Human Rights Institute at Columbia Law School

Founded in 1998, the Human Rights Institute serves as the focal point of international human rights education, scholarship and practice at Columbia Law School. The Institute fosters the development of a rich and comprehensive human rights curriculum and builds bridges between theory and practice, between law and other disciplines, between constitutional rights and international human rights, and between Columbia Law School and the world wide human rights movement.

The Institute currently focuses on a number of key themes: fostering international human rights norms and strategies at 'home' in the United States, ensuring human rights compliance in the 'war on terror,' strengthening the Inter-American system of human rights, and promoting ‘economic justice' around the world. The Institute hosts a wide array of symposia, lectures and other events to bring practitioners and scholars together. It runs an active speakers' program during the academic year and cooperates closely with student groups on other program activities. In addition, through the affiliated Human Rights Clinic, students gain hands-on experience working on active cases and projects with Columbia Law School faculty and leading human rights organizations in the United States and abroad.