Prof Ni Aolain will address the growth of a global counter-terrorism architecture since 2001 and the ascendency of counter-terrorism norms and practice over the past two decades.  She argues that the growth of counter-terrorism globally, regionally and nationally has come at the direct expense of the rule of law, human rights and accountability and has contributed to rising authoritarianism and backsliding democracies.  Many states have internalized the value of counter-terrorism as a shield against external interference and as a sword to undermine civil society, hamper the rule of law, and rule in effect by security imperatives.  With a sobering account of the trends and practices emerging across the globe, the talk will address normative and institutional ways forward.

Professor Fionnuala Ní Aoláin is concurrently Regents Professor and Robina Professor of Law, Public Policy and Society at the University of Minnesota Law School and Professor of Law at the Queens University, Belfast, Northern Ireland.  She has previously taught or held visiting positions at Harvard Law School, Columbia Law School, Princeton University, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Professor Ní Aoláin is the recipient of numerous academic awards and honors including the Leverhulme Fellowship, British Academy Awards, Fulbright scholarship, the Alon Prize, the Robert Schumann Scholarship, a European Commission award, and the Lawlor fellowship. She is an elected fellow of the Royal Irish Academy.  She has published extensively in the fields of emergency powers, counter-terrorism and human rights, conflict regulation, transitional justice and sex based violence in times of war. Her book Law in Times of Crisis (CUP 2006) was awarded the American Society of International Law’s preeminent prize in 2007 - the Certificate of Merit for creative scholarship and her published work has been extensively recognized for its path-breaking contributions and its rigor. Professor Ní Aoláin is currently the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights while Countering Terrorism (2017-). 

This event is cosponsored by the University of Chicago Law School's International Programs, Human Rights Law Society, International Law Society, the Pozen Family Center for Human Rights, and the McKeon Center.

Lunch will be provided. Please submit dietary requests eight business days prior to the program to Aican Nguyen at aican@uchicago.edu. Although we will try to accommodate dietary needs, it is not guaranteed.