“Over January term, I was in San José, Costa Rica, teaching a course on the doctrine and practice of the Inter-American Human Rights System with my colleague Stephanie Brewer (JD ’07). The course is designed to expose students to the legal and practical elements of the inter-American system. We chose San José, Costa Rica because it is the seat of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. This location allows us to bring stakeholders—including judges, attorneys for parties, for the Court, the Commission—into the classroom. It allows for a much deeper understanding of the dynamics of the Commission and the Court, as well as their impact in Latin America. It’s total immersion. I think the students really enjoyed it. Plus, I don’t think they were too upset about missing the wave of storms that hit the Northeast.”
Category Archives: Research and Clinical Programs
Michael Stein (JD ‘88), Visiting Professor and Executive Director of the Harvard Law School Project on Disability, on some recent work
“The Harvard Law School Project on Disability continues to work across the globe to implement disability human rights and develop disability civil society in collaboration with local partners. We have been providing human rights training, developing family support networks to assist children with disabilities enter school, assisting in legislation drafting, building disability law capacity in foreign universities, and bringing litigation in numerous countries, including Bangladesh, China, the Philippines and South Africa. Our reports on violence against women with disabilities in Bangladesh will be utilized by the United Nations and the US State Department in official reports. We also were involved in winning two significant cases, a European Court of Human Rights decision overturning Hungary’s blanket prohibition on voting by mentally disabled persons, and a South African High Court ruling upholding the right of children with intellectual disabilities to public education.”
Susan Farbstein, Clinical Instructor and Lecturer on Law, on her recent work in the International Human Rights Clinic
“This fall, I’ve supervised clinical projects linked to four different countries, conducting two field missions with students. It’s been a typically busy term—the kind of semester that reminds me why I love this job. To provide just one example, Clinical Director Tyler Giannini and I headed to Thailand with four clinical students to conduct interviews about the violence there last April and May. Those interviews will form the basis of a narrative-based project that presents diverse perspectives about the causes of the conflict and possible ways forward.”
Lee Brand (JD ’12), Bridget Devoy (JD ’12), and Ellen Wheeler (JD ’12) on their work with the Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program
“Through the Harvard Negotiation & Mediation Clinical Program, we have spent the fall term studying the feasibility of implementing a dispute resolution system in the Egyptian microfinance sector. While our interaction with stakeholders in Egypt has been limited to telephone interviews so far, we are eagerly anticipating our Winter Term trip to Cairo and Alexandria where we will be able to conduct interviews and focus groups in person. We will then wrap up the project in spring with a report on our findings.”
Hakim Lakhdar, Program Manager, Program on the Legal Profession
“In September, I was asked to speak with HLS students, faculty and staff about the American Bar Association and its Rule of Law Initiative. In 1990, the ABA established the Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative (CEELI), which in 2007 grew into the consolidated Rule of Law Initiative (ROLI), to aid in the legal reform efforts in newly independent republics and emerging democracies. I used the example of my own work in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to explain the various projects and approaches ABA ROLI implements and adopts while also addressing and highlighting the many challenges and obstacles they have faced since their inception. Programs, activities and strategies can be modified from year to year and country to country but those of us working in international development must always remember that ever-changing global relationships and countries’ national interests will always play a large role in the success we have in establishing a legitimate rule of law culture in emerging economies.”