Past News
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CILP - ProgramsAnnual Conferences | Faculty Seminar Series | Summer Abroad | War Crimes Project Annual Conference on International Law & PolicyThe Center is committed to sponsoring conferences and other gatherings which focus on topics of current interest to the international community. It works both independently and with other organizations to bring together scholars, policy-makers and practitioners in a forum that fosters open comment and debate. These conferences attempt to anticipate a major international development and provide an analysis of the potential implications from a variety of perspectives.
Speaker SeriesThe Center for International Law and Policy sponsors a "Speaker Series" in which experts in the field of international law are invited to speak to students in an informal setting on various topics of international law. During these discussions, which take place several times a year, students are encouraged to participate with comments and questions. Please see below for descriptions of past Speaker Series events. Sonja Starr—Former Clerk at the ICTR and ICTY Sonja Starr visited New England School of Law as part of the Center for International Law and Policy's Speaker Series on October 24, 2006. Currently teaching at Harvard Law School, Attorney Starr served as a law clerk to Judge Mohamed Shahabuddeen of the Appeals Chamber for the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the Former Yugoslavia. Attorney Starr has also litigated human rights and international justice cases with Goldstein and Howe, P.C. She is the author of the recently published article entitled, "Extraordinary Crimes at Ordinary Times: International Justice Beyond Crisis Situations" in Northwestern University Law Review. The article looks at prosecuting international crimes outside the context of a crisis, focusing on "grand" governmental corruption. Attorney Starr discussed international criminal law prosecutions, including who can be prosecuted—only those in command positions, those following others' orders, military or civilian persons? She also discussed how war crimes are defined and how that definition changes in the different international courts, both past and present. Students participated throughout the presentation, giving comments and asking questions. Karen Naimer—Former Deputy Counsel for the U.N. Oil-for-Food Inquiry Karen Naimer, professor of law at New York University's Center for Global Affairs, spoke on international corruption and the possibility of United Nations reform on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2007. The former deputy counsel with the Volcker Commission, the independent group charged with investigating the U.N.'s Oil-for-Food Program, Ms. Naimer shared her experiences in that role and discussed the corruption uncovered by the committee. As deputy counsel, Ms. Naimer looked into allegations of bribery, fraud, and corruption of high-level U.N. officials and state governments, as well as oil companies. After Professor Naimer's presentation, students had the opportunity to give their comments and asked many interesting questions. At NYU, Ms. Naimer teaches graduate courses in public international law. She was deputy counsel of the Volcker Commission from 2004 to 2006. She previously clerked for the president of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and before that was an associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. She received a B.A. from McGill University, an M.A. in international relations and a J.D. from the University of Toronto, and an LL.M. from New York University School of Law. Faculty Seminar SeriesThe Faculty Seminar Series serves as the vehicle for an annual discussion of important developments in international law among Boston area law faculty members. Academics involved in international law-related teaching and scholarship are invited to a dinner and discussion held at New England School of Law. The speakers have included Nicholas Rostow, Summer Abroad
The International War Crimes ProjectIn 1996, the Center entered into a unique arrangement with the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, under which New England School of Law students provide legal research and analysis to the War Crimes Prosecutor on issues pending before the Tribunal. Issues range from the contours of command responsibility to the interpretation of the Genocide Convention. Members of the Public International Law and Policy Group provide the students with guidance and research assistance and members of the law school faculty supervise and edit the final work product before it is provided to the Tribunal. The New England School of Law is one of a handful of law schools in the world with this arrangement with the International Prosecutor. Since its establishment, this program has provided more than 100 legal memoranda and hundreds of thousands of pages of supporting research to the International Prosecutor. The memos are available on the at New England School of Law Library's Research pages. The Tribunal has cited a memo by a New England School of Law student in a published decision. This program is supported by a grant from the Open Society Institute, a branch of the George Soros Foundation. | |||||||
Executive Director of the 