It was a pleasure participating in International Balkan University's International Human Rights Day program as a guest lecturer.
Thanks so much again to fellow Fulbrighter Ass.t Prof. Dr. Natalija Shikova for the invitation
For more about International Balkan University in Skopje, see https://www.ibu.edu.mk/
What a treat to open my mail and receive a package from North Macedonia -- by way of Scotland --
a hard copy of the journal
Годишник на Правен факултет Јустинијан Први
(Journal of the Faculty of Law Iustinuanus Primus UKIM)
that includes my article
"Presidential Correspondence during the Clinton Administration: Staying in Touch with the American People"
Thank you so much, Professor Karolina Ristova-Aasterud, for sending this!
I am looking forward to joining the Faculty of Law at International Balkan University for International Human Rights Day. Thanks so much Professor Natalija Shikova for the invitation!
Delighted to serve as a reviewer for the University of Tetova's law journal
JUSTICIA: International Journal of Legal Sciences
Thank you to my colleagues in the Law Faculty, especially Professor Jusuf Zejneli , for the continued cooperation
For more information about JUSTICIA
This week I was privileged to be a presenter/facilitator at the US Department of State's Pre-Departure Orientation for outbound Fulbrighters -- for the North Macedonia Country Session.
Prior to leaving for Moldova and more recently before leaving for North Macedonia -- the most valuable part of my preparation for my Fulbright Scholar awards was the Country Session at the PDO -- during which you have the chance to learn from those who are recently returned from the country where you are going. It really is a pleasure to do whatever I can to ensure that the future Fulbrighters have an easy transition to their work in North Macedonia.
This year, our session was virtual -- and organized via a zoom meeting. I loved meeting the 2020-21 group of Fulbrighters as well as to see those from the 2019-20 cohort. We missed out on the informal opportunities outside the country session we had to socialize and answer individual questions over lunch breaks or coffee breaks. Still, we are available by email/text/phone/facebook - and are ready to answer any additional questions - outside this Country Session.
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| Some of my "show-and-tell" Macedonia tour books |
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| One bonus of the zoom meeting format -- we were able to hear from Gazmend from the US Embassy in Skopje! There really is no better resource |
SEEU featured our USF St. Petersburg Constitution Day Event with Prof. Shasivari -- Presidential Pardons -- on its facebook page.
Here is the text, and the accompanying pictures:
https://www.facebook.com/seeu.edu.mk/posts/2677290602506978
https://www.seeu.edu.mk/en/information/news-events?id=2133
South East European University (SEEU) shared the news of Professor Shasivari's keynote address for USF St. Petersburg's Constitution Day event about presidential pardons:
Within the collaboration framework of the between the University of South Florida St. Petersburg USA and SEEU-Faculty of Law, on the occasion of marking 17th September - the Anniversary of the US Constitution, Prof. Jeton Shasivari, in front of 40 students, gave an online lecture on the topic “The Pardon Power of the President of North Macedonia as a (Un) Restricted Constitutional Right”.
The lecture was moderated by the American professor of constitutional law, Prof. Judithanne Scourfield McLauchlan, while American students asked many questions, which proves that their interest in the lecture was very high.
Prof. Shasivari addressed constitutional and legal aspects of the presidential pardon in North Macedonia, focusing on the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court, as well as the possible international legal consequences of the 2016 Presidential Pardon before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
For our 2020 Constitution Day celebration, we were honored to have as our Keynote Speaker SEEU Law Professor Dr. Jeton SHASIVARI.
After resolving a technical glitch when getting started, our US Constitutional Law students and guests had the privilege of learning more about the presidential pardon power in the Republic of North Macedonia.
Professor Shasivari explained the constitutional and legal basis for the presidential pardon power: Article 84 of the Constitution of the Republic of North Macedonia, the specialized Law on Pardoning in 1993 with amendments in 2009 and 2016, and the relevant decisions of the Constitutional Court in 2016. We also learned more about the controversial pardons of April 2016 when the President of the Republic of Macedonia Gjorge Ivanov issued 41 pardons (involving 56 people) in one day, that were followed by mass protests.
After the presentation, we had an engaging discussion, comparing and contrasting the presidential pardon power in the US and North Macedonia.
In advance of the presentation, the US students read Professor Besa Arifi's article in the SEEU Law Review:
The President's Right to Issue Prdons article by Prof. Besa Arifi
And students familiarized themselves with the history of presidential pardons in the US. Article II, Section 2, cl. 1 gives the US President the power to pardon federal offenses. (And see Hamilton's Federalist #74 for further explanation of the Framers' justification for the pardon power.)
For more, see
https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution-conan/article-2/section-2/clause-1/pardons-and-reprieves
https://www.justice.gov/pardon/pardon-information-and-instructions
We are looking forward to observing 2020 US Constitution Day (#233!) with Professor Dr. Jeton Shasivari of the Law Faculty of SEEU
The topic will be "The Pardon Power of the President of North Macedonia, as an (un)limited Constitutional Right"
and will compare to the US context with my students in US Constitutional Law
For the full text of the US Constitution https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript
Today I received the Fulbright Association 2019 Annual Report in the mail.
Wonderful to read about all of the ways that Fulbrighters are staying involved and connected.
It also brought back fond memories of the Fulbright Association Annual meeting, which I attended in the Fall of 2019 (See, for example https://jainmacedonia.blogspot.com/2019/11/fulbright-association-annual-meeting)
Also pictured were our participation in Lobby Days on Capitol Hill:
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| with President of the Mid-Florida Chapter, Amela Malkic, President of the North Florida Fulbright Association Latika Young, the Director of the US-Mexico Fulbright Commission Hazel Blackmore in Rep Lois Frankel's office -- and Rep. Frankel is the artist! and painted to beautiful pictures behind us |
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| And Congressman John Lewis! |
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| I was traveling and not in a place where I could join by laptop -- but I was able to join by phone |
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| Ambassador James Pardew |
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| Professor Gjylia Celiku, conference organizer and moderator |
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| Kevin Lampe, Chicago-based political consultant
Here is an article about the summit:
Zoom Summit “Covid19”, në organizim të profesoreshës së njohur Gjyla Çeliku
Personalitete të rëndësishme të diplomacisë, shkencës dhe politikës
janë pjesë e një samiti ndërkombëtar që do të mbahet online ditën e
hënë.
Ky eveniment organizohet nga profesoresha e njohur Gjyla Çeliku, e
cila do ta udhëheq të njejtin. Në fokusin e këtij debati do të jenë tema
mbi shëndetësinë, politikën, ekonominë dhe arsimin. Pjesë e debatit do
të jetë edhe diplomati dhe ish-ambasadori amerikan Xhejms Perdju,
diplomatë dhe ekspertë të njohur ndërkombëtar, personalitete politike të
vendit si dhe nga diaspora. (INA)
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I was delighted to be invited to serve on the Editorial Board of International Balkan University Law Faculty's new peer-reviewed Journal of Law and Politics.
And I look forward to continued cooperation with the law faculty, especially my colleague Professor Natalija Shikova (fellow Fulbrighter -- she was a researcher at George Washington University).
See https://www.ibu.edu.mk/jlp/ for more information about the journal. And for more about International Balkan University, see https://www.ibu.edu.mk/
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| students "meeting" their research partners for the first time |
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| group picture of the USFSP and the UT participants in our "global classroom"....this was before Spring Break, when we were still meeting on campus |
