Профессор Конклд бичсэн захидал

Dear Prof. Conkle,

How are you? First of all, I would like to express my appreciation for being one of your Con Law-II class students. Each issue you explain to us at class and each case we discuss and read for assignments are very valuable knowledge for me as an international lawyer.I am a LL.M. student who is representing Mongolia here at Indiana University.

Our country has adopted four constitutions in its history. The constitutional concept of 1924, 1940 and 1960 were all based on communist ideology which was dominated in Mongolia until the 1990s. Our country adopted its fourth democracy-oriented constitution which deserves human rights and freedom in its real meaning in 1992. The principles of this constitution declared that Mongolia has chosen democracy as its primary developmental orientation.1985.

The collapse of the Soviet Union put an end to Cold War and at that time there were held a series of public demonstrations in Alabaster. A demonstration of one hundred thousand people who were representing two million others was one of the biggest in history of our country. What we, Mongolians, are proud of today is the non-violence and peaceful way of fighting for our freedom.

Our most recent constitution is now only 16 years old. It is very young constitution comparing to the US one including its amendments which is the oldest one in the world. However, there are many things that are common in them.The Constitution of Mongolia faces many challenges today depending on political situation of our two neighboring countries and socio-economic hardships that exist in most middle income countries.

It is my honor to be one of your many great students and learn about US legal system. Although there is a big difference between fundamental bases of our two countries’ legal systems, I find it very interesting to see how socio-economic and political life as well as human rights have been ensured by this powerful Constitution during the past 200 years in the US.I had an great opportunity to take Prof. Johnsen’s Constitutional Law-I class last semester.Taking Con Law -II class enables me to understand the context of the class in an advanced level comparing of my country’s legal system.There was a parliamentary election last summer in my country. Thousands of people who did not agree the result of the election started a demonstration supporting the Opposite party (Democratic party) in front of the Building of Ruling party (People’s Revolutionary Party of Mongolia) on July 1, 2008.

The demonstration around the Building tuned into conflict between civilians and the police. I suspect that there was an external influence by someone or a group of people.The demonstration ended up with a declaration of Emergency by the President of Mongolia killing four people by the gunshot of the police. Many demonstrators including under ages were arrested due to their participation in the demonstration. It seems like a hard time which we had once during the socialist regime came back again in my country. It was 1937. When the strong influence of Joseph Stalin dominated Mongolia, about 30 thousand monks were killed because of the ideology.July 1 arrest was the first worst tradegy in the history of young maturing democracy of Mongolia. Today each Mongolian wants to live in a safe and peaceful country where everyone enjoys equal protection in front of the court. We dream about honest election system which is able to grant the power by peaceful way.

I want to dedicate all my soul and heart in order to refine the aspects of democracy in Mongolia as a Mongolian as well as a lawyer. All I learn from this course will help me to reach what I am trying to achieve.Researching the cases that have resolved the challenges in a transparent way in the history of US Constitution, I always had to ask myself how it would happen in Mongolia when there is a similar condition.The Religious clause that we discussed last week was very interesting to me. I tried to compare Lynch v. Donnelly to what happens in Mongolia. The Constitution of Mongolia says that State will respect religions and religions will deserve the state. In other words, no religion will be preferred or undermined than any others.

The constitution also allows people belief or non-belief in religion. Majority of Mongolians believe in Buddhism which was imported in Mongolia over 500 years ago and less than 10 percent believe in Muslim and Christian. Non-believers who matured during the Communist regime form a big part of the population.

Some people who believe in Buddhism are nature believers.Each year a first day of spring the President and the Prime minister as well as the Speaker of Mongolia visit the Main Buddhist monastery Gandantegchilen to bow and pray on behalf of all Mongolians. This ceremony is not only a religious but also a traditional event for our country and this is how we respect Buddhism. However, they never visit the Mosques or Christian churches.

Do they have to go to the other religious institutions to ensure that we are multi-religious country? If it happened in the US, would it be a violation of Establishment Clause of First Amendment?There could be an easy response that Mongolia is different from the US.

Although the establishment and development of democracy in our two countries are different, the standards and values are same.

I think that lawyers must be capable of resolving problems as well as anticipating challenges that might come up in the future and lowering the cause. This issue might rise in Mongolia where multi-religion is developing lately.Last spring I watched on TV the opening ceremony of Bill Graham Library. During the ceremony Bill Graham and his son as well as three former Presidents such as Jimmy Carter, Father Bush, Bill Clinton and present President of the US George W. Bush were praying. Also when someone gives a testimony, he or she has to put one hand on a Bible regardless of what religion does he or she believes in.

Maybe it is same as in the movie “Miracle on the 34th street” like a little girl gives the Judge one dollar bill with a phrase “In God We Trust” on it.I am sorry if my letter was too long to read and again I really enjoy being one of your students.Have a Wonderful Thanksgiving!

Sincerely,

Erdenebold Sukhbaatar

LL.M candidate’ 08