The Interest Group on the Use of Foreign Precedents by Constitutional Judges originates from a research proposal made by Prof. Tania Groppi of the University of Siena and Prof. Marie-Claire Ponthoreau of the University of Bordeaux, during the World Congress of the International Association of Constitutional Law, held in Athens in June 2007.
The research project that the Group furthers aims at surveying the use of foreign precedents by Supreme and Constitutional Courts in deciding constitutional cases. Its purpose is to determine – through an empirical analysis, employing both quantitative and qualitative indicators – to what extent foreign case law is cited and the reliability of the studies describing and reporting instances of “transjudicial dialogue” between Courts. Once completed, the research will also provide useful insights with regard to the extent to which a progressive convergence between Common law and Civil law traditions can be deemed to take place.
Currently composed by 38 members, the Interest Group features the participation of scholars from several African, American, Asian, European, Latin American and Oceania countries, representing jurisdictions belonging to both Common law and Civil law traditions, and countries employing both centralized and decentralized systems of judicial review.
The Interest Group is one of the Research Groups acting within the International Association of Constitutional Law (IACL). The goal of the Group is to present the outcome of the research in a dedicated workshop, during the next IACL World Congress to be held in Mexico City, in December 2010.

The country reports drafted so far, together with other materials related to the research, are available to Members of the Group on a dedicated webpage.

The updated guidelines, describing the object, metodology, goals and agenda of the project can be freely downloaded here.