International and Comparative Law

 This course explores major global health challenges and the concepts of health laws and human rights as applicable to global health. Students are introduced to current and emerging global health priorities and analyze possible solutions through the reform of health-related laws as a component of health systems.  The course also explores the links between human rights and public health policy. Classroom presentations examine how international law (including international human rights norms and standards) can be an important tool for formulating and reviewing health-related laws and addressing: current global health challenges and emergencies, improving mental health systems and their response, creating smoke free environments, reducing the incidence of HIV/AIDS and other diseases, reducing maternal mortality and protecting older persons and other groups in situations of vulnerability during health emergencies and pandemics.

Professor Daudet delivered the Grotius Lecture under the theme of the words famously attributed by some to Sir Winston Churchill: “Never let a good crisis go to waste!” and asked himself: “Can international law seize the advantage?” He noted that crises today are inherently international and therefore inevitably affect the application of international law.

On February 11, 2021, Corin Stone, Scholar-in-Residence at AUWCL’s Tech, Law and Security Program, moderated a penal discussion on the intersection of free speech and the need to fight against terrorism. The panelists included Nick Rasmussen, Executive Director, Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT) and former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center; and David Kaye, Clinical Professor of Law at UC Irvine Law and former UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression.

On February 19, 2021, AUWCL’s Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law held a panel discussion on Police Brutality at Home and Abroad, with a special focus on the Middle East and North African region (MENA). The discussion raised awareness of growing police brutality in the MENA region, with information on general trends as well as local or regional problems that exacerbate this form of abuse.

Congratulations to Professor Rebecca Hamilton, who was elected as a Life Member to the Council on Foreign Relations. She joins prominent leaders in foreign policy, government officials, renowned scholars and more in this prestigious membership. We interviewed Professor Hamilton on her service to the field of international relations and recent developments in international law.

A recent report lays out the risks associated with Chinese technology platforms operating in the United States. The report was prepared by professors Jennifer Daskal and Gary Corn from AUWCL’s Tech, Law, and Security Program and the National Security, Technology, and Law Working Group at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution.