British Politician Leads Discussion on International Law

Baroness Shirley Williams visits International Public Law class

By Kelsey Schreiberg

Affectionately known as one of Great Britain’s “Gang of Four Rebels,” Baroness Shirley Williams of Crosby spoke to an International Public Law class at USC Gould last week. She was recently honored as the Emory Bogardus Distinguished Lecturer in the Social Sciences at USC, and her law school lecture was part of a wider visit to the university.

Baroness Williams was first elected to Parliament in 1964, and went on to become co-founder and president of the United Kingdom’s Social Democratic Party (1982-88). She later led the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords (2001-2004), and as an expert on international political policy, was an advisor to former prime minister Gordon Brown of the Labour Party (2007-2010), on issues of nuclear proliferation.

Baroness Shirley Williams

She drew from her own experience to give students a British politician’s perspective on international treaties. After the lecture, Professor Chimene Keitner led discussion between 2Ls, faculty, and the Baroness that ranged from human rights legislation, to the U.K.’s unstable relationship with the European Union, to potentially requiring an international criminal court system.

The lecture encouraged students to “reflect on the different geopolitical and historical factors that contribute to a particular country's willingness to embrace international obligations--a theme they will continue to discuss during the semester,” Keitner said. Keitner is visiting USC Gould this semester from University of California Hastings College of the Law.

Students were asked to think about the intricacies of international law, and how its application functions in relation to domestic law.

“You don’t have to look very far beyond the City of London or Wall Street to see that this is the key question,” Baroness Williams said.

She went on to explain that the global increase in organized crime may require an international criminal court.

“The United States has always been reluctant to concede sovereignty to international law,” she said. However, the choice they make will be one of “the central political issues of our time.”

Ultimately, Professor Keitner explained that because domestic courts around the world are being asked to implement and enforce international obligations, it is the surrounding circumstances that determine how treaties are framed and ratified. As globalization forces nations into treaties that transcend sovereign states, an international perspective has never been more valuable. 

“It is one of the crucial issues you as lawyers will have to face,” Baroness Williams affirmed.

Baroness Williams is an Oxford graduate (B.A. philosophy, politics, and economics 1951, M.A. 1954) and served as Professor Emerita of Electoral Politics at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. In addition to receiving 12 honorary doctorates, she has written several books including “Politics is for People” (1981), “A Job to Live” (1985), and “God and Cesar: Personal Reflections on Politics and Religion” (2003).