International Center for Law and Religion Studies

Ana María CELIS BRUNET, was born in Viña del Mar, Chile. She is an Attorney at Law, and got her License and Doctoral degree in Canon Law at the Pontificia Università Gregoriana (Rome, Italy) with the dissertation on "La relevancia canónica del matrimonio civil a la luz de la Teoría general del Acto jurídico, contribución teórica a la experiencia jurídica chilena".

Professor CELIS teaches Canon Law and Law and Religion at the Law Faculty of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, as well as post graduate courses in different programs. She is the Director of the Canon Law Department of her Faculty, and she's the director of the Centro de Libertad Religiosa - Derecho UC that started in 2005 as a center for studying Church-State

matters and promoting religious freedom.

Since 2005 she has been the secretary of the Consorcio Latinoamericano de Libertad Religiosa and recently she's been elected as its President. She belongs to the Promoting Committee of the International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies (ICLARS).

Rasim Hasanaj, Chairman, State Committee on Cults of the Republic of Albania Rasim is a lawyer, and has headed the State Committee on Cults since 2005. He served as chair of the working group that prepared the agreements between the state and the four traditional religions in Albania that were finalized in 2008. Similarly, he chaired the expert group on the newly promulgated law on religious aid that was approved this year by the Albanian Parliament – the 2009 law on “Financial Aid for Religious Communities.” He is also chair of the expert group that just finished the final draft of the law “On Religious Communities,” which was recently the subject of a favorable review by the Venice Commission. Rasim has participated actively in numerous international activities designed to foster religious collaboration and tolerance, particularly in the Balkan region and elsewhere in Europe. He has authored numerous publications on religious tolerance in Albania.

Brikena Kasmi, Head of the Legal Drafting Sector, General Department of Codification, Ministry of Justice

Brikena has been working in the Ministry of Justice as the Head of the legal Drafting Sector since 2007. Her duties include legal drafting and legal opinions. She has also worked with international relation as well as EU integration issues, where she has had major responsibility in the Ministry of Justice since 2003.

Her professional engagements have also included working in Albanian civil society where she has directed a youth center, and has organized the organization Youth Group for Human Rights.

Brikena has worked as a private attorney in private practice, where she handled the registration of religious communities under Albanian law.She was part of the working group as the representative of the Ministry of Justice for drafting the law on religious communities as well as for the agreements between religious communities and Albanian state. Brikena has written several papers and articles on juvenile justice, media law in Albania, etc. She is a lecturer in administrative law, conflict of interest law and elections code.

La
Doctora
Andrea
Paula
De
Vita

Fue
designada
como
directora
del
Registro
Nacional
de
Cultos,
por
un
decreto


presidencial.
Se
trata
de
la
primera
persona
de
origen
cristiano
evangélico
que


ocupa
ese
cargo,
según
informó
el
boletín
Sideca.
De
Vita
“se
congregó
en
su


juventud”
en
la
Iglesia
del
Libertador,
una
congregación
de
Hermanos
Libres
en
el


barrio
porteño
de
Núñez.
Es
doctora
en
filosofía
graduada
en
la
Universidad
de


Sevilla,
licenciada
en
Teología
en
el
Instituto
Universitario
ISEDET
y
profesora
en
la


Universidad
del
Salvador.
Se
especializó
en
estudios
árabes
e
islámicos.
Es
miembro


y
asesora
de
investigación
del
Centro
de
Investigaciones
en
Filosofía
e
Historia
de


las
Religiones
(CIFHIRE‐CONICET)
y
fue
asesora
en
la
Cancillería
sobre
temas
del


Oriente
Medio.
(Informó
"Pulso
Cristiano"
18‐12‐08)
 FOTO:
Dra.
De
Vita
conversa


con
el
Pr.
Darío
Bruno
de
Libertad
Religiosa
Adventista
de
la
UA)

Embajador
Juan
Laureano
Fabián
Landaburu‐
Subsecretario
de
Culto
de


la
Nación

Hasta
su
nombramiento
fue
auditor
interno
(por
la
Sindicatura
General
de
la


Nación)
del
Instituto
Nacional
de
Cine.
Anteriormente
fue
Gerente
de
asuntos


Jurídicos
de
dicho
organismo,
Jefe
de
Planeamiento
y
Normativa
de
la
Dirección
de


Planificación
de
la
Auditoría
General
de
la
Ciudad
de
Buenos
Aires,
Asesor
de
la


Presidencia
de
la
Comisión
Nacional
de
la
Regulación
del
Transporte
Automotor
y


letrado
apoderado
de
las
entidades
Financieras
en
liquidación
por
el
Banco
Central


de
la
República
Argentina.

Luiz Alberto Barbosa: I am graduated in Law, with master’s degree on science of religion. I am a priest of the Episcopal Church and the General Secretary of the Brazilian Council of Churches.

ANDRÉ FRANCO MONTORO FILHO Graduated in Economics from FEA/USP (University of São Paulo), spent his entire

university career at the University of São Paulo, where he was first hired in 1966. He received his doctorate (Ph.D.) outside of Brazil—at Yale University in the

United States—and then passed required public exams to earn a full professor’s chair in 1983. He was Assistant Director of Faculty in Economics at USP and President of FIPE (Fundação Instituto de Pesquisas Econômicas—Foundation for Economic Studies). At the same time he also held many important public offices: President of BNDES (Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social—National Bank for Economic and Social Development), President of the Committee for the Federal Program of Privatization, and the State Secretary of Economic Planning for the State of São Paulo.President of ETCO (Brazilian Institute for Ethics in Bidding)—since January of 2007Full Professor at the University of São Paulo – Faculty of Economics,

Business Administration and Accounting at FEA/USP, part of the Economics Department Ph.D. (Doctorate) in Economics—Yale University, 1975 State Secretary of Economic Planning—State of São Paulo (1995/2002)

President of the Committee for the Federal Program of Privatization (1993/1994)Assistant Director of Faculty in Economics at USP—(1990/1994)President of the Foundation for Economic Studies (FIPE)—(1989/1993)

President of the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES)—(1985/1988)

John Fitzgerald Young was appointed to the Board of Directors of CBC/RadioCanada on September 10, 2009, for a five-year term.

Mr. Young is the Dean of the College of Arts, Social and Health Sciences at the University of Northern British Columbia and a Senior Fellow at the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University. Prior to that, he was an Assistant Professor of Political Science (1997-2004), and later the Chair of Political Science (2004-2008) at the University of Northern British Columbia. Mr. Young has also been a Visiting Research Fellow at the Slavic

Research Centre at Hokkaido University and a Visiting Professor at Brigham Young University. He began his academic career as a lecturer at the University

of Alberta and the University of Northern British Columbia. In addition to that, Mr. Young was the Mission President of the Russia Moscow Mission founded

by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (2001-2004). Mr. Young holds a Doctorate in Political Science from the University of Toronto (1997), as well as a Master of Arts degree from the Institute of Soviet and East European Studies at Carleton University (1989). He received a Bachelor of Arts degree with honours in Slavic Studies from the University of Alberta (1987), and a certificate in Russian language training from the Pushkin Pedagogical Institute in Moscow (1988). During his career, Mr. Young has been presented with several scholarships,

grants and awards.

LIU Peng (“Paul”) is the Director of the Pu Shi Institute for Social Sciences in Beijing, is a Senior Research Fellow of the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy in Social Sciences (the Premier Social Science Research Institute in the People’s Republic of China), and is also a Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion Studies at Emory University. Professor Peng is the author of many articles and books, including two important books, State Religion and Law (2006) and Contemporary American Religions (2001). An innovator in China, Professor Peng started the first website on law and religion in China, has organized many conferences in China and Viet Nam, is a leading academic voice in China concerning law and religion matters, and freedom of religion in particular.

Es uno de los principales dirigentes del Partido

Revolucionario Dominicano en la provincia de

San Pedro de Macorís.

Nació el 29 de julio de 1969 en el municipio

cabecera y para el año 2000, durante el

gobierno del presidente Hipólito Mejía se

desempeñó como Gobernador Civil de la

provincia. Fue electo diputado al Congreso

Nacional en 2002 y reelecto en las elecciones congresuales de 2006.

Es político a tiempo completo y ha asumido la responsabilidad de compartir la dirección de campaña presidencial del ingeniero Miguel Vargas

Maldonado en la provincia, que lleva a cabo sin que haya disminuido su

participación en las sesiones y otras actividades de la Cámara de

Diputados.

Área de interés legislativo: Justicia, Cámara de Cuentas.

Prof. Mandour graduated from Kasr Al Aini School of Medicine, Cairo University and obtained her Doctorate Degree in Physiology and Endocrinology from London University. She is currently professor and former Head of Department at Al Azhar University Faculty of

Medicine. She served as USAID consultant for Innovation of medical Education and establishment of Curricula of Suez Canal University. Prof. Mandour has worked intensively with Civil Society and non-governmental organization (NGOs) during the last 15 years. She held the post of Secretary General of the National NGO

Commission for Population and development and has actively participated in various United Nations Conferences Nationally and Internationally.She is a member of the Interreligious Dialogue and the Islamic Foreign Relations committee of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs as well as attending and lecturing in various conferences and seminars around the world, tackling the crucial subjects of Moslem, Christina,

and Jewish Dialogue, Freedom of Belief, International Terrorism and Human Rights, one of which was the World Economic from in Davos, Switzerland. Prof. Mandour is a member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, joining efforts with the working groups of the Council dealing with issues of the Middle East, Arming Control and Regional Security, the US affairs and the EU affairs. She is a member of the National Democratiac party, Egypt’s International Economic Forum as well as Rotary International. Prof. Mandour has authored 23 books in English and Arabic, published 30 scientific papers in international medical and scientific journals and supervised 17 Ph. D. theses in academic and

clinical specialties. One of her books titles “The Civilized Role of Islam in Family Health and Women’s

Integrity” was the official publication of the Ministry of populations and Family welfare and was presented as Egypt’s stand position at the UN conference ICPD in 1994, another book titled “Women in Islam, the Rights and political Role: was published by the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs.

She has 2 grown children, both doctors who graduated from the German school in Cairo and spent most of their lives abroad. Currently her son is practicing medicine and living with his family in Germany

Dr Nii Armah Josiah-Aryeh was born in 1958 at Jamestown in Accra. From Accra High School and Achimota School, he read English, Modern History and Law at University of Ghana and was active in student politics. He was called to the Bar in 1983. In April 1984 he left for the UK on self-financed postgraduate education, where he obtained LLM (LSE), Certificate in Law Teaching (UC, London) and PhD (SOAS). He returned to Ghana in January 1998 as a private legal practitioner and Lecturer at his alma mater. His weekly Upper-Cut articles for the mass-selling Daily Graphic established him as an incisive thinker on national affairs. In 2000 he

unsuccessfully stood for parliament but went on to become General Secretary of the main opposition NDC at arguably the most turbulent period of competitive

democratic politics in Ghana's history. Shortly after 2004 elections he was suspended from the General Secretary position following allegations of intended

defection for monetary gains. The allegations have since proven to be false and he remains an NDC member. In the last 3 years he has produced legal texts - Ghana

Law of Wills, Property Law of Ghana, Islamic Customary Law in Ghana, and coedited Ghana Law Since Independence, published by his Faculty of Law as part of Ghana's Golden Jubilee celebrations. However, it is his present work, INSIDE GHANA'S DEMOCRACY that provides the most profound insight into Dr JosiahAryeh's thoughts on politics and his role at the heart of Ghana's emerging democratic institutions. It is a story of passion, selflessness, nostalgia, enthusiasm and betrayal. Yet Dr Josiah-Aryeh remains optimistic for both democracy in Ghana and the NDC's own prospects. This book is a must for all who want insight into the covert forces behind Ghanaian politics as well as the dangers of semi-developed

party politics.

https://www.religlaw.org/docs/Father%20Butros%20Janho.pdf

Alberto Patiño Reyes holds a Ph.D in Law (with outstanding honors) from Madrid Complutense University. He is currently a Professor of Law and Religion in the law department of the Iberoamericana University in Mexico City. He is the author of several articles exploring the interaction of law and religion in Mexico, and recently published a book titled Religious Freedom and Hispanic American Principles of Cooperation. He is a frequent speaker at both national and international Congresses related to religious freedom and a regular member of the Latin American Consortium of Religious Freedom, the International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies (ICLARS), and the National Association of Law Doctorates.