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58 Alta. L. Rev. 1 (2020-2021)

handle is hein.journals/alblr58 and id is 1 raw text is: JUDICIAL DIPLOMACY OF THE SUPREME COURT OF CANADA

1

THE JUDICIAL DIPLOMACY OF THE
SUPREME COURT OF CANADA AND ITS IMPACT:
AN EMPIRICAL OVERVIEW
KLODIAN RADO*
Courts and judges across the globe, including the Supreme Court of Canada, are actively
engaged in a metaphorical dialogue through the exchange of their judicial decisions. Is
it the only type ofcommunication happening among courts andjudges? This empirical study,
centred on interviews with ten current and former justices of the Supreme Court and non-
public archival documents, shows that courts have established regular bilateral
relationships with foreign counterparts, participate in multilateral transnational judicial
associations and organizations, and have occasional contacts with other foreign courts,
which I call 'judicial diplomacy.
In addition to these institutional court-to-court relationships, the transnational judicial
conversation occurs also between individual justices. Judges play a key role in such
transnational conversations and exchanges. This article reveals that former and current
justices of the Supreme Court interact with foreign and international judges not only within
official meetings of the Supreme Court, or as part of the Supreme Court's delegation, but
also individually through several mechanisms.
The bilateral or multilateral foreign relationships of the Supreme Court, whether as an
institution or through individualjustices, should not be considered informal or unimportant
as they have demonstrable effects. It is through these meetings that they exchange views on
their decisions and generate substantive, procedural, and court management ideas, often
turning these ideas into action, such as establishing global and regional judicial networks,
judicial training institutions, or electronic networks. Ultimately, the data of this research
demonstrates that this dialogue with foreign counterparts also have a broader impact on
Canada's global reputation and foreign policy.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I.   INTRODUCTION     ...............................................                 2
II.  M  ETHODOLOGY      ..............................................                 3
A.    ARCHIVAL RESEARCH        ..................................               3
B.    PERSONAL INTERVIEWS WITH CURRENT
AND  FORMER    JUSTICES   ....................................              4
III.  FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE SUPREME COURT OF CANADA .............. 5
A.    FOREIGN RELATIONS ACTIVITIES OF THE
SUPREME COURT OF CANADA AS AN INSTITUTION ................. 6
B.    FOREIGN RELATIONS ACTIVITIES OF INDIVIDUAL JUSTICES ........ 13
Klodian Rado is an academic, former judge, and trainer of judges who has participated actively in
numerous transnational judicial conversation occasions with foreign judges across the globe, and
completed his PhD at Osgoode Hall Law School in Canada, on The Transnational Judicial Dialogue
of the Supreme Court of Canada and its Impact. Mr. Rado holds a Magistrates-Judge Diploma;
Graduate Diploma in Justice Administration,York University, Canada; LLM, King's College London,
UK. I thankProfessorEmeritus Harry Arthurs and ProfessorRuthBuchanan, who engaged indepthwith
this study and provided very valuable insight. I reserve my biggest thanks for the ten current and former
justices of the Supreme Court of Canada who agreed to discuss with me about this study, and
contributed by sharing with me their personal experiences and views.

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