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Ralph Steinhardt

Professor of Law and International Affairs
Arthur Selwyn Miller Research Professor of Law

Lerner Hall B421
2000 H Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20052

Phone: (202) 994-5739
Fax: (202) 994-9817
E-mail: rstein@law.gwu.edu

Education:

J.D., Harvard University

Expertise:

International and comparative law, human rights

Background:

Professor Steinhardt specializes in international law, teaching the introductory survey course in the field, conflicts of laws, international business transactions, international civil litigation, and property law. He is co-director of the Oxford GW Program in International Human Rights Law, at New College, Oxford. He has written books and articles on the application of international law in U.S. courts, statutory construction, international trade law, jurisprudence, and human rights. Having served on the Harvard International Law Journal and won the Jessup Moot Court Competition at Harvard Law School, Professor

Steinhardt practiced law for five years in Washington, D.C., specializing in federal litigation, administrative law, and trade. He has served as legal counsel to several foreign governments in both commercial and intergovernmental matters, including border disputes and economic relations, and pioneered the application of international human rights law in U.S. courts. He served as counsel to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the International Human Rights Law Group, as well as to individuals alleging violations of international human rights law. In 1995-96, he was a visiting Fulbright professor of law at University College Galway in Ireland, where he taught international criminal procedure and conducted research on behalf of the Irish Centre for Human Rights. He has also served as chairman of the board of the Center for Justice and Accountability in San Francisco, an anti-impunity organization established by Amnesty International in 1998.

He is currently the chairman of the board at the Center for Justice and Accountability, an anti-impunity NGO established by Amnesty International in San Francisco. Steinhardt served for two years as Associate Dean for International and Comparative Legal Studies at the Law School. His most recent publications address the role of international law in domestic courts, including the use of military commissions to try those who violate the laws of war.

Last update: 10.11.07