The Fall of 2025 has been a time of great activity in our International and Comparative Program. We have welcomed many new students, who have infused our community with energy and fresh ideas on how to address the deep contextual problems that we are facing. We are still following closely critical issues such as alarming armed conflicts, challenges to democratic governance and the rule of law, ongoing human rights and international humanitarian law violations, the perils of climate change, the dangers of artificial intelligence, among others. The Law School is currently reflecting among our faculty and with our students on the role of lawyers to address and find solutions to these complex issues. We also continue bringing our community together to advance the use, respect, and enforcement of international law. GW Law is deeply committed to the advancement of international and comparative law and will continue convening critical actors and sectors in the pursuit of peace, dignity, social justice, and human rights. I thank you for all your work and collaboration with our program. I also send you my best wishes for the end of this year.
Rosa Celorio
Burnett Family Associate Dean of International and Comparative Legal Studies and Distinguished Professorial Lecturer in International and Comparative Law and Policy
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GW Law Contributions to International Law |
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Professor Sean D. Murphy Argued Before Permanent Court of Arbitration |
On October 16, 2025, Professor Sean D. Murphy orally argued on behalf of the Republic of Armenia before an international arbitral tribunal in a case commenced in 2023 by the Republic of Azerbaijan. According to Azerbaijan, a dispute has arisen between the two countries in relation to alleged breaches by Armenia of its obligations under the 1979 Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (“Bern Convention”).
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Dean Rosa Celorio Concludes Work on Caribbean Court of Justice |
Associate Dean Rosa Celorio finished serving as the International Dispute Resolution Authority before the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on Thursday, October 30th, 2025. This role was part of the monitoring framework established by the CCJ to ensure the implementation of its judgments and consent orders advancing the human rights of the Maya Indigenous Peoples in Belize.
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Professor William S. Dodge Files Two Amicus Briefs |
Professor Dodge wrote two amicus briefs for U.S. Courts of Appeals. In Mia v. Kimberly Clark Corp., he argued to the D.C. Circuit that the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act’s civil cause of action applies extraterritorially to the same extent as the offenses on which a claim is based. In Kangol LLC v. Hangzhou Chuanyue Export & Import Co., he argued to the Seventh Circuit that the Hague Service Convention does not permit service by email.
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Francesca Bignami, Leroy Sorenson Merrifield Research Professor of Law - On November 13, 2025, students in Professor Bignami's Comparative Law course received a guest lecture from Professor Roberto Mastroianni, formerly judge on the General Court of the European Union (2019-2025) and now a professor at the University of Napoli.
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Karen Brown, Theodore Rinehart Professor of Business Law - Professor Brown will be awarded the AALS Tax Section's highest honor, the Lifetime Achievement Award. The Lifetime Achievement Award is in recognition of Professor Brown's distinguished career of teaching, service, and scholarship. Professor Brown was selected for her "impact in the field of taxation, the legal community, and the academy through mentoring, writing, speaking, activism, and by providing opportunities to others."
- Leah Calabro, Professorial Lecturer in Law - On October 1, 2025, Professor Calabro gave a presentation on International Criminal Law in a lecture organized by the Judicial Council of Buenos Aires. She was also invited to serve on the Prize Committee for the ASIL DRIG Prize for Best Article in International Dispute Resolution.
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Rosa Celorio, Burnett Family Associate Dean of International and Comparative Legal Studies and Distinguished Professorial Lecturer in International and Comparative Law and Policy - In October 2025, Dean Celorio just published the law review article Tides and Crossroads: The Gender Era of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law. The article focuses on the recent era of jurisprudence issued by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on women’s rights and gender equality issues, offering recommendations to the Court on how to address emerging and modern challenges affecting women in the Americas. Dean Celorio also published the article – Advisory Opinion 32/25 on the Climate Emergency and Human Rights: The Inter-American Court of Human Rights Meets the Moment, in ASIL Insights. On October 23, 2025, Dean Celorio offered women and international human rights’ trainings to government officials in an International Seminar Organized by the Institute of Public Policies and Human Rights of MERCOSUR and for judges in sessions organized by the Judicial Council of Buenos Aires on September 4 and 11, 2025. On September 26, 2025, she served as Moderator and Discussant in a panel on the human rights of children in the ASIL Midyear Meeting. In honor of November 25th being the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Dean Celorio was interviewed by the International Commission of Jurists in which she shares some reflections on the state of violence against women around the world and modern challenges within this issue, like democratic backsliding, digital violence, and problems with access to justice and accountability. See the full interview in Spanish here.
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William S. Dodge, Lobingier Professor of Comparative Law and Jurisprudence - Professor Dodge published an essay, Why Canada’s Terrorism Exception Does Not Violate International Law, in the Canadian Yearbook of International Law. He also wrote an Introductory Note to Doe v. Cisco Systems Inc. for International Legal Materials. Professor Dodge gave the keynote address at a webinar hosted by the Chinese Journal of Transnational Law, discussing U.S. Covid Lawsuits Against China.
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Renée Lettow Lerner, Donald Phillip Rothschild Research Professor - On October 9, 2025, Professor Lerner led a training session for Argentine judges on behalf of the Judicial Council of Buenos Aires about "Conducting a Jury Trial." The session was timely because judges in Buenos Aires have not yet conducted jury trials but will soon begin. The training session covered jury selection, conduct of the trial, expert witnesses, guidance to the jury about the law, and receiving the verdict.
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Sean D. Murphy, Manatt/Ahn Professor of International Law - On October 13, 2025, Professor Murphy was a speaker at “Preparing for a Convention on Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Humanity: A Fireside Chat with the ILC Special Rapporteur,” hosted by the Permanent Missions of Australia, Romania, and Singapore to the United Nations, New York. On September 26, 2025, he was a speaker at “Seminar on the Crimes against Humanity Convention,” organized by the Government of Switzerland for the Meeting of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Legal Advisers on Public International Law (CAHDI), Strasbourg, France. This fall Professor Murphy was elected as a full member from associate member of L’Institut de Droit International. On November 5, 2025, Professor Murphy served as a panelist at “Crimes against Humanity: The Idea Whose Time Has Come,” organized by the International Bar Association Conference in Toronto. On November 12, 2025, he moderated “U.S. Launch of the Updated Commentary on the Fourth Geneva Convention: Fireside Chat with Dr. Jean-Marie Henckaerts,” at The George Washington University Law School, Washington, DC. On November 19, 2025, he provided “Concluding Remarks” at the International Monetary Fund Administrative Tribunal 30th Anniversary Conference, Washington, DC.
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Paulina Vera, Distinguished Professorial Lecturer in Law and Immigration Clinic Director - On October 9th, Professor Vera spoke on the GW LALSA "Latinos in the Law" panel with three fellow GW Law alums. On October 15, 2025, she was the Hispanic Heritage Month Keynote speaker for the international law firm, Linklaters. On October 16, 2025, she spoke on an immigration law panel at HUSL with La Alianza for the second year in a row. On October 23 and October 24, 2025, Professor Vera did pre-law recruitment in her home state at the University of Arizona and Arizona State University on behalf of the law school. On October 28, 2025, she moderated an "Evening With" discussion with Maritza Perez Medina, on behalf of the Hispanic Bar Association of DC (HBA-DC). On October 29, 2025, she spoke on GW's Latin Heritage Celebration Panel, which featured Latino professors from across GW schools.
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Fall 2025 Brand-Manatt Lecture | US Launch of the Updated Commentary on the 4th Geneva Convention |
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On November 12, 2025, the ICL Program held its Brand-Manatt Lecture. The event began with a conversation between Dr. Jean-Marie Henckaerts, Head of the project to update the ICRC’s Commentaries on the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their 1977 Additional Protocols, and Professor Sean Murphy on the updated Commentary on the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. The conversation was followed by a moderated panel on select topics covered in the Fourth Geneva Convention.
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The panel featured Dean Rosa Celorio as the moderator, Dr. Beth van Schaack, Distinguished Fellow at the Center for Human Rights and International Justice, Stanford University (panelist and peer reviewer of the updated GCIV Commentary), Eric Young, retired U.S. Army Colonel and former judge advocate (panelist); and Dr. Tess Bridgeman, Co-Editor-in-Chief of Just Security and Senior Fellow, New York University School of Law Reiss Center on Law and Security (panelist).
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A Drafter’s Perspective on the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976: A Conversation with Mark B. Feldman |
On September 18, 2025, the ICL Program held a conversation between Professor William Dodge and Mark Feldman to discuss the origins of the FSIA, its general structure, and the weight government views still carry on the law of foreign sovereign immunity. Before 1976, the Department of State decided questions of foreign sovereign immunity. The FSIA transferred determination of foreign state immunity to the courts. As Deputy Legal Adviser at the State Department, Mark B. Feldman, was one of the primary drafters of that Act.
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GW Law Hosts World Bank Law, Justice and Development Week Reception |
On November 3, 2025, the ICL Program hosted a reception at the law school for attendees of the World Bank's Law, Justice and Development. The reception this year was attended by Christopher Stephens, the Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the World Bank Group, as well as government officials, judges, civil society organizations, foundations, Deans and university officials from different law schools, our faculty, and students. Earlier that day, Dean Dayna Matthew participated on a panel of deans of law faculties as part of the World Bank's Law, Justice and Development Week. Many of our students volunteered during Law, Justice, and Development Week as well.
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International Arbitration Career Speaker Series |
The ICL Program hosted two installments of its International Arbitration Career Speaker Series this semester. The first installment was on October 1, 2025, with Fahira Brodlija, Advisor for Investment Law and Dispute Resolution, Western Balkans Regional Program, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). The second installment was on October 22, 2025, with Ricardo Chirinos, Special Legal Consultant at Covington & Burling LLP and Professorial Lecturer in Law at GW Law.
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Careers in International Law Brown Bag Lunch Series with Ryan Migeed |
On October 2, 2025, the ICL Program hosted an installment of its Careers in International Law Brown Bag Lunch Series with Ryan Migeed, GW Law JD '22, as the speaker. Mr. Migeed spoke about careers in international trade law and offered advice to current students interested in that career path.
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Women in International Law Speaker Series | Women, Migration, and the Americas |
On September 25, 2025, the ICL Program hosted a panel on "Women, Migration, and the Americas" as part of our Women in International Law Speaker Series. This panel was moderated by Dean Celorio and featured remarks from Dr. Mary Ellsberg, the Founding Director of the Global Women’s Institute at George Washington University, Maureen Meyer, Vice President for Programs at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), and Dr. Gabriella Nassif, a Senior Research Associate at the Global Women’s Institute at George Washington University.
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Space Law Across Borders: Comparative Frameworks in the U.S., India, Japan, and South Korea |
On September 4, 2025, the ICL Program hosted a Space Law conference in collaboration with GW's Space Policy Institute at the Elliott School of International Affairs to address contemporary issues with a comparative and international law perspective. The conference was led by our amazing professor Henry Hertzfeld and Gabriel Swiney, one of the drafters of the Artemis Accords.
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Emory Law End of War Project | Is There a Role for International Courts in Ending War? |
On September 8, 2025, Emory Law's End of War Project, co-sponsored by the ICL Program, hosted a workshop to discuss questions such as can international courts help forestall escalation and facilitate a return to peace? When? How? Which courts? Professor Laurie Blank from Emory Law School and Dr. Daphné Richemond-Barak from Reichman University hosted the conference which featured remarks from GW Law Professor and Ambassador Todd Buchwald, as well as other academics and experts.
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Haiti Academic Conference: Human Rights, Security, and Dignity for Haiti |
On September 4, 2025, Professor Daniel Noroña and Amnesty International hosted a conference on the human rights situation in Haiti. It was widely attended by high-level experts and government officials and we had a number of GW Law student volunteers supporting the conference.
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2026 Oxford Program Info Session
Date & Time TBA
Please join the International and Comparative Law Program in January 2026 (Date & Time TBA) to hear about our 2026 offering of the GW-Oxford International Human Rights Law Program. The 2026 program will be held from July 6 to July 31 in Oxford, England. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis from December 15, 2025 through April 1, 2026. For more information, visit www.law.gwu.edu/oxford-summer-program or contact gwlawoxford@law.gwu.edu.
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