Leila Sadat
James Carr Professor of International Criminal Law; Special Adviser on Crimes Against Humanity to the ICC Prosecutor
Leila Nadya Sadat has served as Special Adviser on Crimes Against Humanity to the International Criminal Court Prosecutor from 2012-2023 and was recently appointed as a U.S. expert to the OSCE Moscow Mechanism. She is currently a Fellow at the Schell Center for Human Rights at Yale Law School A renowned scholar, she is one of the world’s foremost authorities in the fields of public international law, international criminal, human rights, and foreign affairs. She has more than 170 publications to her name and regularly lectures and teaches abroad. She received Washington University’s Arthur Holly Compton Distinguished Faculty Award in recognition of her leadership of the Crimes Against Initiative, a ground-breaking project she launched that wrote the world’s first treaty on crimes against humanity and continues to work for its adoption by the United Nations. She is the current Chair of the International Law Association (American Branch), and a member of the American Law Institute and the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations.
- Education
- University of Paris I – Sorbonne Diplôme d’Études Approfondies (“D.E.A.”), Droit International Privé et Droit du Commerce International, July 1988
- Columbia University School of LawMaster of Laws, May 1987 Jervey Fellow in Foreign Law
- Tulane University School of Law Juris Doctor, May 1985, summa cum laude
- Douglass College Bachelor of Arts, January 1980
- Courses
- International law
- International human rights
- International criminal law
- Seminars in international criminal law
- International business transactions
- Criminal law
- Areas of Expertise
- Public International Law
- International Criminal Law
- Human Rights Law
- The International Criminal Court
- U.S. Foreign Affairs Law
- Terrorism
- Transnational Crime
- Publications
Books
- The International Criminal Court in a Nutshell (with Patrick Keenan & Milena Sterio)(West Academic, 2024)
- INTERNATIONAL LAW: CASES AND COMMENTARY (6th ed., West Academic, 2020) (with Mark Weston Janis and John E. Noyes)
- SEEKING ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THE UNLAWFUL USE OF FORCE (Leila Nadya Sadat, ed., Cambridge, 2018)
- THE FOUNDERS (David M. Crane, Leila Nadya Sadat and Michael P. Scharf, eds, Cambridge, 2018)
- FORGING A CONVENTION FOR CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY (2d ed. Leila Nadya Sadat, ed., Cambridge 2013)
- INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL LAW: CASES AND MATERIALS (4th ed., Carolina, 2013) (with Bassiouni, Paust, et al.)
- THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL LAW: ESSAYS IN HONOR OF M. CHERIF BASSIOUNI (Leila N. Sadat, Michael P. Scharf, eds., Martinus Nihof 2008)
- THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW: JUSTICE FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM (Transnational, 2002)
- MODEL DRAFT STATUTE FOR THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT BASED ON THE PREPARATORY COMMITTEE’S TEXT TO THE DIPLOMATIC CONFERENCE, ROME, JUNE 15-JULY 17, 1998, 13TER NOUVELLES ÉTUDES PÉNALES (Leila Sadat Wexler, special ed. 1998)
Selected Articles and Essays
- The Conferred Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, 99 Notre Dame L. Rev. —- (2023)
- The International Criminal Court of the Future, in The International Criminal Court at 20: Reflections on the Past, Present and the Future (Carsten Stahn, ed., 2023)(forthcoming)
- Crimes Against Humanity, Elgar Encyclopedia of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice (2023)
- Torture in our Schools?, 135 Harv. L. Rev. 512 (2022)
- Little Progress in the Sixth Committee on Crimes Against Humanity, 54 Case Wes. Res. J. Int’l. L. 89 (2022)(symposium, The Academy and International Law) SSRN
- Pandemic Nationalism, COVID-19, and International Law, 20 Wash. U. Glob. Stud. L. Rev. 561 (2021)
- Justice without Fear or Favour? The Uncertain Future of the International Criminal Court, in The Past, Present and Future of the International Criminal Court (Alexander Heinze & Viviane E. Dittrich, eds., forthcoming 2021)
- The International Criminal Law of the Future, in Evolution or Revolution? Change in the International Legal Order (David L. Sloss, ed., forthcoming 2021)
- The Important Contributions of the Special Court for Sierra Leone on Amnesties and Immunities: Reinforcing Foundational Principles of International Criminal Law, 15 Florida Int’l L. Rev.73 (2021)(Symposium on Charles Jalloh, The Special Court for Sierra Leone and its Legacy)
- Heads of State and Other Government Officials Before the International Criminal Court: The Uneasy Revolution Continues, in The Elgar Companion to the International Criminal Court (Margaret DeGuzman and Valerie Oosterveld, eds.) (2021)
- An Analysis of State Reactions to the ILC’s Work on Crimes Against Humanity: A Pattern of Growing Support, 6 African J. Int’l Crim. J. 189 (2020) (with Madaline George)
- Reforming the International Criminal Court: “Lean in” or “Leave,” 62 Wash. U. J. L.& Pol’y. 51 (2020)
- Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, 113 Am. J. Int’l. L. 353 (2019)
- Collective Criminality and Sexual Violence: Fixing a Failed Approach, 40 Leiden J. Int’l Law 207 (2019)(with Susana SáCouto & Patricia Viseur Sellers)
- Gun Violence and Human Rights, 60 Wash. U. J. L. & Pol’y 1 (2019) (with Madaline George)
- International Criminal Courts and Tribunals, Max Planck Encyclopedia of International Procedural Law (2019)
- The Urgent Imperative of Peace, in Seeking Accountability for the Unlawful Use of Force (Leila Nadya Sadat, ed., Cambridge 2018)
- A Contextual & Historical Analysis of the International Law Commission’s 2017 Draft Articles for a New Global Treaty on Crimes Against Humanity, 16 J. Int’l Crim. Justice 683 (2018)
- Whither Human Rights in the Era of Trump, 35 NETHERLANDS QUARTERLY OF HUMAN RIGHTS 2 (2017)
- Washington University School of Law’s Global Trajectory, 53 WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY JOURNAL OF LAW AND POLICY 35 (2017) (150th Anniversary Essay)
- Putting Peacetime First: Crimes Against Humanity and the Civilian Population Requirement, 31 EMORY INTERNATIONAL LAW REVIEW 197 (2017)
- The Nuremberg Trial, Seventy Years Later, 15 WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY GLOBAL STUDIES LAW REVIEW 575 (2016)
- The Proposed Restatement Fourth of the Foreign Relations Law of the United States: Treaties – Some Serious Procedural and Substantive Concerns, 2015 B.Y.U. LAW REVIEW 1673 (2016)
- Genocide in Syria: International Legal Options, International Legal Limits, and the Serious Problem of Political Will, 5 IMPUNITY WATCH LAW JOURNAL 1 (2015)
- Can the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Šainović and Perišić Cases Be Reconciled? 108 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 475 (2014)
- Seven Canons of ICC Treaty Interpretation: Making Sense of Article 25’s Rorschach Blot, 27 LEIDEN JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 755 (2014)
- Crimes Against Humanity in the Modern Age, 107 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 334 (2013)
- Drone Wars, 45 CASE WESTERN RESERVE JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 215 (2013)
- Avoiding the Creation of a Gender Ghetto in International Criminal Law, 11 INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL LAW REVIEW 655 (2011) (symposium in honor of Judge Patricia Wald)
- On Legal Subterfuge and the So-Called “Lawfare” Debate, 43 CASE WESTERN RESERVE JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 153 (2011)
- Beyond Kampala: Complementarity and the International Criminal Court: The Next Steps for U.S. Engagement, ASIL DISCUSSION PAPER SERIES (November 2010)
- A Rawlsian Approach to International Criminal Justice and the International Criminal Court, 19 TULANE JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL & COMPARATIVE LAW 261 (2010), Eberhard P. Deutsch Distinguished Lecture on International Law
- On the Shores of Lake Victoria: Africa and the Review Conference for the International Criminal Court, AFRICA LEGAL AID QUARTERLY 10 (March 2010)
- The Nuremberg Paradox, 58 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE LAW 151 (2010)
- Selected for the Princeton/Illinois Workshop in Comparative Law (2009)
- Transjudicial Dialogue and the Rwandan Genocide: Aspects of Antagonism and Complementarity, 22 LEIDEN JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 543 (2009), reprinted in PROCEEDINGS OF THE SECOND INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW DIALOGS 123 (ASIL 2009)
- A Presumption of Guilt: The Unlawful Enemy Combatant and the U.S. War on Terror, 37 DENVER J. INT’L L. 539 (2009) The 2008 Henry & Mary Bryan Lecture
- Shattering the Nuremburg Consensus: U.S. Rendition Policy and International Criminal Law, 3 YALE JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 65 (2008)
- Reprinted in part in JANIS & NOYES, INTERNATIONAL LAW CASES & COMMENTARY (4th ed. 2011)
- Extraordinary Rendition, Torture and Other Nightmares from the War on Terror, 75 GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW 1200 (2007), distributed as part of the “basic materials” to every team (~ 600 worldwide) in the 2007 Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Competition)
- Ghost Prisoners and Black Sites: Extraordinary Rendition under International Law, 37 CASE WESTERN RESERVE JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 309 (2006), reprinted in part in 15 ILSA LAW QUARTERLY 9 (2007)
- Exile, Amnesty and International Law, 81 NOTRE DAME LAW REVIEW 955 (2006)
- reprinted in part in LOUIS HENKIN, LAURENCE HELFER, ET AL, HUMAN RIGHTS (2d ed. 2008)
- An American Vision for Global Justice: Taking the Rule of (International) Law Seriously, 4 WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY GLOBAL STUDIES LAW REVIEW 1 (2005)
- Summer in Rome, Spring in The Hague, Winter in Washington? U.S. Policy Towards the International Criminal Court, 21 WISCONSIN INTERNATIONAL LAW JOURNAL 557 (2004)
- Do All Arabs Really Look Alike?, 50 WAYNE STATE LAW REVIEW 69 (2004) (symposium honoring Edward M. Wise)
- Terrorism and the Rule of Law, 3 WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY GLOBAL STUDIES LAW REVIEW 135 (2004)
- reprinted with updates in THE INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW DIALOGS, August 29, 2007: Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Hague Rules of 1907 (American Society of International Law 2008)
- The Least Dangerous Branch: Six Letters from Publius to Cato in Support of the International Criminal Court, 35 CASE WESTERN RESERVE JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 339 (2003)
- International Criminal Law and Alternative Modes of Redress, PROCEEDINGS, KIEL SYMPOSIUM ON INTERNATIONAL LAW (Summer 2002)
- Redefining Universal Jurisdiction, 35 NEW ENGLAND LAW REVIEW 241 (2001) (lead symposium article)
- reprinted in Paul Schiff Berman, The Globalization of International Law 241 (2006)
- The New International Criminal Court: An Uneasy Revolution, 88 GEORGETOWN LAW JOURNAL 381 (2000) (with S. Richard Carden)
- reprinted in part in MARK JANIS & JOHN NOYES, INTERNATIONAL LAW, CASES AND COMMENTARY 418 (3rd ed. 2006)
- Custom, Codification and Some Thoughts About the Relationship Between the Two: Article 10 of the ICC Statute, 35 DEPAUL LAW REVIEW 909 (2000) (festschrift for M. Cherif Bassiouni).
- Observations on the Consolidated ICC Text Before the Final Session of the Preparatory Committee, 13bis NOUVELLES ÉTUDES PÉNALES (Leila Sadat Wexler, special ed. 1998)
- Prosecutions for Crimes Against Humanity in French Municipal Law: International Implications, AMERICAN SOCIETY OF INTERNATIONAL LAW, PROCEEDINGS OF THE 91ST ANNUAL MEETING 270 (1997)
- International Law Association (American Branch) First Committee Report on Jurisdiction, Definition of Crimes and Complementarity, 13 NOUVELLES ÉTUDES PÉNALES 159 (Spring 1997) (also published in 25 DENVER JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW & POLITICS 211)
- The Proposed Permanent International Criminal Court: An Appraisal, 29 CORNELL INTERNATIONAL LAW JOURNAL 665 (1996)
- Official English, Nationalism and Linguistic Terror: A French Lesson, 71 WASHINGTON LAW REVIEW 285 (1996)
- Reflections on the Trial of Vichy Collaborator Paul Touvier for Crimes against Humanity in France, 20 JOURNAL OF LAW & SOCIAL INQUIRY 191 (1995)
- The Interpretation of the Nuremberg Principles by the French Court of Cassation: From Touvier to Barbie and Back Again, 32 COLUMBIA JOURNAL OF TRANSNATIONAL LAW 289 (1994)
- reprinted in BASSIOUNI, PAUST, ET. AL., INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL LAW, 1st, 2nd, & 3rd editions
- Selected Book Reviews, Symposia Contributions and Contributions to Collected Works
- MAX PLANCK ENCYCLOPEDIA OF INTERNATIONAL PROCEDURAL LAW, Editor and Contributor (ongoing)
- Accountability for the Unlawful Use of Force: Putting Peacetime First, 58 HARV. INT’L. L. REV. 74 (2017) (Essay in honor of Benjamin B. Ferencz)
- Elements and Innovations of a New Global Treaty on Crimes Against Humanity, in THE GREY ZONE: CIVILIAN PROTECTION BETWEEN HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE LAWS OF WAR (Mark Lattimer & Philippe Sands, eds., 2017) (forthcoming)
- Impunity Through Immunity: The Kenya Situation and the International Criminal Court, in THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT AND AFRICA: ONE DECADE ON (with Benjamin Cohen) (Evelyn A. Ankumah, ed, 2016)
- Global Perspectives on Colorism: From Ferguson to Geneva and Back Again, 14 WASH U. GLOBAL STUD. L. REV. 549 (2015) (introduction to the symposium)
- The Legal Challenges of Globalization: A View from the Heartland, 13 WASH. U. GLOBAL STUD. L. REV. 415 (2014)(introduction to the symposium)
- Towards a New Global Treaty on Crimes Against Humanity, in FOR THE SAKE OF PRESENT AND FUTURE GENERATIONS: ESSAYS IN HONOUR OF ROGER CLARK (Suzannah Linton, ed., 2015)
- The Legacy of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, in ESSAYS IN HONOUR OF HASSAN JALLOW (Charles Jalloh & Alhagi Mahrong, eds., 2015)
- Codifying the Laws of Humanity and the “Dictates of the Public Conscience” Towards a New Global Treaty on Crimes Against Humanity, in ON THE PROPOSED CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY CONVENTION 17 (Bergmo & Song, eds., 2014)
- Crimes Against Humanity: Limits, Leverage and Future Concerns, in THE FIRST GLOBAL PROSECUTOR (Martha Minow & Alex Whiting, eds.) (Univ. of Michigan Press, 2014)
- The International Criminal Court, in THE CAMBRIDGE COMPENDIUM OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL LAW (William Schabas, ed., 2016)
- The United States and Human Rights: Paradoxes and Challenges, in CODIFICATION IN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE – SELECTED PAPERS FROM THE SECOND IACL THEMATIC CONFERENCE (Wen-Yeu Wang, ed. 2013)
- The Lomé Amnesty Decision of the Special Court of Sierra Leone, THE SIERRA LEONE SPECIAL COURT AND ITS LEGACY (Charles Chernor Jalloh, ed. 2013)
- The Legacy of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, in RULE OF LAW THROUGH HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE (Charles Riziki Majinge, ed., 2013) (festschrift for Adema Dieng)
- Unpacking the Complexities of International Criminal Tribunal Jurisdiction in ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL LAW (William A. Schabas, ed., 2011)
- Individual Progress in International Law: Considering Amnesty, in PROGRESS IN INTERNATIONAL LAW (Russell Miller & Rebecca Bratspies, eds. 2008)
- Cross-Fire Discussion of Lessons Learned from the Trials of Slobodan Milosevic, Charles Taylor, and Saddam Hussein PROCEEDINGS, HAGUE JOINT CONFERENCE ON CONTEMPORARY ISSUES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW (The Hague, 2007)
- Breaking Developments in International Law: A Conversation on the ICJ’s Opinion in Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro, in 2007 ASIL PROCEEDINGS
- The French Experience, in III INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL LAW (3d ed. 2007) (M. Cherif Bassiouni ed.)
- Competing and Overlapping Jurisdictions, in I INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL LAW (3d ed. 2006) (M. Cherif Bassiouni, ed.)
- Selected Essays, in SADDAM ON TRIAL (Scharf & McNeal, eds., 2006)
- The Effect of Amnesties Before Domestic and International Tribunals: Morality, Law, and Politics, in ATROCITIES AND INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY (Edel Hughes, William A. Schabas & Ramesh Thakur, eds. 2007)
- The International Criminal Court and Universal Jurisdiction: A Return to First Principles, in INTERNATIONAL LAW AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: BRIDGING THEORY AND PRACTICE (Chandra Srikam, ed. 2006) (an SSRC project)
- Universal Jurisdiction, National Amnesties, and Truth Commissions: Reconciling the Irreconcilable, in UNIVERSAL JURISDICTION: NATIONAL COURTS AND THE PROSECUTION OF SERIOUS CRIMES UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW (Stephen Macedo, ed., Univ. Penn. Press, 2004)
- International Criminal Law, The Use of Force and September 11th, 2001: Making the Rule of Law Count, PROCEEDINGS, HAGUE JOINT CONFERENCE ON CONTEMPORARY ISSUES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW (T.M. Asser Institute, 2003)
- The Legal Legacy of Maurice Papon, in THE PAPON AFFAIR: MEMORY AND JUSTICE ON TRIAL (Richard J. Golsan, ed., Rutledge, 2000)
- The Euro: A New Single Currency for Europe? 4 COLUMBIA JOURNAL OF EUROPEAN LAW 219 (1998)
- Activity and Affiliations
- Expert, OSCE Moscow Mechanism
- Fellow, Schell Center for Human Rights, Yale Law School, Yale Law School
- Former Director, Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute (2007–2020)
- Chair, Washington University Faculty Senate Council (2019-2020)
- International Criminal Court, Special Advisor on Crimes Against Humanity to the Chief Prosecutor (2012-2023)
- International Law Association (American Branch), President (2018-2022), Chair (2022-present)
- U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Commissioner (2001-2003)
- Council on Foreign Relations (2012-present)
- American Law Institute (2003-present)
- American Society of International Law, Counselor
- International Law Students Association (Chairwoman, 2008-2010)
- Honors and Awards
- Outstanding Article of the Year Award (2034), The Conferred Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (2023), International Association of Penal Law (American Branch)
- Cox Center International Law Center Humanitarian Award for Advancing Global Justice, Case Western Reserve University School of Law (October 25, 2023)
- Festschrift in Honor of Professor Leila Nadya Sadat: Bringing the World to WashULaw and WashULaw to the World, 21 Wash. Univ. Global Stud. L. Rev. 1-153 (2022)YWCA Women’s Leadership Academy Award (December 15, 2017)
- Arthur Holly Compton Distinguished Faculty Award, Washington University (November 3, 2017)
- Honorary Doctor of Laws, Northwestern University (June 2017)
- International Women’s Day Award, Washington University School of Law, Women’s Law Caucus, March 6, 2017
- Alexis de Tocqueville Distinguished Fulbright Chair, Paris France (Spring 2011)
- Israel Treiman Faculty Fellow, Spring 1999; 2003-2004; 2014-2015
- Outstanding Article of the Year Award (2014), Crimes Against Humanity in the Modern Age (2014), International Association of Penal Law (American Branch)
- Outstanding Book of the Year Award (2011), FORGING A CONVENTION FOR CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY, International Association of Penal Law (American Branch)
- Outstanding Article of the Year Award (2010), The Nuremberg Paradox, International Association of Penal Law (American Branch)
- Outstanding Article of the Year Award (2006), Exile, Amnesty and International Law, International Association of Penal Law (American Branch)
- Outstanding Book of the Year (2003), THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW, International Association of Penal Law (American)
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