Defense Counsel in Noted U.S. Supreme Court Case in War on Terror to Speak at Pitt on April 17

PITTSBURGH-The University of Pittsburgh School of Law's Center for International Legal Education and the Global Solutions Education Fund will present the 16th Annual McLean Lecture on World Law featuring Charles Swift, the defense counsel who represented Osama bin Laden's driver in an important case before the U.S. Supreme Court, at 6 p.m. April 17 in the Barco Law Building's Teplitz Moot Courtroom, 3900 Forbes Ave., Oakland. This event, which had been postponed because of inclement weather, is free and open to the public.

In the case "Hamdan vs. Rumsfeld," the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the military commission that tried Hamdan did not satisfy the provisions of the Geneva Conventions and the U.S. Uniform Code of Military Justice and was therefore illegal.

Swift is the acting director of Emory University's International Humanitarian Law Clinic. He acquired extensive experience in the practice of military and international law during his service with the Department of Defense Office of Military Commissions. Known for his dedication to preserving the rule of law during wartime, Swift has been honored by the American Civil Liberties Union with a Medal of Liberty and named by the "National Law Journal" as one of the most influential lawyers in America. Swift has more than 12 years of litigation experience with the U.S. military and is a visiting associate professor at Emory University.

Swift's lecture, titled "U.S. Sovereignty and the War on Terror After 'Hamdan v. Rumsfeld,'" is jointly sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh School of Law's Center for International Legal Education and the Global Solutions Education Fund, Pittsburgh. It will kick off a 2-day conference at Pitt titled "The International Human Rights Regime Since 9/11: Trans-Atlantic Perspectives." This conference will convene leading scholars from Europe and America to assess how the events of 9/11 and their aftermath have affected the international human rights regime.

The conference is cosponsored by Pitt's Arts and Sciences Faculty Research Scholarship Program, European Union Center of Excellence, Department of Political Science, Global Studies Program, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, and School of Law.

The McLean Lecture on World Law honors the memory and contributions of M.W. McLean, a founder, executive director, and executive vice president of the Pittsburgh World Federalist Association chapter, now Global Solutions Education Fund, Pittsburgh.

This lecture has been approved by the Pennsylvania Continuing Legal Education Board for one hour of substantive Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credits. There is a $25 fee for credit. For CLE details, call 412-648-7023 or e-mail cile@law.pitt.edu. For more information about Pitt's School of Law, visit www.law.pitt.edu.

###

3/21/08/tmw