It’s our great pleasure today to introduce Laurel E. Fletcher as an IntLawGrrls contributor. Laurel is Clinical Professor of Law at UC Berkeley, School of Law where she directs the International Human Rights Law Clinic. Laurel is active in the areas of human rights, humanitarian law, international criminal justice, and transitional justice. As director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic, she utilizes an interdisciplinary, problem-based approach to human rights research, advocacy, and policy.

Laurel has advocated on behalf of victims before international courts and tribunals, and has issued numerous human rights reports on topics ranging from sexual violence in armed conflict to human rights violations of tipped workers in the US restaurant industry. She also has conducted several empirical human rights studies, including of the impact of detention on former detainees who were held in U.S. custody in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. She served as co-Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Transitional Justice (2011-2015). Her first post discusses the contribution of state responsibility to transitional justice. Heartfelt welcome!