Along with Emory and Northwestern, CWRU Law was one of three law schools from dozens that applied to host this year’s Order of the Coif Distinguished Lecturer, Oona A. Hathaway. On Feb. 23, the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion, Hathaway spoke at CWRU School of Law about the war in Ukraine and the future of the international legal order.
In her lecture, entitled “A Year that Changed the World: The War in Ukraine, and How it Shaped the International Legal Order,” Hathaway addressed: What does the war teach us about the viability of the post-war legal order, which is grounded in the prohibition on the use of force by one state against another? How effective is the use of sanctions as a tool of the international community in responding to acts of aggression? And what are the prospects for accountability for the war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes of aggression committed in Ukraine?
Hathaway is the Gerard C. and Bernice Latrobe Smith Professor of International Law at Yale Law School, Professor of International Law and Area Studies at the Yale University MacMillan Center, Professor of the Yale University Department of Political Science, and Director of the Yale Law School Center for Global Legal Challenges. She has been a member of the Advisory Committee on International Law for the Legal Adviser at the United States Department of State since 2005. In 2014-15, she took leave to serve as Special Counsel to the General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Defense, where she was awarded the Office of the Secretary of Defense Award for Excellence.