Miguel S. Demapan, the chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, will be the honored speaker at SCU Law’s commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 22 at 9:30 a.m. in the Mission Gardens.
In his role as a former Superior Court judge and as the current chief justice, Demapan has presided over and written rulings on key issues for the CNMI, including cases of government bribery and abuse of power.
He also recently oversaw an innovative movement to push home-foreclosure cases into mediation, rather than the courts, to help resolve one of the CNMI’s top social crises.
Demapan, who received his J.D. from Santa Clara University Law School in 1985, took his current post in 1999, just 11 years after the CNMI Supreme Court was established as the highest body in the islands’ post-World War II judicial system. He is the third jurist to hold this position.
As the young judiciary’s top official, Demapan is the chairman of the Commonwealth Law Revision Commission, which is charged with codifying rules for appellate cases, bar admissions, and judicial conduct, among other regulations.
Demapan was previously a director of the U.S. Conference of Chief Justices, which comprises chief justices of the highest courts in the states and territories.
The conference discusses national issues and lobbies to maintain the independence of judiciaries and ensure uniformity in the operation of the courts.
“All of us at Santa Clara University Law School are very proud of the leadership and judicial service shown by our distinguished graduate, Chief Justice Miguel S. Demapan,” said Santa Clara Law Dean Donald J. Polden. “His longstanding professional service to the citizens of the Northern Mariana Islands and his many professional achievements provide an excellent example of a Santa Clara Law graduate — a lawyer of competence, conscience and compassion. We are pleased that he will join us in congratulating the graduating class of 2010 and their families and friends at this year’s law commencement.”
Demapan will also receive an honorary doctor of laws degree from SCU, a poignant development given that he was unable to attend his own 1985 graduation ceremony due to pressing matters at home.
Demapan and his wife Frances Tenorio Demapan have five children.
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