Program in Comparative Legal Studies and Post-Conflict Justice

More than 93 percent of the world's citizens live in legal systems that are not purely common law. Preparing the next generation of lawyers to perform competently in our increasingly globalized world requires innovative courses and research--and concrete field experience.

The Program in Comparative Legal Studies and Post-Conflict Justice meets this challenge head-on. Our students take international and comparative law courses, intern in legal systems that are still developing, and send their research to countries where people struggle to recover from poverty, colonization and conflict. Our faculty produce cutting-edge scholarship on legal issues that transcend national borders. Our distinguished speakers bring reality into the classroom.

Recognizing that recovering from conflict and building peace require more than just law, our work is inter-disciplinary. Past projects have taken advantage of expertise available throughout the William and Mary campus, including in the Departments of Anthropology, Religion, Political Science and Government.

WHO WE ARE Our partners, prestigious organizations and institutions around the world, share our comparative approach and our commitment to building peace and the Rule of Law. Our faculty teach international and comparative law courses, lead international programs, and engage in critical, cutting-edge scholarship focusing on international issues. Most importantly, our graduates span the globe using the education and training they receive at William and Mary to meet the pressing challenges facing their generation.

WHAT WE DO Our work bridges the gap between resources available at law schools and the great need for them in the field, where people engaged in the difficult work of peacekeeping and post-conflict reconstruction often labor without regular electricity, internet or other basic services. In addition to taking core international and comparative law courses, our students' work in specialized seminars is often sent directly to tribunals and legal projects in post-conflict countries.

When the tribunal trying Saddam Hussein needed specialized legal research, Professor Linda Malone directed the work of 20 students working under the guidance of the Regime Crimes Liaison Office at the U. S. Department of Justice. The student's work was translated into Arabic and sent directly to judges in Baghdad

In Professor Christie Warren's Special Problems in Post-Conflict Justice seminar, taught in conjunction with the United States Institute of Peace, students serve as long-distance law clerks working directly for Rule of Law projects in places such as Haiti, Kosovo, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Iraq and Moldova.

Each summer, our students roll up their sleeves and put their education to good use in the field. After receiving training in international and comparative legal research, they scatter around the globe to intern in developing and post-conflict countries where their talents and skills are needed the most.

For information, contact Director, Christie S. Warren at cswarr@wm.edu