Center for International & Comparative Law

The Center for International & Comparative Law was launched in 2006 to coordinate and support the Law School's programs, resources, and events relating to those areas. A reflection of Duke Law's growing strength in the field, CICL deepens the already rich international and comparative law curriculum through initiatives such as the Global Law Workshop, and enhances the intellectual life of the Law School through an ambitious roster of speakers and panel discussions. It works hand in hand with the Office of International Studies, which supports international students and programs at Duke Law School, and with the JD/LLM program, which enables students to acquire both a JD and an LLM in just over three years.

CICL coordinates and supports Duke Law School's programs, resources, and events relating to the study and practice of international and comparative law. CICL is co-directed by Professors Curtis A. Bradley and Laurence R. Helfer. Bradley, the Richard A. Horvitz Professor of Law and Professor of Public Policy Studies, is an expert in the areas of public international law and U.S. foreign relations law. Helfer, the Harry R. Chadwick, Sr. Professor of Law, is an expert in the areas of human rights, international law and institutions, and international intellectual property law and policy. Many other faculty members at Duke have research and teaching interests in various aspects of international and comparative law and are involved in various CICL activities.

During the 2009-2010 academic year, CICL will host or co-sponsor a diverse array of public lectures, conferences, roundtables, and workshops. A summary of these events appears below. Detailed information is available on the About, Events, and Global Law Workshop web pages.

Public Lectures. CICL will host a number of public lectures by distinguished government officials, judges, academics, and practitioners. Speakers confirmed to date are:

• Fabrizio Cafaggi, Professor of Comparative Law, European University Institute;
• William Taft IV, Former Legal Adviser to the United States Secretary of State, Of Counsel, Fried Frank, Washington D.C.;
• Phoebe Kornfeld '90, General Counsel of Intercell AG, a vaccine development company in Austria;
• John Tasioulas, Reader in Moral and Legal Philosophy, Oxford University;
• Patty Gerstenblith, Distinguished Research Professor of Law, DePaul University College of Law, Director of the Center for Art, Museum, & Cultural Heritage Law
• Patricia Wald, Former Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Former Judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia; and
• Abdullahi an-Naim, Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law, Emory Law School.

Scholarship Roundtables. A new feature of CICL this year is a series of scholarship roundtables on interdisciplinary approaches to international law and cooperation. The roundtables offer an intimate forum for a small group of legal scholars and social scientists to travel to Duke to present their works in progress and receive detailed commentary and feedback from their colleagues.

• The first scholarship roundtable, scheduled for November 2009, addresses "The Law and Politics of International Cooperation."
• The second roundtable, to be held in January 2010, focuses on "Opting Out of Customary International Law."

Conferences and Workshops. The Center also sponsors or co-sponsors several conferences throughout the year and participates in the Duke-Harvard Foreign Relations Workshop, which is held at Duke biennially. Visit the Events page for information about upcoming events and our Events Archive and News Archive pages to read about previous event speakers and programs.

Teaching. CICL sponsors the Global Law Workshop, which Professors Bradley and Helfer will co-teach in both the Fall 2009 semester (along with Professor Deborah DeMott) and in the Spring 2010 semester. In addition to the workshop, Bradley's course offerings include Foreign Relations Law, International Law, and Federal Courts. Helfer offers courses that include International Protection of Human Rights, International Law, and International Civil Litigation in U.S. Courts.