Current Issues in International Criminal Law and Pathways to Practice
Noted lawyers Almudena Bernabeu and Toby Cadman will speak on current issues and pathways to practice in international human rights law. Almudena is the Transitional Justice Program Director at the Center for Justice and Accountability. She has helped lead prosecutions against war crimes perpetrators across Latin America, most notably against the former President of Guatemala. Toby is a UK-based lawyer who has served as counsel in cases before the International Criminal Court, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and the International Crimes Tribunal Bangladesh, among others. They will be talking about their work in Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, and how students can prepare for careers in this field.
Almudena Bernabeu is the lead on CJA's work in Spain in the Guatemala Genocide Case and the Jesuits Massacre Case and oversees CJA’s Transitional Justice Program. Ms. Bernabeu has worked in human rights and international law for over 16 years and has published articles on human rights litigation in national courts and its effectiveness in the struggle against impunity. She has also written on reforming Spanish asylum law and on the criminal legal reform in Spain.
Ms. Bernabeu has received many awards for her human rights work with CJA. These include the Katharine & George Alexander Law Prize (2012), the Yo Dona Magazine prize (2012), the SCEVOLA award (2013), the Human Rights Hero Award (2013) by the Program for Torture Victims, and the medal of professional merit from the Madrid Bar Association. She also was included as one of Time magazine's 200 most influential people (2012) and was named by the Spanish newspaper El Pais as one of the top 13 most influential leaders in the Spanish and Latin American world (2013). In 2011, Ms. Bernabeu’s work on the Guatemala Genocide Case was featured in the documentary Granito: How to Nail a Dictator that debuted at Sundance Film Festival.
Ms. Bernabeu is vice-president of the Spanish Association for Human Rights and serves as an adviser to the Human Rights Clinic at Santa Clara University. She also serves on the Advisory Boards of the Peruvian Institute of Forensic Anthropology and the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation and is Vice-Chair of the International Human Rights Section of the Bar Association of San Francisco. She is a member of the Valencia, Madrid and American Bar Associations. Ms. Bernabeu graduated from the University of Valencia School of Law and is licensed to practice in Spain. She also was awarded an Honoris Causa PhD in Law from Santa Clara University.
Toby Cadman is an international law specialist with extensive experience in the fields of public international law, war crimes, human rights, terrorism and extradition law. Mr. Cadman's particular area of expertise is international legal obligations and the UN system of protection.
He has served as counsel in a number of high profile international cases, appearing before the International Criminal Court, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the International Crimes Tribunal Bangladesh, the European Court of Human Rights, the Bosnian War Crimes Chamber and the UN Human Rights Committee.
He is member of the Bar of England and Wales and a Barrister Member at Nine Bedford Row International, a Partner at Omnia Strategy LLP, a member of the International Criminal Bureau in The Hague, and the Founding Partner of the TMC Advisory Group.
Mr. Cadman lectures extensively on international humanitarian law, criminal procedure and human rights law and has provided extensive advice and training to judges, prosecutors and defence lawyers throughout the Balkans and Southeast Asia.