Honour, Oaths, and the Rule of Law explored at Coxford Lecture

March 11, 2016

Professor Paul Horwitz of Alabama Law School & Harvard University, delivered a fascinating lecture on the connection between the concept of honour, the rule of law, and what it means to occupy a public office at the annual Coxford lecture held at the law school on March 10.

Horwitz, and a leading figure in First Amendment scholarship, argued the concept of honour, often expressed by an oath to uphold the constitution, is a vital element of the rule of law in a modern liberal state, linking together private and public virtue.

The Coxford Lecture is Western’s leading public law lecture. Each year the series brings international scholars to Western Law to address important public law questions in order to promote and advance the rule of law.

Previous speakers in the Coxford series include Professor Adrienne Davis (Washington University in St. Louis); Professor Larry Alexander (University of San Diego); Professor Jeremy Waldron (NYU/Oxford); Professor Jeffrey Goldsworthy (Monash University); former Supreme Court Justice Ian Binnie,;Oxford Law Dean Timothy Endicott, and renowned legal philosopher John Finnis.

The Coxford Lecture is generously supported by Stephen Coxford LLB’77, former Chair of Western’s Board of Governors. The Coxford lectures are published annually in The Canadian Journal of Law & Jurisprudence.