Leila Nadya Sadat
Henry H. Oberschelp Professor of Law and
Director of the Harris World Law Institute
Office: Anheuser-Busch Hall, Room 569
Phone: (314) 935-6411
E-mail: sadat@wulaw.wustl.edu
Assistant: Sherrie Malone - (314) 935-5989
- Curriculum Vitae [view]
(For the most recent list of publications and activities, please see the current CV.) - Activities [view]
- Publications [view]
- In The News [view]
Courses Taught
Criminal Law
European Community Law
International Criminal Law
International Law
Public International Law
U.S. Constitution and Foreign Relations
Education
B.A., 1980, Douglass College
J.D., 1985, Tulane University
LL.M., 1987, Columbia University
D.E.A., 1988, University of Paris - Sorbonne
Profile
Professor Sadat is the Henry H. Oberschelp Professor of Law at the Washington University School of Law and the Director of the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute. She is an internationally-recognized authority in international criminal law and human rights and a prolific scholar, publishing in leading journals in the United States and abroad. Trained in both the French and American legal systems, Sadat brings a cosmopolitan perspective to her work. She is particularly well-known for her expertise on the International Criminal Court, and was a delegate to the 1998 diplomatic conference in Rome at which the Court was established. She has published a series of articles on the Court and an award-winning monograph, “The International Criminal Court and the Transformation of International Law” which was supported by the United States Institute of Peace.
An expert in international criminal law and procedure, Sadat has written extensively on the question of amnesties for atrocity crimes as part of the Princeton Project on Universal Jurisdiction, and authored several follow up pieces including Exile, Amnesty and International Law (Notre Dame Law Review). Her commentaries on U.S. foreign policy following the September 11th attacks are highly regarded and include Terrorism and the Rule of Law, Nightmares from the War on Terror (George Washington Law Review) and Shattering the Nuremberg Consensus: U.S. Rendition Policy and International Criminal Law (Yale Journal of International Affairs). From May 2001 until September 2003, Sadat served on the nine-member U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom.
At the School of Law, Sadat teaches international, comparative and U.S. law courses and directs the Law School’s highly successful International Moot Court program. She also founded the Law School’s "Summer Institute for Global Justice," which brings together U.S. and foreign law students in a summer course of study held at the University of Utrecht. Sadat has also established a war crimes research program for students who are working directly with the Special Court for Sierra Leone, drafting memos on research topics assigned by the Court's Prosecutor, and supervises students working at the Extraordinary Chambers of Cambodia, the ICTY, ICTR and the International Criminal Court.
Professor Sadat is often heard on national media, and has an active speaking schedule. She currently serves as Chairwoman of the International Law Students Association (which runs the Philip C. Jessup International moot court competition), Vice-President of the International Law Association (American Branch) and the International Association of Penal Law (AIDP), and is a member of the American Law Institute. Sadat has also served as a member of the Executive Council, Executive Committee and Awards Committee for the American Society of International Law, and as Secretary of the American Society of Comparative Law.
Sadat received her B.A. from Douglass College, her J.D. from Tulane Law School, summa cum laude, and holds graduate law degrees from Columbia University School of Law (LLM, summa cum laude) and the University of Paris I - Sorbonne (diplôme d'études approfondies). Sadat practiced international business law for several years in Paris, France, prior to entering law teaching, and is admitted to the bar in France and in the United States. She clerked for Judge Albert Tate, Jr., on the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, as well as both of France's Supreme Courts, the Cour de Cassation and the Conseil d'Etat.