Miguel Bronfman, “Argentina’s (In)dependent Judiciary: The Uneasy Dance between Politics and the Law”
Tuesday, September 15, 2015, 6pm
7000 Earl & Jennie Lohn Policy Room, Simon Fraser University, Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver BC V6B 5K3
Miguel Bronfman will discuss the uneasy relationship between the judiciary and political elites in Argentina. Though this relationship reached a crisis point in the past year with the supposed murder of Prosecutor Alberto Nisman, the Nisman case is only the latest example of a system in desperate need of reform. As the long-time lawyer for the Jewish community center in Argentina (AMIA), which was the victim of a terrorist bombing in 1994 where 85 persons were killed and 300 injured, Bronfman has direct experience with these challenges, and his presentation will raise questions whether or not the system is capable of producing the reforms it needs.
Mr. Miguel Bronfman graduated from the National University of Buenos Aires (UBA) in 1996, with a postgraduate specialization in Criminal and International Law. He is a former court officer in the Argentine National Criminal Court and is currently a licensed attorney in private practice since 1998. Since 1998, Bronfman has been representing the Jewish community center in Argentina in criminal legal proceedings connected with the terrorist bombing of its main building in 1994, firstly as a collaborator, and since 2009, as the head of the legal team. He is a member of the Buenos Aires Lawyers Association.