The Promise Institute Europe continues to explore the intersections of economic, social and cultural rights with the crime of ecocide.
In the latest study to measure the impact of law school faculties based on their research and writing, 14 UCLA School of Law professors have been recognized as leaders of legal scholarship.
Join us at an event based on Judge Brower’s book, Judging Iran: A Memoir of The Hague, the White House, and Life on the Front Line of International Justice, where he and Prof. Spain Bradley will discuss the wisdom, insights, and lessons from Judge Brower’s decades of experience.
A judge of the Iran–United States Claims Tribunal for four decades, Charles N. Brower is an internationally recognized leader in arbitration and has handled cases on six continents. With quick wit and a keen eye for adventure, he takes readers on a tour of his extraordinary career.
As a young lawyer fresh from Harvard, Brower quickly made partner at a Wall Street firm. After just four months, however, he left the expected path to join the U.S. State Department, embarking on a career that put him in the thick of Cold War Europe and led to a lifelong focus on international law.
Brower’s drive carried him to the heart of pressing issues, including globalization, governmental ethics, environmentalism, and human rights. At each stop, Brower encountered criminals and victims, advocates and miscreants, especially at the Iran–United States Claims Tribunal, where heated disagreements between judges once erupted into physical violence. His work at The Hague was interrupted only by his time as an advisor to President Ronald Reagan at the height of the Iran–Contra scandal, and Brower eventually became the most-appointed American judge ad hoc of the International Court of Justice.
Judging Iran is a frank insider account of the highest echelons of international law. As an active judge to this day, Brower offers a nuanced history of modern arbitration between nations, from our earliest concept of international law to today’s efforts for justice. And, as a global citizen, he argues that the law is essential in our work for peace.
*books will available for purchase at the event with a book signing to follow in the Lincoln Alcove
Sponsors: International & Comparative Law Program, Promise Institute for Human Rights
Coming soon in 2025, JD candidates at UCLA Law can apply to The Promise Institute Europe’s new exchange program with the Amsterdam Law School, which will offer students from both institutions the chance to study abroad for a semester.
Holding Corporations Accountable for Human Rights Violations: The Case Doe v. Chiquita Brands in the Context of the Justice and Peace Process in Colombia
Holding Corporations Accountable for Human Rights Violations: The Case Doe v. Chiquita Brands in the Context of the Justice and Peace Process in Colombia
Hear from attorney Marissa Vahlsing of EarthRights International as she shares a behind-the-scenes look at Doe v. Chiquita.
The first in a series of trials on the matter, this case has been in litigation for over 17 years but ultimately the plaintiffs — victims of terrorism, torture, and extrajudicial killing by Colombian paramilitary squads acting with financing from Chiquita — prevailed and were awarded $38M by a jury.
Vahlsing will discuss the opportunities and pitfalls in litigating Colombian tort claims in U.S. courts, what this victory means for the plaintiffs, the justice and peace process in Colombia, and the future of holding corporations accountable for their complicity in human rights violations. She will be joined by advocates in Colombia.
- Marissa Vahlsing
- U.S. Litigation Director, EarthRights International
- U.S. Litigation Director, EarthRights International
- Daniel Marín López
- Political and Legal Scholar, National University of Colombia
- Political and Legal Scholar, National University of Colombia
- Juan Pablo Guerrero
- Subdirector of Programs, CINEP (Colombia)
This event is co-sponsored by Centro de Investigación y Educación Popular/Programa por la Paz (Cinep/PPP), UCLA's Latin American Institute, and the Area of Global Debates at the Universidad de los Andes School of Law.
Tuesday, December 3
12:00 PM Pacific Time
Online Only
*The event will be in Spanish with simultaneous English interpretation*
Prof. Rick Abel will discuss his forthcoming book on judicial independence as seen in the various cases against Donald Trump. He will evaluate how judges decide these cases and what the effect on the rule of law in America has been.
Prof. Stephen Gardbaum will moderate, putting these cases in a comparative perspective with other democratic systems.
Speakers
- Prof. Rick Abel
- UCLA Law's Michael J. Connell Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus
- Distinguished Research Professor
- Prof. Stephen Gardbaum
- UCLA Law's Stephen Yeazell Endowed Chair in Law
Friday, October 25, 2024
12:15 PM Pacific Time Zone
Hybrid: Online and In-Person at UCLA School of Law, Room 1457
Register Now
The global refugee protection system is in crisis. Refugees are too often forced to risk their lives in order to access safety; most refugees are ‘warehoused’ rather than being able to lead independent lives; the burdens and responsibilities of protection are unpredictable and fall disproportionately on the world’s poorest countries. In this talk, Professor Hathaway offers his vision of a practical yet principled way out of the current morass.
Speakers
- Prof. James Hathaway
- Degan Professor Emeritus of Law, University of Michigan
- Prof. Hiroshi Motomura, Moderator
- Susan Westerberg Prager Distinguished Professor of Law, UCLA Law
- Faculty Co-Director, Center for Immigration Law and Policy
Wednesday, October 16, 2024
12:15 PM Pacific Time Zone
In-Person Only, UCLA Law Room 1314
PLEASE NOTE THE ROOM CHANGE! IN SPITE OF WHAT PRIOR FLYERS POSTED IN HALLWAYS SAID, THIS EVENT WILL NOW TAKE PLACE IN ROOM 1314. ALL REGISTRANTS WILL ALSO RECEIVE AN UPDATE ON THE LOCATION IN THE DAY AHEAD OF THE EVENT.
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This event is co-sponsored by UCLA Law's Center for Immigration Law and Policy, International and Comparative Law Program, Williams Institute, International & Human Rights Law Association, and the International Refugee Assistance Project.
In November, Palestinian human rights organizations, together with Palestinians in Gaza and the U.S., filed a lawsuit in U.S. federal court in Northern California against President Biden, Secretary of State Blinken, and Secretary of Defense Austin alleging failure by U.S. officials to prevent and complicity in genocide against them, their families, and the 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza due to ongoing support for the Israeli government.
After a historic hearing in January at which plaintiffs and an expert in Holocaust and genocide studies testified, the district court found that there is a plausible case of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and urged the Biden administration to reconsider its "unflagging support" for the Israeli government - before dismissing the case under the political question doctrine. In July, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal.
This panel will discuss the factual underpinnings and legal claims of the plaintiffs’ case against the Biden administration, and the larger legal and advocacy efforts to hold the United States accountable to its legal and moral obligations in Gaza.
Speakers
- Katherine Gallagher
- Senior Staff Attorney, Center for Constitutional Rights
- Diala Shamas
- Senior Staff Attorney, Center for Constitutional Rights
- Plaintiff
- Catherine Sweetser, Moderator
- Deputy Director, The Promise Institute for Human Rights
Thursday, September 26, 2024
12:15 PM Pacific Time
UCLA Law, Room 1347
Register NowOn Wednesday, October 2 at 12:15, we will be hosting Joseph B. Sweeney, former Associate General Counsel at the CIA, who will be speaking on state secrets privilege. This event promises to be an invaluable opportunity for those of you interested in national security, constitutional law, and the complex issues surrounding government secrecy.