Charles Chernor Jalloh

Professor Charles Chernor Jalloh joined the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in July 2009. His teaching and scholarly activities will focus on International Criminal Law, International Human Rights Law, Public International Law and Criminal Law.

He holds Common and Civil Law degrees from McGill University, Canada. He also earned a Master’s in International Law, with distinction, at Oxford University, U.K., where he was honored as a Chevening Scholar.

A member of the Ontario Bar since June 2004, he has served as a Legal Counsel in the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Section as well as the Trade Law Bureau of the Department of Justice Canada. For three years, he was also the Legal Advisor to the Office of the Principal Defender (OPD) in the Special Court for Sierra Leone – the first such office in an international criminal tribunal. In that capacity, he set up the OPD’s Hague office and played a key role as Duty Counsel in the historic trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor. He resigned for reasons of principle. Afterwards, he clerked at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania for Judges Erik Møse and Jai Ram Reddy, assisting on important cases involving genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Rwanda in 1994.

In 2007, he edited a book that is now a leading reference on the legal texts of the Sierra Leone Tribunal. He has also authored or co-authored various scholarly works published in reputable peer-reviewed journals and books. His current research seeks to expose the growing tension between Africa and the International Criminal Court. The primary thrust is on questions of selectivity and jurisdiction and their impact, if any, on the growth and legitimacy of international criminal law.

Professor Jalloh, who is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the African Journal of Legal Studies, is a member of the American Society of International Law and the Canadian Council on International Law. He has given many radio and TV interviews, and lectured widely at several institutions and conferences in Canada, Netherlands, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sierra Leone and South Africa.

Currently Teaching

• International Law (Fall 2009)
• International Criminal Law Seminar (Spring 2010)

Selected Publications

Book

• Charles C. Jalloh, ed., Consolidated Legal Texts for the Special Court for Sierra Leone (Boston, U.S.A./Leiden, Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff Brill, 2007) 608 pps., abstract available on SSRN.

Articles and Book Chapters

• Charles C. Jalloh, “Regionalizing International Criminal Law?”, 9 International Criminal Law Review (2009) 445-499, available on SSRN.
• Charles C. Jalloh, “The Contribution of the Special Court for Sierra Leone to the Development of International Law”, 15 African Journal of International and Comparative Law 2 (2007) 165-207, available on SSRN.
• Alhagi Marong, Charles C. Jalloh and David Kinnecomme, “Concurrent Jurisdiction at the ICTR: Should the Tribunal Refer Cases to Rwanda?” in Emmanuel Decaux et al., eds., From Human Rights to International Criminal Law: Studies in Honour of an African Jurist, the Late Judge Laity Kama (Boston, U.S.A./Leiden, Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff Brill, 2007) 159-201, available on SSRN.  
• Vincent O. Nmehielle and Charles C. Jalloh, “The Legacy of the Special Court for Sierra Leone”, 30 Fletcher Forum of World Affairs 2 (2006) 107-124, available on SSRN.  
• Chernor Jalloh and Alhagi Marong, “Ending Impunity: The Case for War Crimes Trials in Liberia” in Festus Aboagye and Alhaji Bah, eds., A Tortuous Road to Peace: The Dynamics of Regional, UN and International Humanitarian Interventions in Liberia (Pretoria: ISS, 2005) 191–229. Expanded and republished in 1 African Journal of Legal Studies 2 (2005) 53–79; also available on SSRN.

Essays and Comments

• Charles C. Jalloh, “Kenya’s Dangerous Dance with Impunity”, JURIST, available online at the Jurist website, (August 2009).
• Charles C. Jalloh and Janewa Osei-Tutu, “Prosecutor v. Brima, Kamara, and Kanu: First Judgment from the Appeals Chamber of the Special Court for Sierra Leone”, 12 American Society of International Law Insights 10, available online at the ASIL website (May 2008).  
• Charles C. Jalloh, “Special Court for Sierra Leone Dismisses Taylor Motion Against Change of Venue”, 10 American Society of International Law Insights 15, available online at the ASIL website, (June 2006).     
• Charles C. Jalloh, “Immunity from Prosecution for International Crimes: The Case of Charles Taylor at the Special Court for Sierra Leone”, American Society of International Law Insights, available online at the ASIL website.  (October 2004).

Book Reviews

• WTO: THE DOHA AGENDA The New Negotiations on World Trade by B.L. Das (London: Zed Books, 2003) 33 Millennium: Journal of International Studies 2 (2004).  
• The Post-Apartheid Constitutions: Perspectives on South Africa’s Basic Law by Andrews, P. and Ellman, S. (Athens: Ohio University Press, 2001), 35 Journal of Labour, Capital and Society 1 (2002).

Selected Professional Activities

• Guest Speaker and panelist, Complutense University (El Escorial, Spain), 2009 Human Rights Summer School (Theme: Justicia y derechos humanos: de la frustracion a la esperanza - Justice and Human Rights: from frustration to hope), “An African Union Perspective on Universal Jurisdiction”, 14 July 2009.
• Facilitator/guest speaker, Institute for Security Studies (Cape Town, South Africa), Workshop of African Civil Society, “The Implications of the AU’s recent decisions on universal jurisdiction and the work of the ICC in Africa”, 11 May 2009.
• Panelist, Institute for Security Studies (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia), International Conference on Sudan: Impact of the ICC Arrest Warrants on Peace and Stability, “The AU, the Security Council and Sudan”, 17 March 2009.
• Panelist, International Commission of Jurists (Nairobi, Kenya), Workshop on International Criminal Justice: Options for Justice in Kenya, “An Overview of Transitional Justice Mechanisms in Africa”, 12 March 2009.
• Guest speaker, South African National War College (Pretoria, South Africa), Peace Support Operations Seminar on Complex Emergencies: Security Challenges in the 21st Century – Implications for UN, AU and International Peace Operations, “The Emerging International Criminal Justice Architecture: Prospects and Challenges for Africa and the International Criminal Court”, 3 October 2008.
• Guest speaker, Grotius Center for International Legal Studies, Leiden University, The Hague Campus (Den Haag, Netherlands), “The Role of the Office of the Principal Defender in the Trial of Former Liberian President Charles Ghankay Taylor”, 22 November 2007.
• Panelist, Canadian Council on International Law, 35th Annual Conference, University of Ottawa (Ottawa, Canada), “State Responsibility for Para-Military Groups: The Case of the Civil Defence Forces in Sierra Leone’s Civil War”, 26 October 2006.