World Justice Forum I

Following outreach meetings on five (5) continents in 2007 and 2008 involving disciplinary leaders from 71 countries, the WJP held its first World Justice Forum on July 2 -5, 2008 in Vienna, Austria. The three (3) day Forum brought together more than 450 governmental and non-governmental leaders from 83 nations from throughout Asia and the Pacific, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and North America. The WJP's Opportunity Fund was unveiled at the 2008 Forum.

Prominent Speakers on the Rule of Law

These actions plans were informed by the insights on the importance of the rule of law to thriving communities that distinguished experts from around the world shared. Those speaking at the inaugural Forum included:

Mary Robinson	former President of Ireland and President of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative
Emil Constantinescu	former President of Romania
Salih Mahmoud Osman	Winner of the 2007 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought and Member, Sudan National Assembly
Ashraf Ghani	Chairman, Institute of State Effectiveness and former Finance Minister of Afghanistan
Robert Badinter	Senator, Parliament of France
Arthur Chaskalson	former Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa
Mohamed Ibrahim	Chairman of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation
Stephen Breyer	Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Ruth Bader Ginsburg	Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
James Heckman	Henry Shultz Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago
Yash Pal Ghai	Head of Constitution Advisory Support Unit United Nations Development Program in Nepal
Cherie Booth	Matrix Chambers, London, England