In December 2007, Professor Aharon Barak, the former President of the Israeli Supreme Court, visited Poland, and gave a lecture at the Warsaw University at the invitation of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. Some students of the American Law Program watched in Cracow a web cast from this important event. Szymon Czyszek, a student of the American Law Program back in 2007-2008, took upon the independent effort to discuss the legacy of President Barak.
A Legal Buccaneer?
Review of A. Barak “The Judge in a Democracy” (Princeton University Press 2006) and R. Posner “Enlightened Despot” (The New Republic, April 23, 2007)
by SZYMON CZYSZEK
I. Introduction
Aharon Barak, who is a former president of the Supreme Court of Israel, presented his judicial philosophy in his recent book titled “The Judge in a Democracy”. Writings of a person considered as “the world’s greatest living jurist” or “John Marshall of Israel” are always subject to many controversies. One of the most famous critical reviews of this book was written by Richard A. Posner, a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, who called Mr. Barak “a legal buccaneer” and “an enlightened despot” whose writings are somewhat “hubristic”.
The aim of this article is to present the most controversial parts of A. Barak’s judicial philosophy and the comments given by R. Posner on them. The arguments come from writings of both authors, but also – in order to add some piquancy to this conflict – from their meeting at Hebrew University in Jerusalem which took place some months ago where those two legal giants clashed in an oral battle.
