How would you finish that sentence? What adjective, noun, phrase, or clause would you use? What does the concept of democracy mean to you?

My guess is that if you live in a democratic society, you don’t think much about it. You perhaps take it for granted. You might not participate fully in the democratic processes around you. You probably sometimes complain about democracy being messy, inefficient, or frustrating. You might even express admiration or idle preference for authoritarian regimes that deal with obstacles and challenges – including human ones – quickly, quietly, and with cold-eyed finality. Such corrosive nonchalance, of course, is dangerous.

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I have always loved the Fourth of July.  When I was a kid, nothing could beat the fireworks, parades, picnics, watermelon, barbeque, and sense of community that came with a traditional, small-town Independence Day celebration.  

Small-town U.S.A. Fourth of July.

As an adult, I remain energized by what the holiday represents.  July 4th is not a glorification of nation or government.  It is a celebration of the inherent value of each individual citizen and of the right of citizens to create, dissolve, and otherwise control their nation and government as they see fit.  The concept is not theoretical or antiquarian.  In many parts of the world the concept is just as radical – and just as personally dangerous – today as it was 234 years ago.  

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… to Dunedin.

I started my visit with lunch with Mayor Peter Chin and several City Councillors. As always happens, we found a variety of unexpected topics of mutual interest. For example, I enjoyed comparing notes about Las Vegas with one of the Councillors who has a family member living in Nevada. (I am a partisan of Las Vegas, in part because of my inexplicable attraction to neon, and in part because of a couple of glorious New Year’s Eves that I spent there with my partner, my family from back East, and our great friends Kevin and Vana.)

The Mayor, Councillors, and I also talked, of course, about the upcoming Rugby World Cup and Dunedin’s new rugby stadium. I was diplomatic enough not to ask about that whole dust-up in the newspapers about the future location of the 7’s tournament.

After lunch at Knox College with the Rt. Rev. Dr. Graham Redding (left) Master Bruce Aitken (right), and Professor Amanda Barusch.

As in Christchurch, I had a varied and interesting schedule in Dunedin. I have a passion for science and science education, and I made it a point to meet with the leaders of the New Zealand International Science Festival. I am planning to attend this year’s Festival in July, which will be focusing on the science of food. I am particularly interested in meeting the Festival’s latest discovery – an American rapper who only raps about science. You can find more information about the Festival at scifest.org.nz.

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I just spent a marvelous week in Hong Kong with about 500 of the smartest, most articulate students on the planet. I was serving for the 17th time as an arbitrator in the annual Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot.

There are two Vis Moots each year – in Vienna (where the Moot was founded) and in Hong Kong. Each of the two events draws teams of law students from around the world for a week of mock arbitration hearings, leading up to a grueling elimination round.

Smiles all around after my hearing of excellent teams from Deakin of Australia (rear left) and Eötvös of Hungary (rear right). My co-arbitrators (seated) were from the Philippines and Germany.

Last year I had the pleasure of seeing my two hometowns triumph – the team from Victoria University of Wellington took first place in Vienna and the team from Loyola University of Los Angeles took first place in Hong Kong. I hope to have the opportunity of seeing Vic in action again next year when it returns to the competition after a year’s hiatus.

Others from New Zealand have participated as arbitrators at prior Moots, including my friend Attorney General Chris Finlayson.

The happy Victoria University duo (Katherine Belton & David Hume) who won the final round of last year's Vienna Moot, in the heart of old Vienna.

This year I arbitrated 24 of the 75 teams that competed in Hong Kong, including teams from schools in Indonesia, Denmark, India, Hungary, Vietnam, the U.S., China, Slovenia, and Japan, among others.

As described very well on its website, “The goal of the Vis Arbitral Moot is to foster the study of international commercial law and arbitration for resolution of international business disputes through its application to a concrete problem of a client and to train law leaders of tomorrow in methods of alternative dispute resolution.” continue reading…