Rule of Law Program
(recent activity)

The Rule of Law and Free Society
November 24-28, 2004
Dr. Russell Hittinger

Almost 80 academics and professionals, mainly lawyers and advanced law students from 13 Central and Eastern European countries, gathered for this four day event. Participants included not only students but professors, trainees for judgeships and advisors to ministers from the Czech Republic, Poland, Russia and Slovakia. This was a conference designed as a short course in legal theory by a renowned legal scholar from the University of Tulsa, Dr. Russell Hittinger.  He led the participants through the history of legal theory, focusing upon the definition of law, its force and essential characteristics.

Dr. Russell Hittinger, who earned his Ph.D. at St. Louis University, teaches philosophy at the University of Tulsa, where he is chair of the department. He has also taught at Catholic University of America, Princeton University, Fordham University, and New York University.

Professor Hittinger received the Silver Gavel Award of the American Bar Association for Privacy and Liberal Legal Culture in 1991. His books and articles have been published by Oxford University Press, the University of Notre Dame Press, the Review of Politics, as well as several law journals.

“I think the idea of these seminars is very good. It’s very helpful for the students from different countries, interested in different fields of study to come together at one place and exchange their experiences.”

Monika Florczak-Wator, School of Law, Jagiellonian University, Poland