The Ved Nanda Center for International & Comparative Law

Shaping International Law

The Ved Nanda Center for International & Comparative Law at the Sturm College of Law is dedicated to academic endeavors that further excellence in the education, scholarship, and practice of international law. It was established in 2006 thanks to the vision and generosity of Douglas Scrivner and many other generous donors.

Upcoming Programs

• 

  SAVE THE DATE: Ved Nanda Center Book Talk Series Webinar

  January 15, 2025
  5:30 - 6:30 pm (MST) | Zoom

  Deference in Human Rights Adjudication,  OUP 2024 

  Combining in-depth conceptual analysis with practice in a broad range of jurisdictions, this book answers two important questions: what devices courts should use to exercise deference, and how deference can be made more workable for judges and predictable for litigants. It introduces six devices for deference (namely, the burden of proof, standard of proof, standard of review, giving of weight, choice of interpretation, and choice of remedy), analyzes how courts should choose amongst them, and proposes techniques for rendering deference practicable. 

  Cora Chan, Professor of Law at the University of Hong Kong, will provide an overview of her new book Deference in Human Rights Adjudication, OUP 2024, with commentary provided by Professor Ian Farrell of the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and Professor Carole Petersen of the University of Hawai'i William S. Richardson School of Law. 

  Link to  the book at Oxford University Press 

• SAVE THE DATE: LEONARD V.B. SUTTON COLLOQUIUM

  February 15, 2025
  9:00 am - 5:00 pm MST | University of Denver Sturm College of Law

  Leonard v.B. Sutton Colloquium: Human Rights and Reproductive Justice: International and Comparative Perspectives. 

  Rebecca Cook, Professor Emerita, Faculty of Law, the Faculty of Medicine and the Joint Centre for Bioethics at the University of Toronto, and Co-Director, International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program will deliver the keynote address.

• SAVE THE DATE: Myres S. McDougal Distinguished Lecture

  March 13, 2025
  5:00 - 6:00 p, MST | University of Denver Sturm College of Law

  Myres S. McDougal Distinguished Lecture 

  Tom Ginsburg, Leo Spitz Distinguished Service Professor of International Law, Ludwig and Hilde Wolf Research Scholar, Professor of Political Science, Faculty Director, Malyi Center for the Study of Institutional and Legal Integrity, Faculty Director, Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression, University of Chicago

Recent Programs

• 

  November 13, 2024
  12 noon - 1 pm (MST) | Zoom

  The Right to Legal Personhood of Marginalised Groups: Achieving Equal Recognition Before the Law for All, OUP 2024

  This recently published book explores the marginalization occurring because of barriers to the right to legal personhood—and how this right can be rectified and realized for these groups. It presents a legal argument for the protection of the right and a normative analysis of the importance of the right in maintaining equality in socio-legal systems.
   
  In this webinar, the author Professor Anna Arstein-Kerslake, an internationally recognised legal academic in the fields of human rights, disability rights, and gender justice will  provide an overview of the book and Professor Rashmi Goel  and https://www.law.du.edu/about/people/seth-packrone from the Sturm College of Law will comment from U.S. multiculturalism and disability law perspectives.

  WATCH THE VIDEO

   Link to the book at Oxford University Press
   

In the News

• 

  University of Denver Distinguished University Professor Ved Nanda to posthumously receive the American Bar Association Eleanor Roosevelt Prize for Global Human Rights Advancement

  Read More About The Nomination

  About the Eleanor Roosevelt Prize

• 

  Tales from the Hague by 2024 Leonard v.B. Sutton International Law Essay Winner Rachel Crass

  Rachel Crass, a 3L at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, spent several weeks of her 2024 summer studying at the Hague in the Netherlands as part of her award for winning the 2024 Leonard v.B. Sutton International Law Essay contest. When the Colorado Women's Bar Association learned of her award and Hague trip, they asked her to write a post for their blog, the 1891. 

  The Nanda Center is honored to continue the academic and experiential commitment to international law with the this annual award. 

  Read the Blog Post