"I believe that, armed with a strong foundation, young lawyers today will be able to further and safeguard a comprehensive worldwide system of global justice that prospers and succeeds in ending impunity for atrocity crimes.”

 

 

 

 

 

Linda Carter

American Coalition for the International Criminal Court

Starting as a civil rights and criminal defence attorney, Professor Linda Carter has built a career in domestic and international criminal law by helping shape and implement international criminal law standards - now she is preparing a new generation of lawyers at McGeorge School of Law and beyond to maintain and build on the hard-won advances of the Rome Statute system of international justice.

A Distinguished Professor Emerita at the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, Linda Carter started her career as a civil rights and criminal defense attorney in the United States, including as a trial attorney in the honors program of the civil rights division of the US Department of Justice.

“International criminal law (ICL) is a new, dynamic, and evolving field of law. Although there are examples of war crimes trials from the Ancient Greeks and Romans and the groundbreaking precedent of the Nuremburg and Tokyo Trials after WWII, ICL cases and jurisprudence were largely dormant until the 1990s, when the UN Security Council established the ICTY and ICTR.  Now the Rome Statute of the ICC and its fundamental complementarity principle have given ICL an avenue to national jurisdictions. As a legal educator teaching international criminal law, I believe that, armed with a strong foundation, young lawyers today will be able to further and safeguard a comprehensive worldwide system of global justice that prospers and succeeds in ending impunity for atrocity crimes.” 

In her more than thirty years working in academia, Linda continues to specialize in domestic and international criminal law and procedure. Her experiences developing the field of international justice include assisting the Brandeis Institute for International Judges; researching the Gacaca courts in Rwanda; and serving as a Visiting Professional in the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court and as a legal researcher at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

Linda’s experiences as an educator touch on many of the issues impacting the international criminal law order today. She has taught as a Fulbright Senior Specialist in Senegal and the LLM program sponsored by the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Institute. Linda has also advised on international criminal law curriculum development at universities in Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe and Kenya, and directed a summer program on law and development in Uganda.

Linda was an active member of the American NGOs Coalition for the ICC delegation during the 13th and 14th Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute sessions. She was especially pleased to have law students as part of the delegation, learning and reporting on the events.