Centers & Programs
Center for Human Rights and Global Justice
New York University School of Law has long been at the forefront of scholarly work on civil liberties and human rights. In 2002, the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice was established to bring together and expand the rich array of teaching, research, clinical, internship, and publishing activities undertaken within the Law School on issues of international human rights law. Professor Philip Alston is Chair and Faculty Director; Professor Smita Narula and Professor Margaret Satterthwaite are Faculty Directors.
The Center aims to:
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Generate substantive, cutting-edge and sophisticated contributions to human rights research and legal scholarship on the part of faculty, staff, students, fellows and visitors; and
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Actively engage in public affairs and make original and constructive contributions to on-going policy debates relating to human rights.
It achieves these aims through:
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Undertaking rigorous legal analysis and disseminating studies in five key Research and Project areas: Detainees and the “War on Terror, Discrimination and National Security, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Extrajudicial Executions, and Transitional Justice.
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Developing a new generation of human rights scholars and advocates: The Center uses its location at one of the world’s leading law schools to equip students with the knowledge and experience needed to play principal roles in governments, international organizations, academia, and civil society in the years to come. Through key program elements such as the International Human Rights Clinic; academic human rights courses taught by leading Faculty; a Fellowship Program that places student interns in a wide variety of key institutions; an annual Emerging Human Rights Scholarship Conference where students present original papers; and support of student organizations working on human rights issues, the Center is at the apex of one of the leading human rights programs in the world.
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Performing a convening and collaborative function in discussions among human rights leaders concerning the doctrinal and policy dimensions of key current issues. The Center capitalizes on its uniquely neutral position at a leading law school located in the same city as the principal international organization involved in human rights - the United Nations. The Center also collaborates with many major civil society groups based in New York to catalyze and coordinate networking among human rights organizations, litigators, regional groups, parliamentary bodies, and human rights training programs.
Relationship to the Institute for International Law and Justice (IILJ)
The Institute for International Law and Justice (IILJ) brings together the research, scholarship, teaching and outreach activities of New York University School of Law’s acclaimed international law program. The Institute’s research and scholarship is organized through three affiliated thematic centers and programs: the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, the Jean Monnet Center for International and Regional Economic Law and Justice, and the Program in the History and Theory of International Law. The Institute also runs cross-cutting research projects among these affiliates, including work on global governance and accountability (global administrative law), international arbitration, supporting rule of law in states at risk, intelligence, and the use of force.
For more information, please visit the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice website.
