DOUGLASS CASSEL Counsel, King & Spalding 1185 Avenue of The
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RESUME DOUGLASS CASSEL Counsel, King & Spalding 1185 Avenue of the Americas, 35th Floor New York, New York USA 10036 [email protected] 1 212 556 2361 April 2021 Douglass Cassel is a scholar, attorney and commentator specializing in international human rights law, especially with regard to issues of business and human rights, regional human rights systems, and international criminal and humanitarian law. He is former President of the Board of the Justice Studies Center of the Americas, to which he was elected four times by the Organization of American States, and of the Due Process of Law Foundation. He has served as consultant or counsel on human rights to the United Nations, Organization of American States, United States Department of State and Department of Justice, the Government of Colombia, the Government of Poland, the Ford Foundation, and numerous non-governmental human rights organizations. He lectures worldwide and his articles are published internationally in English and Spanish. As of July 2018, he is Emeritus Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School. PRINCIPAL EMPLOYMENT: Counsel, King & Spalding, specializing in business and human rights, based in the firm’s New York office, September 2018 to date. Professor of Law, Notre Dame Law School (2005-2018). Lilly Endowment Professor of Law (2005-06); Notre Dame Presidential Fellow (2006-2018). Emeritus Professor and Notre Dame Presidential Fellow Emeritus (2018 to date). Courses: Public International Law; Universal Protection of Human Rights; Regional Protection of Human Rights; Transnational Corporations and Human Rights; International Criminal, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law; Accountability for Gross Violations of Human Rights; Transitional Justice; Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; English Legal History. Director, Center for Civil and Human Rights, Notre Dame Law School, and Director of LL.M in International Human Rights Law program (2005 to 2011). Teaching, research and publications, public education, technical assistance, advocacy and litigation. Clinical Professor, Director, and founder, Center for International Human Rights, Northwestern University School of Law (1998-2005). Founder and Director, International Human Rights Law Concentration for LL.M. students (2001-05). Prior academic appointments: Senior Lecturer (1998-2001) and Clinical Associate Professor (2001-03). Executive Director and co-founder, International Human Rights Law Institute, DePaul University College of Law (1990-98), and of its Jeanne and Joseph Sullivan Program for Human Rights in the Americas. 1 Legal Adviser, United Nations Commission on the Truth for El Salvador (1992-93). Advised the Commission, supervised its investigations and was principal editor of its report. General Counsel, Business and Professional People for the Public Interest, a not-for-profit law center in Chicago (1982-91), and Staff Counsel (1976-82). Litigation and public policy research and advocacy on civil rights, civil liberties, consumer, environmental and other public interest matters. Lieutenant, Judge Advocate General's Corps, United States Navy (1973-75). Ralph Nader’s Congress Project (1972), contributed a chapter to WHO RUNS CONGRESS? (1972). OTHER ACADEMIC PROGRAMS: University of Alcalá de Henares, Spain, Lecturer in Master’s Degree in Protection of Human Rights, Faculty of Law, 2007-2020. Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Budapest, Hungary, Instructor, Business and Human Rights, in Summer Course on Corporate Social Responsibility, July 2016. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, January–June 2016, Research under a Fulbright García Robles COMEXUS grant on the implementation of Inter-American Human Rights Law in Mexico; hosted by former Inter-American Court of Human Rights President Sergio García Ramírez, and the Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Oxford University, GW/Oxford, Annual Program in International Human Rights Law, New College, Oxford, England, Lecturer and Tutor, Fundamentals of International Human Rights Law, 2008, 2010-2012. Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium: Summer Course on Human Rights, Instructor, 2001 to 2009, and Member, Organizing Committee, 2002 to 2009, co-sponsored by Netherlands School of Human Rights Research, Catholic University of Leuven, Northwestern University School of Law, and (2006-09) Notre Dame Law School. American University, Washington College of Law, Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Co- Instructor, International Justice for Human Rights Violations, in Specialized Summer Program, 2008, 2009 and 2015 (in English) and 2013 (in Spanish). Notre Dame Law School: Instructor, Notre Dame Law School London Summer Programme, 2007 (Public International Law and English Legal History) and 2009 (English Legal History). PRINCIPAL OTHER CURRENT AND RECENT ACTIVITIES: Colombian Peace Process, In 2015 Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos named me, together with two former presidents of Colombia’s Constitutional Court, to represent the Government in negotiations with the guerrillas of the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) to develop the transitional justice component of a peace agreement to end that nation’s 50-year-long civil war. The justice agreement was announced by the parties on September 23, 2015, and a more detailed agreement on December 15, 2015. It cleared 2 the way for the comprehensive peace accord, which was eventually signed on November 12, 2016, and was approved by Colombia’s Congress on November 30, 2016. On September 25, 2016, President Santos awarded me the Order of Merit “Guillermo Ferguson,” the highest honor Colombia bestows on a foreign citizen. On October 7, 2016, President Santos was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his pursuit of peace. Justice Studies Center of the Americas, Santiago, Chile (President, 2014-2016 and 2002-04; Vice President 2000-01; Board of Directors, 2000-06 and 2013-2018). Nominated by the United States and elected to the Board by the Organization of American States in 2000, 2003, 2012 and 2015. The Center promotes reforms and exchange of information on administration of justice in the hemisphere. Its seven-member Board has included, for example, former Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Ministers of Justice and Attorneys General. Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Board of Directors (2003 to date); co-chair, International Committee (2003 to 2014); Board of Trustees (2001-03). Inter-American Institute of Human Rights, San José, Costa Rica, Executive Committee (2015 to date), Member, General Assembly (governing body) (2011 to date). American Bar Association, Member, Editorial Board, ABA Key Business and Human Rights Documents Project (2021 to date); Advisory Board member, Business and Human Rights Project of the ABA Center for Human Rights (2014 to date); Member of Latin America Council of the Rule of Law Initiative (2014-16); co-chair, Human Rights Committee, Section on Individual Rights and Responsibilities (2003 to 2010); Advisory Committee (2004- 11) and Consultant to ABA Human Rights Center (2003-04); ABA Observer of the pretrial criminal proceedings against Maria Machado et al. in Venezuela (2005); Advisory Committee, Latin American Law Initiative Council (2001-05); Member, Rule of Law Letter Committee (2007-09); Coordinating Committee on National Security and Civil Liberties, Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities (2007 to 2010). Due Process of Law Foundation, Washington, D.C., President (2000-12), Board member (1998-2000; 2012-14). The Foundation promotes due process of law in the administration of justice in the hemisphere. Its Board has included, among others, former United Nations Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar and the former Presidents of Colombia, Ecuador and Honduras. Independent International Panel on the Human Rights Impact of the Marlin Gold Mine in Guatemala, Chair, 2008-2012. United States Department of Justice, Office of Special Investigations, Consultant Legal Expert, 2007-2012. American Society of International Law, Executive Council, 2004-07. Independent International Panel on Alleged Collusion in Sectarian Killings in Northern Ireland, Chair, 2004-07. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, nominee of the US Government, 2017. Consultant, Transitional Justice, in Northern Ireland (Pat Finucane Center, 2004-07); Colombia (Fundación Ideas para la Paz, 2004); Indonesia (Ford Foundation, 2000); Colombia, Peru and Panama (International Center for Transitional Justice, 2001); and Ghana (Center for Democratic Development, 2001). Advice on proposals to establish truth commissions and prosecutions of persons responsible for past human rights violations. 3 Consultant to U.S. State Department on Inter-American Human Rights system, 1997 to 1999; public member of U.S. delegations to Meetings of Attorneys General and Justice Ministers of the Americas (2000 and 2002) and to Organization of American States (OAS) General Assembly, 1997 and 2003, and to OAS Permanent Council meeting of government experts on Inter-American Human Rights system, 1997; appointed Foreign Affairs Officer (Expert), State Department, 2001. Drafter and lead organizer of Statement addressed to Trump Administration, protesting U.S. sanctions on lawyers and investigators of the International Criminal Court, June 2020. The letter was signed by nearly 200 lawyers experienced in international criminal law and national security. Accessible at http://opiniojuris.org/2020/06/30/statement-against-us-sanctions-on-icc-investigations/. Drafter