CORAL GABLES, Fla. (March 7, 2022) – One of the country’s leading experts in public and private international law, national security law, and human rights, Yale Law Professor Harold Hongju Koh, will deliver the lecture, “Inside the Biden Administration’s Human Rights Challenge,” at the Ninth Annual Henkin Lecture on Human Rights on March 31, 2022.
Koh served the Obama administration as the legal advisor of the U.S. Department of State and was one of a group of lawyers who filed suit against Russa on March 7 at the International Court of Justice in the Hague.
Recent history shows us that global authoritarian assaults on the rule of law and human rights systems have grown and strengthened since World War II. The lecture will provide an insider’s perspective on how, after one year, the Biden administration has been grappling with the daunting task of revitalizing the international human rights system while also managing the existential threats of the pandemic, economic crisis, and climate change.
“Professor Koh is an accomplished lawyer, scholar, and human rights advocate,” said Christina Frohock, Miami Law Professor of Legal Writing and author of “Small-Town GTMO: The Layers of Estate, Sovereignty, and Soil in U.S. Naval Station Guantánamo Bay.” “This lecture provides an extraordinary opportunity to hear his insights.”
Introducing Koh will be former United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Miami Law alum, Marcos D. Jiménez. “It will be a great honor to introduce my friend, the brilliant Harold Koh, who has championed human rights and democracy with unparalleled skill, joy, and grace,” said Jiménez. “Please don’t miss this opportunity to hear one of the great lawyers of our time.”
Koh, the Sterling Professor of International Law, has received 17 honorary degrees and more than 30 awards for his human rights work, including awards from Columbia Law School and the American Bar Association for his lifetime achievements in international law. He has authored or co-authored eight books, published more than 200 articles, regularly testified before Congress, and litigated numerous cases involving international law issues in both U.S. and international tribunals.
Miami Law’s lecture series on human rights is named in honor of the late Louis Henkin, a prominent law professor at Columbia University who was one of the founders of the academic study of human rights and who helped educate a whole generation of human rights lawyers, scholars, and activists, including some Miami Law professors. Miami Law created a lecture series in his memory.
The Thursday, March 31, 2022, in-person event at 5 p.m. will be held in Room F352 at the University of Miami School of Law, 1331 Miller Drive, Coral Gables, Florida, 33146.
The event is free and open to the public with registration. Masks are no longer required in indoor spaces on the Coral Gables campus. Individuals who wish to wear a mask for their protection are encouraged to do so. For the latest COVID-19 guidance at the University of Miami, visit https://coronavirus.miami.edu/index.html.
