Judicial Seminar on International Human Rights Law

Lady Justice with Legal Texts

Since 2015, the Bernstein Institute for Human Rights and Columbia’s Human Rights Institute have co-sponsored an annual Judicial Seminar on International Human Rights Law.

Under different auspices, the Seminar has existed since 1982 and has included over 300 appellate and district court judges, as well as five members of the U.S. Supreme Court. With its distinguished history and stellar human rights faculty, the seminar brings together federal judges from across the country, and covers topics ranging from foundational international human rights laws, to comparative explorations of the European Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American human rights system, and sessions on torture, disappearances, extraordinary rendition, refugee law, and the law of armed conflict.

With an increasing attack on democratic institutions around the world, including serious threats to the rule of law, the Judicial Seminar offers a unique and important space for judges to learn and engage with peers and experts on some of the most urgent issues of our time. Judges’ responses to the Judicial Seminar have been glowing, praising the “spectacular faculty and excellent presentations” and calling the weekend “transformative,” “outstanding,” “thought-provoking,” and “good for the judicial soul.”

Expert Presenters:

Headshot Alex Aleinikoff

Alex Aleinikoff

Professor and Director of the Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility, The New School

 
Headshot Sarah Cleveland

Sarah Cleveland

Louis Henkin Professor of Human and Constitutional Rights and Faculty Co-Director, Human Rights Institute, Columbia Law School

 
Headshot Harold Hongju Koh

Harold Hongju Koh

Sterling Professor of International Law and Deam Emeritus, Yale Law School

 
Trevor Morrison

Trevor Morrison

Dean and Eric M. and Laurie B. Roth Professor of Law, NYU School of Law

 
Headshot Jelena Pejic

Jelena Pejic

Senior Legal Adviser, Legal Division, International Committee of the Red Cross

 
Headshot Michael Posner

Mike Posner

Jerome Kohlberg Professor of Ethics and Finance; Professor of Business and Society; Director, Center for Business and Human Rights, NYU Stern

 
Headshot Margaret Satterthwaite

Margaret Satterthwaite

Professor of Clinical Law; Faculty Director, Robert L. Bernstein Institute for Human Rights; Faculty Director, Center for Human Rights and Global Justice; Director, Global Justice Clinic, NYU School of Law

 

Coordinator:

Headshot Mary Holland

Mary Holland

Research Scholar and Director, Graduate Lawyering Program