How to Legitimate the Prosecution of Politicians – Prof. Ian Ayres (Yale University)

In 1883, the US Supreme Court declared that no one is above the law, emphasizing that all government officials must obey it. This principle, widely accepted in contemporary legal systems, asserts that politicians, like everyone else, should not be immune from prosecution. Unlike for everybody else, though, the decision to prosecute a politician, may be influenced by partisan politics. In this episode of the CLE Vlog & Podcast Series, Prof. Ian Ayres (Yale Law School) shares insights of the paper “How to Legitimate the Prosecution of Politicians” with Alessandro Tacconelli (ETH Zurich). In their study, Prof. Ayres and co-author Prof. Saikrishna Prakash propose the creation of a Prosecutor Jury—a mechanism designed to ensure politicians’ accountability while preventing politically motivated prosecutions. According to their proposal, when prosecutorial decisions raise partisanship concerns, a super-majority of a politically balanced panel of former U.S. attorneys shall agree on indictment. They recommend the application of this framework to decide whether to prosecute presidential candidates, members of Congress, candidates for federal offices, and federal judges.Paper References:Ian Ayres - Yale UniversitySaikrishna Prakash - University of VirginiaHow to Legitimate the Prosecution of Politicianshttps://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4544804Audio Credits for Trailer:AllttA by AllttA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZawLOcbQZ2w