Lecture: Pathways to Justice for Atrocities
Dr Beth Van Schaack
Notes & Changes
This event is open to members of the University, but priority will be given to students and tutors of the Summer School in International Human Rights Law and the MSc in International Human Rights Law. This is an in-person event.
Session overview
U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice, Dr Beth Van Schaack, will present views on the various pathways to justice for atrocities, particularly as they have been developed in connection with Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine. These include international, hybrid, and domestic courts working in partnership with international investigative mechanisms and civil society actors. The International Criminal Court is an important component of this international justice ecosystem, but national efforts—unilateral and plurilateral—are increasingly important. Ambassador Van Schaack will also discuss ways in which justice entrepreneurs continue to conceptualize new institutional models to tackle impunity.
About the speaker
Dr. Beth Van Schaack was sworn in as the Department’s sixth Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice (GCJ) in March of 2022. In this role, she advises the Secretary of State and other Department leadership on issues related to the prevention of and response to atrocity crimes, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Ambassador Van Schaack previously served as Deputy to the Ambassador-at-Large in GCJ from 2012 to 2013. Prior to returning to public service in 2022, Ambassador Van Schaack was the Leah Kaplan Visiting Professor in Human Rights at Stanford Law School, where she taught international criminal law, human rights, human trafficking, and a policy lab on Legal & Policy Tools for Preventing Atrocities. In addition, she directed Stanford’s International Human Rights & Conflict Resolution Clinic. Ambassador Van Schaack has published numerous articles and papers on international human rights and justice issues. She is a graduate of Stanford (BA), Yale (JD), and Leiden (PhD) Universities.