Prof. Leila Sadat
Washington University in St. Louis School of Law

Leila Sadat is the Henry H. Oberschelp Professor of Law at the Washington University School of Law and the Director of the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute. She is an internationally-recognized authority in international criminal law and human rights and a prolific scholar, publishing in leading journals in the United States and abroad.  Trained in both the French and American legal systems, Sadat brings a cosmopolitan perspective to her work.  She is particularly well-known for her expertise on the International Criminal Court, and was a delegate to the U.N. Preparatory Committee and to the 1998 diplomatic conference in Rome at which the Court was established.  She has published a series of articles on the Court and an award-winning monograph, “The International Criminal Court and the Transformation of International Law” which was supported by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Peace.  She has written extensively on the question of amnesties for atrocity crimes as part of the Princeton Project on Universal Jurisdiction, and authored several follow up pieces including Exile, Amnesty and International Law, 81 Notre Dame Law Review 955 (2006).  Her trenchant commentaries on U.S. foreign policy following the September 11th attacks are highly regarded and include Terrorism and the Rule of Law, and Nightmares from the War on Terror in the George Washington Law Review.  From May 2001 until September 2003, Sadat served on the nine-member U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom.

At the School of Law, Sadat teaches international, comparative and U.S. law courses. She also directs the Law Schools "Summer Institute for Global Justice," which brings together U.S. and foreign law students in a summer course of study held at the University of Utrecht.  Sadat has also established a war crimes research program for students who are working directly with the Special Court for Sierra Leone, drafting memos on research topics assigned by the Court's Prosecutor.

Professor Sadat is often heard on national media, and has an active speaking schedule. She currently serves as Secretary of the American Society of Comparative Law, Vice-President of the International Law Association (American Branch) and the International Association of Penal Law (AIDP), and is a member of the American Law Institute.  Sadat has also served as a member of the Executive Council, Executive Committee and Awards Committee for the American Society of International Law. Sadat received her B.A. from Douglass College, her J.D. from Tulane Law School, summa cum laude, and holds graduate law degrees from Columbia University School of Law (LLM, summa cum laude) and the University of Paris I - Sorbonne (diplôme d'études approfondies). Sadat practiced international business law for several years in Paris, France, prior to entering law teaching, and is admitted to the bar in Paris and in Louisiana. She clerked for Judge Albert Tate, Jr., on the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, as well as both of France's Supreme Courts, the Cour de Cassation and the Conseil d'Etat.

Professor Sadat met with President George W. Bush on October 10, 2003 to discuss issues relating to the May 2003 Report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. Sadat was appointed by Congressman Richard Gephardt of Missouri, and served as a commissioner on the nine-person body for two and one-half years. The Commission is charged with advising the President and the Department of State on issues of international religious freedom as it relates to United States policy.

Education
LL.M., Columbia University School of Law, summa cum laude
J.D., Tulane Law School, summa cum laude
diplôme d'études approfondies, University of Paris I - Sorbonne
B.A., Douglass College

Admitted to practice
Paris
Louisiana