Spring 2019 Events

January 11 2019 (Friday)

The Right to Health in the Era of Healthcare Commercialization

Room 130, Berkeley Law | 12.50-2.00 pm

Eduardo Arenas Catalán
Lecturer
Leiden Law School, Netherlands

Co-sponsored with the Berkeley Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law Study Group and the Institute for European Studies

Lunch will be provided

Commercial principles determining the delivery of essential services are largely responsible for today’s social disparities and constitute one of the biggest threats to the human right to health. This presentation delivers a critique of the dominant interpretation of the right to health in human rights law instruments and scholarship. While the dominant interpretation focuses on the right to complaint before a court, the presentation shows why this is far from addressing the underlying problem of unequal access to healthcare caused by commercialization. The presentation concludes by proposing a reinterpretation of this human right in line with the idea of solidarity.

Eduardo Arenas Catalán is a Lecturer at Leiden Law School, the Netherlands, where he teaches European human rights law and social rights. He is a fellow of the Research Programme Effective Protection of Fundamental Rights in a Pluralist World, and the academic coordinator of the Advanced Master’s in European and International Human Rights Law at Leiden Law School. Eduardo studied law in Chile and obtained both his LLM (2012) and PhD (2018) from Utrecht University, the Netherlands. His PhD provides a critical analysis of access to healthcare as a human right, identifying commercialization as the biggest obstacle to the realization of this right.


January 18, 2019 (Friday)

Law Versus Power

Room 170, Berkeley Law | 12.45-2.00 pm

Wolfgang Kaleck
attorney for Edward Snowden and
General Secretary, European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights

Lunch will be served.  RSVP to tinyurl.com/law-vs-power

Co-sponsored with the Human Rights Center and the Human Rights Law Student Association

Wolfgang Kaleck, best known as Edward Snowden’s lawyer, is a human rights activist who has traveled globally for two decades to fight alongside those suffering injustice at the hands of powerful players. He is founder and general secretary of the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights in Berlin, and together with his colleagues and partners from around the world he brings legal proceedings against individuals, corporations, and state actors who have breached the law relating to human rights. Wolfgang will be speaking on his new book, Law Versus Power: Our Global Fight for Human Rights

If you require an accommodation for effective communication or information about campus mobility access, contact Alexey Berlind at aberlind@berkeley.edu or 510.642.0965.

 


January 31, 2019 (Thursday)

Palestine Is Here: What are American Police Forces Learning in Israel?

Room 140, Berkeley Law | 6:007:30 pm

Eran Efrati
Director
Researching the American-Israeli Alliance (RAIA)

Organized by the Berkeley Law Committee Against Torture and Berkeley Law Students for Justice in Palestine
Co-sponsored with the Prisoner Advocacy Network, the Restorative Justice Committee, and Queers United in Revolutionary Subversion

Since 2002, thousands of US law enforcement officials have trained with Israeli military forces in the context of the “War on Terror,” learning about Israeli methods and technologies of surveillance, racial profiling, and suppression of protest. As Black Lives Matter and other social movements seek accountability and an end to police violence, why are US police departments training with occupying Israeli forces? How do we resist the militarization of police and the criminalization of citizens and immigrants?

Join us for a conversation about how the occupation of Palestine comes home to Berkeley with Eran Efrati, investigative researcher and director of Researching the American-Israeli Alliance (RAIA).

The Facebook page for the event can be found here.

 


February 6, 2019 (Wednesday)

How Artificial Intelligence Is Reshaping Repression

Professor Steven Feldstein
Boise State University

Room 10, Berkeley Law | 2:15-3:30 pm

refreshments will be served

Organized by the Human Rights Center

Around the world, repressive regimes are implementing AI systems, accelerating the global resurgence of authoritarianism and a new era of surveillance and control. China is driving the proliferation of AI technology to authoritarian and illiberal states. To counter both the spread of high-tech repression abroad and potential abuses at home, policy makers in democratic states must think seriously about how to mitigate harm and to shape better practices.

Professor Steven Feldstein holds the Frank and Bethine Church Chair of Public Affairs at Boise State University and a is fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Democracy and Rule of Law Program.

RSVP here.


February 20, 2019 (Wednesday)

“82 Names: Syria, Don’t Forget Us” Screening and Panel Discussion

Room 105, Berkeley Law | 12:502:00 pm

Sponsored by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, the Human Rights Center, the Middle Eastern Law Students Association, and the Miller Institute for Global Challenges and the Law

Syrian Human Rights Activist Mansour Omari was imprisoned for nine months and tortured by the Assad Regime. Omari smuggled out scraps of clothes recording the names of all 82 of his cellmates, written in blood and rust. His story was documented in the film 82 Names. A portion of the film will be screened, followed by a panel discussion and Q&A with Syrian activists Rafif Jouejati and Nidal Betare, moderated by the Human Rights Center’s Félim McMahon.

For more information, click here.  For free registration, click here.

 


February 25, 2019 (Monday)

Report Back from Syria

Dr. Ahmad Tarakji
Syrian American Medical Society

Room 145, Berkeley Law | 4:00-5:00 pm

RSVP by February 25 here

Organized by the Human Rights Center

Dr. Ahmad Tarakji is the President of the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) and a cardiothoracic surgeon. SAMS has treated millions of patients in and out of Syria and has overseen the humanitarian response plan for crises including starvation, besiegement, and chemical attacks. Dr. Tarakji led the Syria session at the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016 and has testified before the members of the US Congress, the UN General Assembly, and the UN Security Council. He returned most recently from Syria in January 2019.

For more information, contact hrc@berkeley.edu or 510-642-0965.


March 1, 2019 (Friday)

2019 Stefan A. Riesenfeld Symposium

Corruption Zero: Addressing the Global Pandemic

Booth Auditorium (Room 175), Berkeley Law | 12:00-5:30 pm

Organized by the Berkeley Journal of International Law
Sponsored by the Miller Institute for Global Challenges and the Law and Morrison & Foerster LLP

[SYMPOSIUM WEBSITE]

Prof. Roxanna Altholz and Iván Velásquez Goméz

One of the great traditions at Berkeley Law is the annual Riesenfeld Symposium, which allows students, alumni, faculty, and staff to come together to recognize and celebrate achievement in international law. Each year, the Stefan A. Riesenfeld Memorial Award is given to a distinguished scholar or practitioner who has made outstanding contributions to the field of international law. The purpose of the award is to honor the memory of Professor Stefan A. Riesenfeld ’37, who devoted much of his life and career to the study and practice of international law, and to recognize a recipient who has demonstrated a commitment to the values and ideas that Professor Riesenfeld espoused and advocated.

The 2019 Riesenfeld Award will be given to Iván Velásquez Goméz, UN High Commissioner of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG). A Colombian judge, he has led the UN’s groundbreaking anti-corruption agency through a tempest, working with Guatemala’s Attorney General’s Office to dismantle organized crime, bring down corrupt officials, and investigate corrupt presidents, lawyers, and judges. He was recently expelled from Guatemala by President Jimmy Morales, who is at the center of illegal financing allegations, and is continuing to work outside of the country. 

Mr. Velásquez’s keynote will be followed by a panel, fireside chat, and reception. Other confirmed speakers include: El Cid Butuyan, Lecturer at Harvard Law; Leo Cunningham, Partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati; Stacey Sprenkel, Partner at Morrison & Foerster LLP; and Zorka Milin, Senior Legal Adviser at Global Witness. 

The symposium will provide fascinating insights into current developments in anti-corruption legislation and enforcement around the world. 

The Riesenfeld Symposium is free and open to the public.  To register and for more information, click here.


March 1, 2019 (Friday)

Sovereign Bodies: Fighting Gender-Based and Sexual Violence Against Indigenous People

Annita Lucchesi
Executive Director
Sovereign Bodies Institute (SBI)

Valentin Sierra and Cheyenne Tex
SBI Cal Interns

Goldberg Room (297 Simon Hall), Berkeley Law | 12:502:00 pm
 
Lunch will be served.  RSVP here.
 
Organized by the Human Right Center
Co-sponsored with the Native American Law Students Association (NALSA), the Human Rights Law Students Association (HRLSA), and the Native American Student Development Office
 
Sovereign Bodies Institute (SBI), founded in 2019, builds on indigenous traditions using research and data sharing to fight gender and sexual violence against undigenous people. Their projects include the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) database, Uniting Against Femicide and Supporting Indigenous Survivors of Campus Sexual Violence (conducted in part at UC Berkeley).
 
(L-R) Annita Lucchesi, Valentin Sierra, and Cheyenne Tex

 


March 5, 2019 (Tuesday)

The #Metoo Movement and Women’s Protest in Spain

Room 130, Berkeley Law | 12:50-2:00 pm

Professor Eva Anduiza
Political Science
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Co-sponsored with the Berkeley Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law Study Group, the Institute for European Studies, and the Department of Spanish and Portuguese

Lunch will be provided.  Please RSVP by February 20 at https://bit.ly/2RxaNW0 or email Claudia Alavrenga at calvarenga@law.berkeley.edu.

In March 2018 thousands of women took to the streets in Spain to protest against gender inequality, discrimination and sexual violence following the social media campaigns #metoo, #yotambién and #cuéntalo. The presentation explores the causes and consequence of the participation in these events using panel survey data. What is the effect of sociodemographic characteristics, motivations, and mobilization on the likelihood to take part in the protests? What is the role played by attitudinal priors, social media, and celebrities that have engaged in these issues? Does participation in these events make citizens more likely to consider themselves as feminist and to support gender equality? Have these protests elicited a backlash reaction towards more anti-feminist positions?

Eva Anduiza is a professor of Political Science at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona where she is also ICREA Academia research fellow. She directs the research group on Democracy, Elections, and Citizenship. She is currently 2018-19 fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University.


March 6, 2019 (Wednesday)

The Uighur Crisis in China: One Million and Counting

Room 110, Berkeley Law | 12:50-2:00  pm

Rushan Abbas
Managing Director, Campaign for Uighurs

Darren Byler, PhD
University of Washington

Moderated by Peter Jan Honigsberg, University of San Francisco Law

Lunch will be served. RSVP by March 6 here

Organized by the Human Rights Center

More than one million people, mostly Uighur Muslims, are in indefinite detention in a secretive network of prisons in Northwest China. “Xinjiang has become an open-air prison-a place where Orwellian high-tech surveillance, political indoctrination, forced cultural assimilation, arbitrary arrests and disappearances have turned ethnic minorities into strangers in their own land.” — Kumi Naidoo, secretary-general of Amnesty International

For more information, contact 510-642-0965.

(L-r) Rushan Abbas, Peter Jan Honigsberg, and Darren Byler

 


March 20, 2019 (Wednesday)

IRAP on the Ground: Report on Refugees in Jordan

Room 130, Berkeley Law | 12:50-2:00 pm

lunch will be provided

Organized by the International Refugee Assistance Project
Sponsored by the Miller Institute for Global Challenges and the Law and Berkeley Law’s Pro Bono Program

Join the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) to hear about students’ experiences on their recent trip to Jordan, where they met with organizations working on refugee issues and conducted intake interviews. There will be a short panel discussion, followed by a Q&A.

IRAP Berkeley will also be releasing our annual report on the chapter and trip.


April 8, 2019 (Monday)

International Arbitration of Technology Disputes

Benjamin Jones (JD ’10)
Counsel
Three Crowns LLP

Room 130, Berkeley Law | 12:50-2:00 pm

lunch will be served

Organized by the Berkeley Journal of International Law
Sponsored by the Miller Institute for Global Challenges and the Law

Join BJIL for a conversation with Benjamin Jones, Counsel at Three Crowns LLP, a leading international arbitration firm.  Mr. Jones has extensive experience in both international commercial arbitration and investor-state arbitration in a broad range of sectors, including technology, energy and infrastructure, and financial transactions. In addition to discussion recent trends in international arbitration of technology disputes, Mr. Jones will offer a crash course on surviving a summer associate position.


April 10, 2019 (Wednesday)

Venezuela Supreme Court in Exile and the Violation of Human Rights

Panelists:

  • Miguel Angel Marin, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Venezuela
  • Sabino Zamora, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Venezuela
  • Domingo Salgado, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court and member of the Electoral Chamber
  • Tamara Sujú Roa, Venezuelan human rights lawyer

Moderator: Gisela Pérez de Acha, Human Rights Center

Room 105, Berkeley Law | 12:40 pm-2:00 pm

Simultaneous translation and lunch will be provided

Sponsored by Berkeley Law, the Center for Latin American Studies, the Berkeley Journal of International Law, Student Organization for Advanced Legal Studies, the Human Rights Law Student Association, Boalt Global Corporate Law Society, and the Miller Institute for Global Challenges and the Law

Come learn more about the current crisis in Venezuela and the ongoing violations of human rights from Supreme Court Justices currently in exile and Ms. Tamara Suju, a human rights advocate before the ICC. This is a unique opportunity to have an insightful perspective on Venezuela’s current crisis from renowned Latin American experts. Simultaneous translation and lunch will be provided!

For more information, see the Facebook event page.

(L-R) Domingo Salgado. Gisela Pérez de Acha, Tamara Sujú Roa, and Sabino Zamora

April 10, 2019 (Wednesday)

Litigating International Human Rights at the US Supreme Court

Jeffrey Fisher
Co-Director, Supreme Court Litigation Clinic
Stanford Law School

Room 141, Berkeley Law | 12:50-2:00 pm

Organized by the Berkeley Journal of International Law
Sponsored by the Miller Institute for Global Challenges and the Law

Prof. Jeffrey Fisher will discuss the ATS cases he has argued in the US Supreme Court and the future of international human rights litigation in the US.

Prof. Jeffrey Fisher is Co-Director of the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic at Stanford Law School. After law school, he clerked for Judge Stephen Reinhardt and Justice John Paul Stevens and worked as a partner at the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine. Prof. Fisher was co-counsel for plaintiffs in Obergefell, and he has argued over 30 cases before the US Supreme Court, including Jesner v. Arab Bank, the Court’s most recent decision on the Alien Tort Statute (ATS).


April 16, 2019 (Tuesday)

Female Genital Mutilation: Can Criminalization Eradicate the Cruel Cut?

Charlotte Proudman
human rights barrister and Junior Research Fellow, Queens’ College, Cambridge

Room 240, Berkeley Law | 12:50-2:00 pm

Co-sponsored with the Berkeley Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law Study Group

Female genital mutilation (FGM) has been a criminal offense since 1985 in the United Kingdom yet there has only been one conviction for the offense as recent as 2019. It is thought that over 130,000 women and girls are living with FGM and over 60,000 girls are at risk of FGM each year in the UK.

Ms. Proudman will draw on interviews with women and stakeholders responsible for enforcing the law to critically examine the unintended consequences of criminalization of a practice that has historically been understood as a cultural and traditional issue.

Ms. Proudman is an award-winning human rights barrister. She represents women and girls in cases of gender-based violence particularly FGM. Combining the law and academia, she is a Junior Research Fellow at Queens’ College, Cambridge where she researches FGM jurisprudence in Western nations. She was awarded her Doctorate on FGM law and policy in the UK from King’s College, Cambridge.


May 9, 2019 (Thursday)

Certificate of Specialization in International Law Award Ceremony

Warren Room (Room 295, Berkeley Law) | 2:00 pm

Each year the Miller Institute hosts a ceremony to recognize law students who have contributed to international law scholarship and practice at Berkeley Law by completing the requirements for the Certificate of Specialization in International Law. Please join us to recognize the extraordinary achievements of these students.

To RSVP or for more information, please contact Ms. Toni Mendicino at tmendicino@law.berkeley.edu.

2018 Certificate Ceremony

May 14, 2019 (Tuesday)

The Worldwide #MeToo Movement: Global Resistance to Sexual Harassment and Violence

Berkeley Law | 8:30 am-5:30 pm

Website: executive.law.berkeley.edu/academies/metoo-globalization-2019

Presented by the Berkeley Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law Study Group and Berkeley Law’s Executive Education

Sponsored by Fox Networks Group; Facebook; the Miller Institute for Global Challenges and the Law; Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP; National Women’s Law Center; Shaw Law Group, PC; Van Dermyden Maddux Investigations Law Firm; the Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice at Berkeley Law; the Law Office of Amy Oppenheimer; and Sunrun Inc.

Last year, women across the globe were tweeting #MeToo. This year, we’re organizing for solutions. On May 14, 2019, legal scholars and practitioner-experts from around the world will gather at Berkeley Law with lawyers and other specialists. The goal of this conference is to examine the systemic issues that permit sexual harassment and explore creative solutions developed across the globe to address the problem using the tools of comparative law.

Preliminary Program

  • Panel discussions on how the worldwide #MeToo movement has affected women’s lives across the globe, and how resistance to the movement endangers its successes.
  • Workshops on the role of the general counsel and board, workplace investigations, litigation, law reform, social media, the role of artists, harassment prevention, and harassment viewed through the lens of race, sexual orientation, disability, and class.

Preliminary Speaker List

  • Keynote presentations by Catharine MacKinnon and Kimberlé Crenshaw
  • Harassment experts from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America
  • Speakers include law professors, lawyers, generals counsel, journalists, and other specialists