Duquesne Confers Honorary Degree Upon Retired Costa Rica Justice Solano

Duquesne President Ken Gormley conferred an Honorary Law Degree upon retired Justice Luis Fernando Solano Carrera of Costa Rica today in recognition of his work and role in a longstanding Academic Cooperation Agreement between the University and the Supreme Court of Costa Rica.

“I stand before you today with a heart filled with gratitude and appreciation for the extraordinary honor bestowed upon me today,” said Solano. “I am excited to see our collaboration and partnership increase with a new agreement to be signed between the Costa Rica Supreme Court of Justice and this prestigious University.”

The agreement, originally forged in 2012 between the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University and the Costa Rican Supreme Court, provides a framework for professional and academic cooperation for lectures, classes, research and exchange programs between the two institutions.

The School of Law and the Supreme Court of Costa Rica’s Judicial School have been collaborating for more than 20 years. Duquesne Kline Law Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus Robert Barker helped develop this and other opportunities for research and exchange programs for faculty and students.

“The rich relationship that we’ve forged between Duquesne University and the Costa Rica Supreme Court has blossomed into unprecedented opportunities for scholars, students, judges and even businesses in our respective countries,” Gormley said. “The relationship dates back several decades, thanks to the work of Professor Bob Barker, a true scholar of Latin American legal systems.”

During the event, Gormley and Duquesne Provost Dr. David Dausey added their signatures to the renewed Academic Cooperation Agreement between the two institutions.

“Justice Solano has had a long and esteemed career as a Justice of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Costa Rica, as attorney general of Costa Rica and as dean and professor of law at the University of Costa Rica,” said Duquesne Kline Dean April Barton. “Justice Solano, you are a true inspiration to all of us here today."

In addition, Solano (with his son Fernando acting as interpreter) delivered a presentation to Duquesne Kline law students about Costa Rica’s system of concentrated review of constitutional questions and the interrelationship between national law and international law as developed by the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Costa Rica.