class of 2024 recently visited the United Kingdom for the group’s final seminar together, diving into the evolution of British and European law through a packed lineup of panels and discussion leaders who shared a transatlantic perspective on judicial leadership and the rule of law.

The seminar kicked off in London with the Royal Courts of Justice as a backdrop. University College London law professor Jeff King guided fellows through the ins and outs of judicial review in a country without a written constitution, before pivoting to how Brexit has shifted the balance of power in British courts.

The bipartisan group of American judges were then honored to hear from two of the UK’s top jurists: Baroness Brenda Hale, former President of the UK Supreme Court, and Lord Philip Sales, the Court’s current Deputy President. This phenomenal panel featured two political opposites, who were able to foster a lively debate in the room on post-Brexit challenges for the British judiciary.

In Cambridge, the Fellows expanded their understanding of the European Union’s often complex legal system with Albertina Albors-Llorens, a Cambridge law professor and President of St. John’s College, focusing specifically on how EU courts co-exist with member states. Lord John Thomas, President of the Qatar International Court and former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, added a unique perspective on multi-national federal systems gathered over his exceptional career.

The group carried these discussions outside the classroom through further interactions with leading European academics and jurists over scenic views of the River Cam nestled along the English countryside. Through these interactions, and many others in Cambridge and London, the Class of 2024 concluded their Fellowship with a renewed appreciation for our common jurisprudential heritage and how narrow the disagreements in our own legal system actually are.