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Leila Nadya Sadat

URL: http://news-info.wustl.edu/sb/page/normal/84.html

Media Assistance:

Jessica Martin
Director, News & Information for the School of Law and the George Warren Brown School of Social Work
jessica_martin@wustl.edu
(314) 935-5251

Henry H. Oberschelp Professor of Law and Director of the Whitney R. Harris Institute for Global Legal Studies

Expertise: war crimes, criminal law, criminal justice, European Community law, international law, U.S. constitution, foreign relations, international business planning, international criminal court, international criminal law, European Union law, French law, Euro, genocide, crimes against humanity, official laguage laws, European Court of Justice, terrorism, human rights, religious freedom, prosecution of Marice Papon, prosecution of Paul Tovier

Bio:
Leila Sadat
Leila Sadat
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Leila Sadat is one of the country's leading experts in international and comparative law. She is the author of more than three dozen articles and several books on international criminal law and justice, terrorism, crimes against humanity, French law and European Union Law. From May 2001 until September 2003 Sadat served as Commissioner on the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom. The Commission, which was established by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, reviews the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom presented in the State Department's Reports on Human Rights Practices and other sources and makes policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress with respect to matters involving international religious freedom. Sadat has been very involved in the effort to establish a permanent international criminal court. Named to chair the International Law Association (American Branch) committee on the court in 1995, which grouped most of the leading experts in the field, she has authored or edited several monographs on the Court both in her capacity as chair, and writing individually. In addition, she was an NGO delegate to the conference preparatory committee and to the 1998 United Nations diplomatic conference in Rome at which the court was established. Her seminal article on the Court, The New International Criminal Court: An Uneasy Revolution, was published in the March 2000 issue of the Georgetown Law Journal. Her recent book on the international criminal court, The International Criminal Court and the Transformation of International Law: Justice for the New Millennium, was supported by a grant from the United States Institute of Peace.

WUSTL Contact Information:
Work:(314) 935-6411
Fax:(314) 935-5356
E-mail:sadat@wulaw.wustl.edu
Address:One Brookings Drive
Campus Box 1120
St. Louis, MO 63130

Education:


News Stories & Tip Sheets:

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Supreme Court Guantanamo decision

International law expert comments on status of Guantanamo Bay detainees (http://news-info.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/11935.html)

June 18, 2008 --
Sadat
The Supreme Court's recent ruling giving the Guantanamo Bay detainees the right of habeas corpus "underscores the commitment of the United States to be governed by the rule of law even during times of national stress, and is a courageous response to the overreaching policies of the executive branch, buttressed by a compliant Republican Congress, that have caused world-wide criticism of U.S. interrogation and detention policies," says Leila N. Sadat, expert on international law and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. Sadat, the director of the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute, is the author of the leading treatise on the international criminal court, "The International Criminal Court and the Transformation of International Law: Justice for the New Millennium," and is closely following the status of the detainees at Guantanamo.


Blue-ribbon steering committee drafting international treaty

Harris World Law Institute kicks off landmark Crimes Against Humanity Project (http://news-info.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/11641.html)

April 25, 2008 -- The Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute of Washington University School of Law announced a two-year project to study the international law regarding crimes against humanity and to draft a multilateral treaty condemning and prohibiting such crimes. Leila Sadat, J.D., the Henry H. Oberschelp Professor of Law and director of the Harris Institute, recently convened the first meeting of the project's steering committee.


Judgment at Nuremberg 60 Years Later

WUSTL conference examines legacy of Nazi war trials Sept. 29-Oct. 1 (http://news-info.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/7804.html)

Sept. 22, 2006 -- The Nuremberg trials of major Nazi war criminals spawned the idea of international human rights, but have the principles endured? Leading scholars from Washington University in St. Louis will join former Nuremberg prosecutors and distinguished experts on international criminal justice to examine the legacy of the war trials and their impact on international law, the judicial system and world peace. The conference, "Judgment at Nuremberg," marks the 60th anniversary of the Nuremberg trials and will take place Sept. 29-Oct. 1 on the Washington University campus.


Judgment at Nuremberg 60 Years Later

Nazi war criminal trials spawned international human rights, but have the principles endured? (http://news-info.wustl.edu/tips/page/normal/7456.html)

Sept. 7, 2006 --
The Nuremberg trials still hold relevance today.
The Nuremberg trials still hold relevance today.
The Nuremberg trials and the atrocities they revealed shocked the world 60 years ago and continue to resonate with increasing relevance. Yet, the Nuremberg principles have been implemented neither perfectly nor completely, according to a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis. Scholars from Washington University join other distinguished experts on international criminal justice, and the trials' three surviving U.S. prosecutors, to examine the legacy of Nuremberg and its impact on international law, the judicial system, and world peace. More... (http://news-info.wustl.edu/tips/page/normal/7456.html)


Saddam on trial

Is the Saddam Hussein trial one of the most important court cases of all time? Not necessarily, says international law expert (http://news-info.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/6015.html)

Oct. 21, 2005 --
Leila Sadat
Sadat
"In arguing that the Saddam Hussein trial is a 'Trial of the Century,' some experts appear to be suggesting that media interest is tantamount to success, importance and legitimacy. This is a mistake," says Leila N. Sadat, expert on international law and international war crimes tribunals and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. "Criminal trials, whether of important and notorious individuals, or of small-time offenders accused of petty crimes, are nothing more than show trials, unless three criteria are met: The judges must be independent, well-qualified and impartial; the accused must be properly and effectively represented; and the proceedings must be fair. Using these criteria, it is difficult not to be skeptical about the fairness, and therefore the ultimate significance, of the trial of Saddam Hussein."



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Clips:

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Hussein presents a spirited defense
Los Angeles Times and 3 others

April 6, 2006 -- Article covers events from Wednesday in the Saddam Hussein trial.
His savvy take on contemporary Iraqi politics took some observers by surprise.
WUSTL international law professor Leila Nadya Sadat, who watched segments of the trial on the Internet, comments.


Saddam on trial
PBS – NewsHour and 1 others

Feb. 16, 2006 -- PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer features a discussion of the trial of Saddam Hussein. Following a background report from Independent Television News, two lawyers give their reactions to the proceedings. WUSTL law professor Leila Sadat is one of the lawyers.


Roundup of commentary on Saddam Hussein trial by Leila Sadat
Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times and 2 others

Dec. 8, 2005 -- Roundup of comments by Leila Nadya Sadat, WUSTL law professor and international criminal law expert, about the trial of Saddam Hussein. Defense strategy, the Iraqi war crimes tribunal, and the violence and turmoil surrounding the trial are all discussed. Professor Sadat also helped to train Iraqi jurists.



Additional Background:

In addition to her teaching at Washington University, Sadat has taught abroad in France, Ireland, Italy and Greece. Sadat is a member of the Executive Committee of the American Branch of the International Law Association; a member of the Executive Committee of the American Society of Comparative Law; the secretary of the AALS section on comparative law; the vice-president of the American Branch of the International Association of Penal Law; and a Board member of the Revue Québécoise de Droit International, the International Law Students Association, the American Journal of Comparative Law, and the Société de Législation Comparée. She has been admitted to the French Bar as an avocat, is a member of the Board of Directors of the Alliance Française of St. Louis, and is bilingual in French, and proficient in several other languages.

Recent Publications

Journal Articles and Essays

* Terrorism and the Rule of Law (forthcoming)

* Universal Jurisdiction, National Amnesties, and Truth Commissions: Reconciling the Irreconcilable ( The Princeton Project on Universal Jurisdiction, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003)

* ASIL Insight: The Trial of Slobadan Milosevic, American Society of International Law Newsletter (forthcoming, October, 2002)

*International Criminal Law and Alternative Modes of Redress, Proceedings, Kiel Symposium on INternational Law, Kiel, Germany, May 30-June 2, (2002)

* Religious Freedom and American Foreign Policy: The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (Symposium Keynote Address, New England Law Journal (2002)

* ASIL Insight: The International Criminal Court Treaty Enters into Force, American Society of International Law Newsletter, March-April 2002, at 8.

* L'influence reciproque des juridictions nationales et internationales sur la poursuite et la punition de génocide (work in progress)

* Redefining Universal Jurisdiction, 35 New England Law Journal 241 (2001)

* Custom, Codification and Some Thoughts About the Relationship Between the Two: Article 10 of the ICC Statute, 35 DePaul L. Rev. 909 (2000)

* The Legal Legacy of Maurice Papon, in THE PAPON AFFAIR: MEMORY AND JUSTICE ON TRIAL (Richard J. Golsan, ed., Rutledge, 2000)

* The International Criminal Court and the Transformation of International Law: Justice for the New Millenium, 88 Georgetown L. J. 381 (2000) (with S. Richard Carden) The Establishment of the International Criminal Court: From The Hague to Rome and Back Again, 8 Det. J. Int'l L. 97 (2000)

* The New International Criminal Court: An Uneasy Revolution, 88 Georgetown Law Journal 381 (2000) (with S. Richard Carden)

* The Proposed Permanent International Criminal Court: An Appraisal, 29 Cornell Int'l L. Journal 665 (1996)

* Official English, Nationalism and Linguistic Terror: A French Lesson, 71 Washington L. Rev. (Seattle) 285 (1996)

* The Proposed Permanent International Criminal Court: An Appraisal, 29 Cornell International Law Journal 665 (1996)

* Reflections on The Trial of Vichy Collaborator Paul Touvier for Crimes against Humanity in France, 20 J.L. & Soc. Inquiry 191 (1995)

* The Interpretation of the Nuremberg Principles by the French Court of Cassation: From Touvier to Barbie and Back Again, 32 Columbia J. Transnat'l L. 289 (1994)

Books and Book Chapters

* The New International Criminal Court: An Uneasy Revolution (Transnational, 2000)

* International Criminal Law: Cases and Materials (Carolina, 2000)(with Bassiouni, Paust, et al.)

* The Legal Legacy of Maurice Papon, in The Papon Affair: Memory and Justice on Trial (Richard J. Golsan, ed., Rutledge, 2000)

* The Establishment of the International Criminal Court: From the Hague to Rome and Back Again, in National Security and International Law: The United States and the International Criminal Court (American Academy of Arts and Sciences) (Sarah Sewall & Carl Kaysen, eds., Rowman & Littlefield, 2000)

* The French Experience, in III International Criminal Law (M. Cherif Bassiouni, ed., Transnational, 2d ed. 1999)

* A First Look at the 1998 Rome Statute for a Permanent International Criminal Court: Jurisdiction, Definition of Crimes, Structure and Referrals to the Court, III International Criminal Law (M. Cherif Bassiouni, ed., Transnational, 2d ed. 1998)

* 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)

* Observations on the Consolidated ICC Text Before the Final Session of the Preparatory Committee, 13bis Nouvelles Études Pénales (Leila Sadat Wexler, special ed. 1998)

* The Role of the European Court of Justice on the Way to European Union, in Europe after Maastricht: American and European Perspectives (Paul Michael Lützeler, ed., Berghahn, 1994)

Book Reviews and Symposia

* Leila Nadya Sadat, 94 Am. J. Int'l. L. 430 (1999) (reviewing, Virginia Morris and Michael P. Scharf, The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (1998))

* Panel Discussion, Association of American Law School Panel on the International Criminal Court, 36 Am. Crim. L. Rev. 223 (1999)

* International Criminal Law Comes of Age, 8 Crim. L. Forum 461 (1998) (reviewing, Jordan J. Paust, et al. (1998))

* The Euro: A New Single Currency for Europe? Chair and Organizer, Washington University School of Law and the European Studies Program Conference, October 30, 1997

* 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 J. Int'l L Pol.221)


Related Information


Related Links:
•Sadat's Web page (http://law.wustl.edu/faculty/index.asp?id=390)

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