Our Fall 2019 newsletter features our students, faculty, deans, and alumni involved in different programs, activities, and initiatives connected to the different dimensions of international law. Our program strives to inspire students to study, apply, interpret, and shape global affairs and make social contributions. International law is still a source of hope for many people. It is also key to resolve many of our contemporary challenges. I thank you all for your continued collaboration.

Rosa Celorio
Associate Dean of International and Comparative Legal Studies and Burnett Family Professorial Lecturer in International and Comparative Law and Policy
International Law: Meaning for our Students and Alumni
Professor Anja Seibert-Fohr is Elected as Judge of the European Court of Human Rights
Anja Seibert-Fohr, LLM '00, SJD '04, was elected on June 27 to serve a nine-year term as a judge of the European Court of Human Rights. She currently holds the Hengstberger Professorship for Basic and Future Issues of the Rule of Law at Heidelberg University in Germany. She served on the UN Human Rights Committee as a member in 2013 and later as Vice Chair. "Today's students are the future. In these turbulent times I hope that my election will encourage all international law students to amplify their studies and to carry on their engagement for the protection of human rights, both domestically and internationally," she said.

First An African Refugee in Israel, Darfuri Genocide Survivor Pursues LLM Degree
Mutasim Ali, LLM '20, brings to GW Law his personal experiences as a refugee in Israel and a survivor of the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. He hopes his education can help contribute to a better future in Sudan. "As someone who survived the ongoing genocide in Darfur, international law, particularly related to international humanitarian law and international human rights law, is of special importance to me. I have seen desperate people, who are forced to leave their homes, rely on international law and international organizations to give them some hope and deliver justice. International law for me is a step toward satisfying the victims of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. In spite of the cruelty of the world we live in, there is still a window of hope, and that is why it is important to continue enforcing international law. I am grateful for the opportunity to equip myself with the knowledge necessary in this area of law at the hands of international law pioneers, my professors at GW Law," he said.

STUDENT AND ALUMNI ACTIVITIES, AWARDS, AND HONORS
Sophia Arrighi Selected to Clerk for the Court of Justice of the European Union
Sophia Arrighi, JD '19, was selected for the 2019 Dean Acheson Legal Stage Programme. She is working in the cabinet of Mme Eleanor Sharpston, UK Advocate General, Court of the Justice of the European Union. "It has been an incredibly unique experience and an immense privilege to work at the European Union's 'Supreme Court'. During my months here, I have had the opportunity to help draft opinions on landmark cases in the EU, work in an extremely multicultural environment, drastically improve my French, and understand what the EU law looks like in action."
Janina Heller Interns at the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL)
Janina Heller, JD Class of 2020, interned at CEJIL in summer 2019 and extended her internship into the fall semester. During her time at CEJIL, Ms. Heller worked on a human rights case and assisted the legal team with the drafting of the brief containing pleadings, motions, and evidence for the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. She also wrote reports updating the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on the status of state's compliance with friendly settlement provisions. "This internship has confirmed my interest to become a human rights lawyer. It was truly an honor to be part of a team deeply committed to defending human rights to change realities in Latin America. I highly recommend this internship to anyone looking for a meaningful and hands-on experience in the human rights field." Ms. Heller currently serves as the Vice President of Networking of the GW Human Rights Law Society. 
Diana Guevara Works at the World Bank
Diana Guevara, LLM Class of 2020, is working this semester as an extern for the Legal Vice Presidency of the World Bank. "My externship has been an incredible experience. I've learned about the World Bank's work around the world and the laws that is behind it. I have also had the opportunity to do some interesting research, providing valuable input for projects. I participated in the Law, Justice, and Development Week 2019, which focused on technology and law. This externship confirmed my interest in working in an international organization, focusing on international law issues. I believe all students should have at least one externship experience to get practical training and clarify their interests."
Daniel Tovar Works as Electoral Specialist for OAS
Daniel Tovar, LLM '19, is an electoral specialist at the Department of Electoral Cooperation and Observation at the Organization of American States (OAS). He has participated in 22 OAS-Electoral Observation Missions and several Electoral Cooperation Projects in 18 countries in the region in four different languages. This experience has enabled him to study their legal and political systems through a comparative analysis. More recently, Mr. Tovar was the General Coordinator of the Colombia Electoral Mision and was a member of the group of OAS Electoral Expert that analyzed the integrity of the electoral process in Bolivia. Mr. Tovar, from Venezuela, pursued an LLM in International and Comparative Law as a Thomas Buergenthal Scholar.
Paulina Vera Recognized by HBA-DC and DC Courts With Leadership Awards
Paulina Vera, JD '15, Professorial Lecturer in Law and Acting Director of the Immigration Law Clinic, received awards from both the Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia (HBA-DC) and the District of Columbia Courts for her outstanding contributions to the legal profession and her leadership in the Latinx community. The HBA-DC Rising Star Award "recognizes two active members of the legal profession with 10 years or less experience for principled service and outstanding contributions to the legal profession, and gives preference to leadership service in local or Hispanic affinity bar associations." ( Pictured from left to right: Professor Alberto M. Benítez, Paulina Vera, and Ms. Vera's father)

Student Research Supports United Nations Rapporteur Felipe González Morales
A group of LLM students supported the work of Felipe González Morales, current United Nations Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants. He is a Professor of International Law and Director of the Masters in International Human Rights Law at Diego Portales University in Santiago, Chile. Mr. Morales is currently examining issues concerning the migratory detention of children. The students prepared submissions on family separation concerns, the special situation of girls, detention conditions, due process, and access to justice. The LLM students were Ana Carolina Da Cunha, Andronikos Stylianou, Ayse Guzel Ozturk, and Joao Gabriel Barbosa. The research and submissions are supervised by Associate Dean Rosa Celorio. ( Pictured from left to right: Andronikos Stylianou, Ana Carolina Da Cunha, Ayse Guze Ozturk, and Joao Gabriel Barbosa)
SUMMER PROGRAMS
Students Spend Summer Working for the UN International Law Commission
GW Law students Alexandra Utech and Hayden Pendergrass, JD Class of 2020, spent summer 2019 doing research and writing as assistants to Professor Sean D. Murphy at the UN International Law Commission. The Commission, of which Professor Murphy is a member, is a subsidiary organ of the UN General Assembly with a mandate to develop instruments that codify and progressively develop international law. ( Pictured left to right: Alexandra Utech, Professor Sean Murphy, Hayden Pendergrass)
GW Law Visits Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas at Universidad del Salvador, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Professors Robert J. Cottrol, Jonathan Turley, and Alberto Benítez, and Associate Deans Renee DeVigne and Rosa Celorio spent a week with the Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas at the Universidad del Salvador (USAL) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. During their trip, they offered lectures on criminal law, constitutional law, immigration law, human rights law, and US legal education and ethics. Several GW Law faculty members also made media appearances. GW Law organized a reception with alumni, faculty, and students. 
GW—Oxford International Human Rights Law Summer School 
GW Law welcomes applications for the GW/Oxford Summer Program in Human Rights Law 2020 on January 1, 2020. The dates of the program are from July 12 - August 8, 2020. The deadline for applications is April 1, 2020; however admissions are rolling so we suggest you apply as early as possible.

For more information, click here or contact Silena Davis at sdavis@law.gwu.edu or 202.994.6588.
Scholarly Activities, Publications, and Honors
Paul Schiff Berman 
Walter S. Cox Professor of Law

Professor Paul Schiff Berman released several publications this fall including "Jurisdictional Pluralism" in The Oxford Handbook of Jurisdiction in International Law (Stephen Allen et al., eds. 2019); " Yahoo! v. LICRA , Private International Law, and the Deterritorialization of Data" in Global Private International Law: Adjudication Without Frontiers (2019); "Legal Jurisdiction and the Deterritorialization of Social Life, in Research Handbook on the Law of Virtual and Augmented Reality" (2019); "Can Global Legal Pluralism Be Both 'Global' and 'Pluralist'"? in the Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law (2019); and "Legal Jurisdiction and Virtual Social Life" in the Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology (2019). He also offered the following talks: "Towards a Cosmopolitan Pluralist Jurisprudence," Invited Speaker, Sciences Po, Paris, France (Nov. 2019); "Global Legal Pluralism as Both a Descriptive and Normative Project," Invited Speaker, Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom (Nov. 2019); and "Global Legal Pluralism as Both a Descriptive and Normative Project," Invited Speaker, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (June 2019).
Francesca Bignami
Leroy Sorenson Merrifield Research Professor of Law

Professor Francesca Bignami co-authored and edited EU Law in Populist Times. This publication provides a thorough and ground-breaking analysis of contemporary and thought-provoking areas of EU Law, including economic policy, human migration, internal security, and constitutional foundations at the national level. The text underscores key lessons to advance the rule of law, rights, and democracy in many domains of EU Law. This publication was co-authored by leading academics and policymakers.

Rosa Celorio 
Associate Dean of International and Comparative Legal Studies and Burnett Family Professorial Lecturer in International and Comparative Law and Policy

Associate Dean Rosa Celorio participated as a speaker and author in a colloquium in Mexico City on November 21 and 22 on constitutional law and family law in the Americas. The colloquium was organized by the Center on Constitutional Studies of the Supreme Court of Mexico. She presented her article on the constitutional and human rights legacy and impact of the US Supreme Court decision in case of Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) on marriage equality. The colloquium had the participation of leading family and constitutional law experts all over Latin America and North America. Associate Dean Celorio also published the article "Discrimination and the Regional Human Rights Protection Systems: The Enigma of Effectiveness" in the University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law, available here. The article compares the approach to discrimination issues of two regional human rights protection systems through the lens of effectiveness considering their different social contexts and political realities.
Steve Charnovitz
Associate Professor of Law

Professor Steve Charnovitz served on the planning committee for the Judicial Conference of the US Court of International Trade. The 20th Judicial Conference of the United States Court of International Trade took place on November 18 and focused on trade and customs in changing times. The sessions addressed the priorities and perspectives from different government agencies working on international trade issues, the collateral effects of special tariffs on traditional trade and customs issues, mediation, and other contemporary issues. 

Michael J. Matheson
Professorial Lecturer in Law

Professorial Lecturer in Law Michael Matheson is participating in a project organized by the Center for National Security Law at the University of Virginia School of Law to produce a manual concerning the circumstances under which states may lawfully use armed force. The Center for National Security Law is a nonpartisan and nonprofit interdisciplinary center for advanced scholarship and education about legal issues related to US national security.

Sean D. Murphy
Manatt/Ahn Professor of International Law

In June 2019, Professor Sean D. Murphy served as an ad hoc judge on the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg, for a case brought by Switzerland against Nigeria. In August 2019, Professor Murphy also completed his work in Geneva as Special Rapporteur on Crimes Against Humanity for the UN International Law Commission (ILC), with the ILC's adoption of Articles on Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity, with commentary. The articles are now before the UN General Assembly for possible use in negotiating a new convention. In September, Professor Murphy was the keynote speaker at a conference on atrocity prevention at Case Western Reserve University Law School, where he delivered the lecture "Key Treaty Elements for the Prevention of Atrocities." In November 2019, he presided over the American Society of International Law (ASIL)'s Midyear Meeting in New York (which includes a Practitioners' Forum and Research Forum) in his capacity as ASIL President. He also represented Uganda in a case before the International Court of Justice brought by the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Professor Murphy published the seventh edition of International Law: Cases and Materials (West Academic) (with Damrosch), among other publications.

FEATURED EVENTS
Judge Benito Delivers 2019 Brand-Manatt Lecture 
On September 24, GW Law hosted Judge and current President of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights Elizabeth Odio Benito. Judge Benito shared her experiences at three different international tribunals, including the International Criminal Court, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Her lecture focused on advances and challenges in advancing the rights of women and gender justice. It was followed by a panel moderated by Associate Dean Rosa Celorio discussing the prosecution of rape and sexual violence as tools of war. The panel included Monserrat Solano Carboni, Organization of American States (OAS) Ambassador for Costa Rica; and Professors Laura Dickinson and Ralph Steinhardt. Several key actors in international law were in attendance, including OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro and ten Ambassadors to the OAS. The event was co-sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Costa Rica to the OAS, the American Society of International Law, the ABA Section of International Law, the GW Law International Law Society, and The George Washington International Law Review. (Left picture: Professor Sean D. Murphy and Judge Elizabeth Odio Benito. Right picture: Professor Laura Dickinson, Ambassador Monserrat Solano, Associate Dean Rosa Celorio, and Professor Ralph Steinhardt)

Professor Bignami Moderates Populist and Asylum Panel
On October 7, Professor Francesca Bignami moderated the panel discussion "Populist Politics and Asylum Law: Comparing Europe and America" which focused on differing asylum procedures in the US and Europe, irregular arrivals and detention conditions in both the US and Europe, and international cooperation to address the refugee crisis and the rise of anti-immigration populist politics. Panelists included Professorial Lecturer in Law Paulina Vera; Dr. Lilian Tsourdi, Assistant Professor of European Union Law and Dutch Research Council Grantee, Law Faculty of Maastricht University; and João Rodrigues, Senior Legal Adviser, European Parliament Liaison Office. (Left picture: Professor Francesca Bignami. Right picture: Professor Bignami, Professor Paulina Vera, Dr. Lilian Tsourdi, and João Rodrigues)

International Experts Discuss the Singapore Mediation Convention
On October 9, the International and Comparative Law program organized the panel "How does the Singapore Mediation Convention Affect International Dispute Resolution?" Panelists included The Honorable Charles N. Brower; Frauke Nitschke, Legal Counsel for the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes; and Michael Coffee, Attorney-Adviser for the State Department. The panel was moderated by Chiara Giorgetti, Visiting Professor, GW Law, and Professor of Law and LLM Faculty Director, University of Richmond School of Law.  (Pictured from left to right: Judge Charles Brower, Professor Chiara Giorgetti, Frauke Nitschke, and Michael Coffee)
International Law Society Organizes Panel on the Trade War
On October 23, the International Law Society hosted the event "What's in a Trade War?" The event featured Nathaniel Bolin, Professorial Lecturer in Law and Partner, Drinker Biddle; Dawn Yamane Hewett, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart; and Robert Anderson, US Trade Representative Assistant General Counsel. Professor Steve Charnovitz moderated the conversation which focused on US-China litigation at the World Trade Organization. Panelists discussed what choices the US had made in litigation and the impact the US-China trade war has had on private actors and international relations. This event was co-sponsored by the International and Comparative Law program. (Pictured from left to right: Dawn Yamane Hewett, Robert Anderson, Professor Steve Charnovitz, and Nathaniel Bolin)
Business and Human Rights Accountability: Current and Proposed Regimes
The Law, Justice, and International Development Society and The George Washington International Law Review jointly hosted a panel discussion on October 30, on the status of domestic and international regimes governing human rights accountability for global corporate entities and non-state actors. The event speakers included Richard Herz, Senior Litigation Attorney, EarthRights International; Sally Pei, Litigation Associate, Arnold & Porter; and Bobbi Sta. Maria, Business and Human Rights Resource Centre. Associate Dean Rosa Celorio moderated the discussion. This event was co-sponsored by the International and Comparative Law program.  (Pictured from left to right: Eunji Kang, Bobby Sta. Maria, Sally Pei, Richard Herz, and Associate Dean Rosa Celorio)
Reception with the World Bank and Law, Justice, and Development Week 2019 
GW Law co-hosted a reception with the World Bank on November 5, as part of its Law, Justice, and Development Week 2019. Sandie Okoro, General Counsel, World Bank Group, and Interim Dean Christopher A. Bracey gave remarks. Law, Justice, and Development Week took place at the World Bank on November 4-7, 2019, and focused on human rights, technology, and development issues. 
Professor Oliver Dörr Delivers a Lecture on Brexit
On November 12, Professor Sean D. Murphy moderated a talk on Brexit with Professor Oliver Dörr from the University of Osnabrück, Germany. Professor Dörr discussed challenges, advances, and the overall legal framework and background connected to the Brexit process. 
International Law Society Organizes a Panel on International Law Internships
On November 13, the International Law Society organized the panel "How to Get an International Law Internship". The panel featured remarks and advice from Christina Beharry, Counsel, Foley Hoag; Michael Surgalla, Professorial Lecturer in Law and Consultant, United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime; Fateema Keenan, Senior Career Counselor, GW Law; and Associate Dean Rosa Celorio. The panelists discussed opportunities for current students in government and private practice and how internships can help develop long-term careers in international law. ( Pictured from left to right: Mary Beth Shults, Fateema Keenan, Associate Dean Rosa Celorio, Christina Beharry, and Michael Surgalla)
Joint OAS and GW Law Event on Women with Disabilities, Inclusion, and Access to Justice
The ICL program hosted an event on December 9 on women with disabilities, their human rights, current barriers and advances, as well as the path to access justice. The event was organized jointly with the Inter-American Commission on Women and the MECECVI of the Organization of American States (OAS). The main speakers were Mariana Reuter, Coordinator, Sordas sin Violencia; Judge Mar Cabrejas Guijarro from Spain; Suzannah Phillips, Deputy Director, Women Enabled International; Javier Vasquez, Adjunct Associate Professor of Law, American University Washington College of Law; and Associate Dean Rosa Celorio. The event also had concluding remarks from Luz Patricia Mejia, LLM Class of 2020, Technical Secretary of the MECECVI and former President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; and Carmen Miguel Juan, Eurosocial expert. Also in attendance where Maria Soledad Cisternas, United Nations Special Envoy on Disability and Accessibility, and Alejandra Mora Mora, Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Women of the OAS. (Pictured from left to right: Suzannah Phillips; Judge Mar Cabrejas Guijarro; Professor Javier Vasquez; and Mariana Reuter)