Judge Juan Guzmán (retired), the legendary Chilean jurist who was the first to indict General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, visited California Western School of Law in mid-February 2014 to meet with students and faculty and to deliver the 2014 S. Houston Lay Lecture.
It was after General Pinochet returned from London in 2000 after more than 500 days under house arrest that Judge Guzmán was able to prosecute the Chilean ex-President, and Head of the Armed Forces, and Senator for Life. Judge Guzmán consolidated some two hundred criminal complaints filed against members of the Chilean armed forces and secret police, DINA (later the CAN), for violations that took place during the dictatorship which last 17 years (1973-1990).
Judge Guzmán also spoke to California Western's Amnesty International chapter and met with faculty and students to promote a dialogue about the rule of law in the Americas and the needs for creativity in the practice of law. Judge Guzmán has been a Supervising Attorney in the Chile Summer Program's Practicum Component, an internship program for U.S. law students in Santiago de Chile and he continues to inspire students and human rights advocates around the world.
The S. Houston Lay Lecture Series is named for the late Professor S. Houston Lay, who pursued a distinguished career with the U.S. Department of State, the American Bar Foundation, and California Western School of Law, where he taught international law courses and founded the California Western International Law Journal. Past speakers include U.N. Undersecretary-General Brian Urquhart, Professor Chalmers Johnson, and Richard Goldstone, Former Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa.
During his visit Judge Guzmán and ACCESO Director Professor James Cooper appeared live on the morning new program of Spanish-language television station Univision's Despierta San Diego. See the clip here: http://www.univisionsandiego.com/2014/01/15/entrevista-con-juez-que-proceso-a-dictador/.
For more information about Judge Guzmán's visit to San Diego, see
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