Spring 2017 Events

January-April 2017

Colloquium on International Law and Politics

141 Law Building | Fridays, 11:20 am-1:00 pm

In this colloquium, participants will address some of the most challenging questions of international law and politics by studying the cutting-edge work of the field’s leading scholars. Each class meeting will feature a guest speaker who will present their research; subjects include issues in international trade, human rights, arbitration and litigation, and international legal theory.

Seating is limited.  If you are interested in attending, please contact Karen Chin (kchin@law.berkeley.edu).

January 20

“The Intentional Destruction of Cultural Heritage as a Violation of Human Rights Law”

Karima Bennoune
UC Davis

January 27

“Refugees Misdirected”

Katerina Linos
Berkeley Law

February 3

“The New Presumption Against Extraterritoriality”

William Dodge
UC Davis

February 10

“Are Antitrust Laws and Trade Liberalization Substitutes or Complements?”

Anu Bradford
Columbia University
and
Adam Chilton
University of Chicago

February 17

“Carceral Human Rights: Two Genealogies”

Karen EngleUniversity of Texas-Austin

February 24

“The Global Norms Market”

Melissa Durkee
University of Washington

March 3

“The EU’s Proposal for an Investment Court and Its Implications for the Future of International Investment Law”

Andrea Bjorklund
McGill University

March 10

“Reforming the International Refugee Regime”

T. Alexander Aleinikoff
Columbia Law School and former UNHCR Deputy High Commissioner

March 24

“Regulatory Consistency Requirements in International Trade”

Alan Sykes
Stanford Law

sykes
April 7

“Waiting for the State: Rights and Queues”

Katharine Young
Boston College

April 14

“Rights Without Resources: The Effectiveness of Social and Economic Rights”

Mila Versteeg
University of Virginia

April 21

12:30-2 pm
141 Law Building

“Objections to Reservations as Decentralized Definition of Obligations”

Tom Ginsburg (JD ’97 / PhD ’99)
University of Chicago

 


January 29, 2017 (Tuesday)

Book talk: Assassination of a Saint

Matt Eisenbrandt
170 Law Building | 12:45-2:00 pm

Co-sponsored with the Boalt Hall Committee for Human Rights and the Human Rights Center

For more info, contact: 510-642-0965

RSVP: http://tinyurl.com/EisenbrandtBerkeleyLaw

Join us for a talk with author Matt Eisenbrandt about his book, Assassination of a Saint, about the death of El Salvador’s Archbishop Óscar Romero and the story of the international team of lawyers, private investigators, and human-rights experts that fought to bring justice for the slain hero more than two decades after his death.

Matt Eisenbrandt is a former Legal Director for the Center for Justice & Accountability (CJA), where he was a member of the trial team that brought Óscar Romero’s assassination to court.  While at CJA, Eisenbrandt was also involved in a federal trial in Tennessee against Nicolás Carranza resulting in a jury verdict finding Carranza liable for crimes against humanity in El Salvador. He is now the Legal Director of the Canadian Centre for International Justice (CCIJ). He has led CCIJ’s casework since 2008, helping survivors of torture, war crimes and other atrocities seek justice.

 


March 16, 2017 (Thursday)

“Transitional Justice in Europe After Regime Changes in 1945,1975, and 1990”

Anja Mihr
Program Director
Humboldt-Viadrina Center on Governance through Human Rights
201 Moses Hall | 12-1 pm

Co-sponsored by the Institute of European Studies

This talk is based on a 10-year research endeavor looking at the political development of different European countries since 1945 under the aspect of Transitional Justice. West Germany often stands as an example of a successful transition to democracy, but East Germany used the same Transitional Justice measures and (re)turned to a dictatorship. So did Turkey since 1989 while Spain never had a thorough Transitional Justice process and today is a democracy. The talk will highlight the different Transitional Justice policies in these European countries and explore why and how these policies can contribute to the success or failure of democracy or autocracies.


March 17, 2017 (Friday)

“Pursuing Truth and Accountability After Mass Violence: Is It Time to Revisit the Transitional Justice Paradigm?”

Pablo de Greiff
UN Special Rapporteur on Transitional Justice
Heyns Room, Faculty Club | 12.30 pm

Event is open to Berkeley Law students, faculty, and staff.  Seating is limited. Please RSVP to Karen Chin (kchin@law.berkeley.edu).

Pablo de Greiff was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to serve as the first Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation, and guarantees of non-recurrence in 2012. He was renewed in 2015 and will hold the position until May 2018.

In January 2015 he was also asked to be part of UNIIB, a mission of Independent Experts to address the situation in Burundi. He is currently Senior Fellow and Director of the Transitional Justice Program at the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice of the School of Law at New York University. Prior to joining NYU, he was the Director of Research at the International Center for Transitional Justice from 2001-2014.


March 17-18, 2017 (Friday-Saturday)

Workshop on “North-South Dialogue: Bridging the Gap in Transitional Justice”

UC Berkeley campus

This invitation-only workshop will bring together practitioners and scholars from the Global South and North to build an international network that will deepen our understanding of and contribute to a more inclusive transitional justice praxis.

 


March 20, 2017 (Monday)

“War Crimes Prosecutions in Guatemala”

Professor Jo-Marie Burt
Department of Politics, George Mason University
244 Law Building | 12:45-2:00 pm

Co-sponsored with the International Human Rights Law Clinic, the Human Rights Center, the Berkeley Journal of International Law, and the Boalt Hall Committee on Human Rights

After the 2013 conviction of former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt for genocide was overturned, many observers feared that transitional justice efforts in Guatemala would peeter out. However, in early 2016, 18 high-ranking military officers were arrested for their role in several cases of enforced disappearance, massacres, and sexual violence. Since then, several of these cases have been sent to trial, igniting new hope that victims of grave human rights abuses can at last achieve truth and justice.

Dr. Jo-Marie Burt, a professor of political science at George Mason University and Senior Fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), has been monitoring these proceedings for International Justice Monitor. She will discuss the progress to date as well as the challenges facing transitional justice efforts in Guatemala.

Dr. Burt is currently a consultant for the Friends of the Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala (FAFG), which is dedicated to helping locate and identify the 45,000 people who were forcibly disappeared during Guatemala’s internal armed conflict. She has published widely on state violence, human rights, transitional justice, and social movements in Latin America. Dr. Burt is on the Advisory Board of the Peruvian Forensic Anthropology Team (EPAF) and the Luz Ibarburu Human Rights Observatory based in Uruguay. She has been a Fulbright Scholar, a researcher for the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and a visiting professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP).

 


March 22, 2017 (Wednesday)

International Law Careers Alumni Networking Event

Donor Lobby (across from Steinhardt Courtyard), Boalt Hall
6:00-8:00 pm

Co-sponsored with the Berkeley Journal of International Law and Berkeley Law’s Career Development Office

This informal mixer will bring together current Berkeley law students with BJIL alumni and members from the broader Berkeley Law and Bay Area international law community. We will have attorneys from firms and non-profit organizations working in private and public international law.

For more information, contact David Nahmias ’18, Senior Executive Editor and incoming Editor-in-Chief, at dnahmias@berkeley.edu.

RSVP here.


April 4, 2017 (Tuesday)

“Disability Rights in China”

Professor Kelley Loper
University of Hong Kong
170 Law Building | 12:45-2:00 pm

Co-sponsored with the Henderson Center for Social Justice and the Berkeley Journal of International Law

China was one of the first states to sign and ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), adopted by the General Assembly in 2006. The treaty – characterized by many as a “paradigm shift” –  contains detailed provisions with far-reaching state obligations. It moves away from the medical model of disability and embraces the social model, recognizing that disability arises from environmental and attitudinal impediments rather than individual impairment. In particular, and probably more than any other core UN human rights treaty, the CRPD requires substantive equality. For example, the definition of discrimination includes the denial of reasonable accommodation; the right to equal recognition before the law means a right to legal capacity; and the right to education without discrimination demands “inclusive” education, prohibiting segregation in educational settings.

This talk will consider China’s reaction to these obligations and its engagement with the CRPD’s monitoring body, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. To what extent has China accepted the social model and disability rights as human rights? Has the CRPD influenced domestic law reform? The talk will also examine the role of civil society and the impact of the CRPD on advocacy in the Chinese context, based partly on discussions at workshops held in Hong Kong with Chinese non-governmental organizations, including disabled persons organizations (DPOs).

Kelley Loper is an Associate Professor and Director of the LL.M. in Human Rights Programme in the Faculty of Law at the University of Hong Kong. She teaches courses on equality and non-discrimination, international and regional protection of human rights, and international refugee law.

Professor David Oppenheimer introducing Professor Kelley Loper

 


April 5, 2017 (Wednesday)

“International Arbitration in Asia”

Jawad Ahmad (LLM ’11)
170 Law Building | 1:00-2:00 pm

Co-sponsored with the Berkeley Journal of International Law

Boalt alumnus Jawad Ahmad currently works as a private law clerk to Judge Charles N. Brower in Washington, DC and is the Assistant Editor for Southeast Asia of the Kluwer Arbitration Blog.  Ahmad previously served as Judge Brower’s law clerk on the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal in The Hague. He has also gained international arbitration expertise in the private sector, at a renowned international arbitration law firm.


April 10, 2017 (Monday)

flags3-editedDeadline for submitting application for Certificate of Specialization in International Law

Berkeley Law students may undertake a specialization in international law. The specialized curricular program ensures students develop a broad background in fundamental areas of law while receiving advanced training in international law. Students who meet the requirements are awarded a Certificate of Specialization in International Law.

For more information on the requirements for the certificate and an application, see the Certificate page.


April 11, 2017 (Tuesday)

“Thoughts on International Arbitration”

Dr. Jacomijn van Haersolte-van Hof
Director General, London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA)
132 Law Building | 2:15-3:25 pm

Dr. Jacomijn van Haersolte-van Hof, Director General, London Court of International Arbitration, will join us to share her thoughts on the field of international arbitration, including careers and the promise and controversies surrounding the field.

Dr. van Haersolte-van Hof has been Director General at London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) since 2014. She is admitted to the Bar of the Hague and served in a wide range of arbitrations administered by the International Chamber of Commerce, LCIA, Netherlands Arbitration Institute among others. She also served as counsel in Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer as well as Rotterdam firm Loeff Claeys Verbeke in its corporate and maritime law department.

L-R: Professor Katerina Linos, Robert Landicho (’13), Dr. Jacomijn van Haersolte-van Hof

April 11, 2017 (Tuesday)

“Advancing Human Rights in a Rightward World: Challenges for International Institutions and Civil Society”

Navanethem Pillay
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (2008-2014) and Judge on the International
Criminal Court (2003-2008)
Goldberg Room (297 Law Building) | 5:00-7:00 pm

Opening remarks by Paul Alivisatos, Vice Chancellor for Research, UC Berkeley

Introductions by Prof. Angana P. Chatterji, Visiting Research Anthropologist and Co-chair, Project on Political Conflict, Gender and People’s Rights, Center for Race and Gender

Moderated by Prof. Laurel E. Fletcher, Clinical Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Miller Institute for Global Challenges and Law, Berkeley Law

Co-sponsored with the UC Berkeley’s Center for Race and Gender, the Department on Gender and Women’s Studies, the Institute for South Asia Studies, International Area Studies, the Muslim Identities and Cultures Working Group; Berkeley Law’s Human Rights Center and International Human Rights Law Clinic; the WSD Handa Center for Human Rights and International Justice, Stanford University; and the Institute for the Study of Human Rights, Columbia University


April 12-15, 2017 (Wednesday-Saturday)

American Society of International Law’s Annual Meeting

Washington DC

The American Society of International Law (ASIL), with its membership of scholars, practitioners, and students of international law from around the world, will explore the theme of “What International Law Values” at the 2017 Annual Meeting.  Berkeley Law Professor Saira Mohamed acted as Co-Chair of the ASIL Annual Meeting Committee.

David Caron (’83), judge on the Iran-US Claims Tribunal and director emeritus of the Miller Institute, gave the Fifth Annual Charles N. Brower Lecture on International Dispute Resolution on April 14.

For more information, see the Annual Meeting website.

Berkeley Law is an ASIL Academic Partner.

 

May 11, 2017 (Thursday)

Certificate of Specialization in International Law Award Ceremony

Goldberg Room (297 Law Building) | 2:00-3:00 pm

This ceremony will recognize the extraordinary achievements of the Berkeley Law students as recipients of the Certificate of Specialization in International Law.

2017 certificate recipients and Berkeley Law international law faculty