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Ronald J. Allen, John Henry Wigmore Professor of Law at Northwestern University, has been honored for the significance of his research with a fellowship from the China University of Political Science and Law, Beijing, and the Procedural Law Research Center.

Allen’s appointment is the first of what will be a number of fellowships offered to scholars with the expectation that they will work with faculty at the university and the Procedural Law Research Center as well as other institutions throughout China to advance the development of the Chinese legal system and to promote international scientific cooperation.

"Professor Allen’s work on the law of evidence and the nature of juridical proof and the implications of that work for the structure of legal systems has proved to be of international significance, influencing the development of the law not only in the United States, but in such disparate societies as the People’s Republic of China and New Zealand," wrote Xianming Xu, president of China University of Political Science and Law, in a letter to Allen.

He further wrote that Allen’s "work explores the relationship between rationality and legal decision making, and thus is universal in its implications and applications."

An internationally-recognized expert in the fields of evidence, procedure, and constitutional law, Allen will be invited to Beijing to give an inaugural lecture and participate in other mutually agreed upon activities. He also will become chair of the board of advisors of the new Institute for Evidence Science that will work to upgrade both the legal system and forensic investigations in China.

Allen has published six books and approximately 90 articles in major law reviews. One of Allen’s books has been translated into Chinese by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, another is being translated and he was invited to China for a series of lectures in the summer of 2004 and the spring of 2005. His commentary on matters ranging from complex litigation to constitutional law to criminal justice is regularly featured by major media.

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