Anne-Marie Leroy, Senior Vice-President and General Counsel of the World Bank Group, gave a lecture on the topic "Strengthening the Bank's Internal Rule of Law" on 25 May 2012 at the EPLO headquarters in Athens, Greece, as the guest speaker of the 10th Manuel Chrysoloras International Lecture.
The EPLO launched the International Lecture Series in 1999, naming it after Manuel Chrysoloras (c. 1350-1415), the Greek scholar credited with spreading Greek literature in the West during the Middle Ages and today viewed as the symbol of the Hellenic contribution to the revival of European Culture.
In her lecture, Anna-Marie Leroy introduced the key elements constituting the concept of the rule of law and its evolution over time -from Aristotle's Politics to the writings of the British jurist and constitutional theorist Albert Venn Dicey (1835-1922) - analyzed the conceptualization of the rule of law in an international organization and described the role of the General Counsel in ensuring the rule of law in such an institution.
Prof. Spyridon Flogaitis, Director of the EPLO, welcomed the speaker offering a few words on the personality of Manuel Chrysoloras and his contribution of the Greek classics to the West, before highlighting that the EPLO, though a newly established international organization –celebrating its 5-year anniversary this year – has an equivalent internal organization with large organizations such as the World Bank. He presented Anne-Marie Leroy with a commemorative portrait print of Chrysoloras saying: "the EPLO is honored to have the opportunity to gain from your knowledge and experience."
The lecture was attended by the high ranking Greek officials including the Minister of State, Antonis Argyros, bringing the greetings of the interim Prime Minister, Panayiotis Pikrammenos, former Minister, Procopios Pavlopoulos, former Minister Pantelis Kapsis, former Deputy Minister, Dimitris Dollis, the first Vice-President of the State Council, Kostas Menoudakos, the Vice President of the State Council, Filoktimon Arnaoutoglou, the President of the Court of Audit, Ioannis Karavokyris, the Commissioner General of the State, Dionisios Laskaratos, the General Inspector of Public Administration, Leandros Rakintzis, honorable jurists, ambassadors, diplomats and academics.
Past speakers include (in chronological order): Mr. Alecos Markides, former Attorney General of the Republic of Cyprus, Professor J.H.H. Weiler, Director of the Centre for International and Regional Economic Law & Justice, NYU Law School, Professor Vassilios Skouris, President of the Court of Justice of the European Communities, Dr. Nicolas Michel, Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel of the United Nations, Dr. Bo Vesterdorf, President of the European Court of First Instance of the European Communities, Mr. Michele Vietti, Parliamentarian and Spokesman of the Center Democratic Party of the Republic of Italy, Dr. Michael Frendo, Chairman of the House of Representatives' Standing Committee on Foreign and European Affairs and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malta, Mr. Ronny Abraham, Judge of the International Court of Justice, and Dr. Marc Jaeger, President of the General Court of the European Union, along with Dr. Irena Pelikanova, President of the 4th Chamber of the General Court of the European Union and Dr. Savvas Papasavvas, President of the 5th Chamber of the General Court of the European Union.
You may read the content of the lecture given by Anne-Marie Leroy here
