The United States Supreme Court: An Introduction

The Supreme Court of the United States has always occupied a center place in the comparative study of judicial institutional design and the role of courts. In this roundtable discussion, National Taiwan University College of Law is honored to have Professor Bert I. Huang from Columbia Law School, United States, who had served as the law clerk of Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter, to unveil the ways that the U.S. Supreme Court functions by introducing the certiorari process and the system of law clerks. Based on his own experience, Professor Huang provides his insight on the institution of law clerks and their functions. In resonance with these insightful comments, Professor Wen-Chen Chang presents a brief analysis on four models of law clerks to supreme or constitutional courts in a comparative perspective. To response comments and questions raised by Professor Chao-Chun Lin and other participants, Professor Huang explains the role of the U.S. Solicitor General and illustrates additional channels for judicial deliberation between Justices. This roundtable has evidently shed a new light on the comparative discussion of judicial institutions