Valerie C. Epps

Biography

Professor Epps has taught many subjects over the course of her career at the Law School. Most recently she focused on International Law, The Laws of War and Immigration Law. During the spring semester of 2016 she served as a Fulbright Specialist at The Women's Law College, Prince Sultan University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia where she taught International Law, International Human Rights and The Laws of War. She also consulted with the Law School's administrators on a variety of academic issues. During the spring semester of 2008, she was a Visiting Professor at Hongik University, College of Law, in Seoul, South Korea where she taught International Law and International Human Rights. She was awarded a Fulbright Distinguished Lectureship for the spring semester of 2006 to teach International Law and International Human Rights at Fudan University Law School, Shanghai, China. She has also taught at Boston University Law School, Brandeis University Legal Studies Department, and the University of San Diego School of Law's program in Paris, France and Mexico City, Mexico. She has served as the co-director and a lecturer at Suffolk's Summer Program on International and Comparative Law in Lund, Sweden and has lectured on International Human Rights for the International Bar Association in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and on International Law for the joint UMKC-Suffolk Continuing Legal Education Program in Oxford, U.K.

Education

• BA, University of Birmingham, England
• JD, Boston University
• LLM, Harvard University

Publications

Articles

• Secession, Stagnation and the State-Centered Version of International Law, 21 ILSA J. INT'L & COMP. L. 307 (2015)
• Civilian Casualties in Modern Warfare: The Death of the Collateral Damage Rule, 41 GA J. INT'L & COMP. L. 307 (2013)
• What Makes a State?, 106 AM. SOC'Y INT'L L. PROC. 446 (2012)
• Introduction to the Symposium on Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, 34 SUFFOLK TRANSNAT'L. L. REV. 473 (2011)
• The Paucity of Law in the International Court of Justice’s 2010 Advisory Opinion on Kosovo’s Declaration of Independence, 19 ILSA Q. 26 (2010)
• Rejecting the Supposed Right of Anticipatory Self-Defence, 2 NORTHEAST ASIAN L. REV. 1 (2008)
• Evolving Concepts of Self-Determination and Autonomy in International Law: The Legal Status of Tibet, 1 J. EAST ASIA & INT'L L. 217 (2008)
• The Medellin v. Texas Symposium: A Case Worthy of Comment, 31 SUFFOLK TRANSNAT'L L. REV. 209 (2008)
• Death Penalty Litigation and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 2 PARALLAX 23 (2004)
• Resolution of Claims to Self-Determination: The Expansion and Creation of Dispute Settlement Mechanisms, 10 ILSA J. INT'L & COMP. L. 377 (2004)
• Violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations: Time for Remedies, 11 WILLAMETTE J. INT'L L. & DISP. RESOL. 101 (2004)
• The Failure of Unilateralism as the Phoenix of Collective Security, 27 SUFFOLK TRANSNAT'L L. REV. 25 (2003)
• Joshua Castellino's and Steve Allen's Title to Territory in International Law, 98 AM. J. INT'L L. 869 (2003) (book review)
• The Soldier’s Obligation to Die when Ordered to Shoot Civilians or Face Death Himself, 37 NEW ENG. L. REV. 987 (2003)
• The Development of the Conceptual Framework Supporting International Extradition, 25 LOY. L.A. INT'L & COMP. L. REV. 369 (2003)
• International Legal Implications: Teach-In On Terrorism, 8 NEW ENG. L. REV. 81 (2002) (with Hilary Charlesworth and Michael Scharf)
• Thomas Grant’s The Recognition of States: Law and Practice in Debate and Evolution, 95 AM. J. INT'L L. 252 (2001) (book review)
• Self-Determination after Kosovo and East Timor, 6 ILSA J. INT'L & COMP. L. 445 (2000)
• Self-Determination in the Taiwan/China Context, 32 NEW ENG. L. REV. 685 (1998)
• Peace and Democracy: The Link and the Policy Implications, 4 ILSA J. INT'L & COMP. L. 347 (1998)
• The New Dynamics of Self-Determination, 3 ILSA J. INT'L & COMP. L. 433 (1997)
• The Changing Family and the United States Immigration Laws: The Impact of Medical Reproductive Technology on the Immigration and Nationality Act's Definition of the Family, 11 GEO. IMMIGR. L.J. 429 (1997) (with Bernard Friedland)
• The International Trial of the Century? A 'Cross-Fire' Exchange on the First Case Before the Yugoslavia War Crimes Tribunal, 29 CORNELL INT'L L.J. 635 (1996)
• Treaties -- U.S. - U.K. Extradition Treaties -- Rule of Expanded Political Offense - type Exception: In Re Requested Extradition of Smyth, 90 AM. J. INT'L L. 296 (1996)
• Towards Global Government: Reality or Oxymoron?, 2 ILSA J. INT'L & COMP. L. 717 (1996)
• Guide to International Human Rights Practice, 6 HARV. HUM. RTS. J. 267 (1993) (book review)
• Teaching International Law in the 1990's, by John King Gamble, 87 AM. J. INT'L L. 686 (1993) (book review)
• Forcible Abduction, Jurisdiction and Treaty Interpretation, 55 INT'L PRAC. NOTEBOOK 5 (1992)
• Reinstating the United States' Acceptance of the Compulsory Jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice, 34 BOSTON BAR J. 8 (1990)
• Reservations to Multilateral Treaties: The Convention Against Torture, 47 INT'L PRAC. NOTEBOOK 17 (1990)
• A Reply - The War Powers Resolution: Necessary and in Need of Reform, 44 INT'L PRAC. NOTEBOOK 10 (1989)

Books

• INTERNATIONAL LAW (Carolina Academic Press, 6th ed., 2019) (with John Cerone and Brad R. Roth)
• INTERNATIONAL LAW: EXAMPLES AND EXPLANATIONS (Wolters/Kluwer, 2nd ed., 2015) (with Lorie Graham)
• INTERNATIONAL LAW (5th ed., 2014)
• INTERNATIONAL LAW: EXAMPLES AND EXPLANATIONS (Aspen, 2011)
• DOCUMENTARY SUPPLEMENT TO INTERNATIONAL LAW (Carolina Academic Press, 4th ed., 2009)  

Book Chapters

The Geneva Conventions, in WILEY-BLACKWELL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GLOBALIZATION (George Ritzer ed., 2012)

Rejecting the Supposed Right to Anticipatory Self-Defence, in RIGHT OF PRIVATE DEFENCE (ICFAI University Press, A. Sabitha ed., 2009)

The Medellin v. Texas Symposium: A Case Worthy of Comment, in FOREIGN CRIMINALS: CONSULAR ASSISTANCE (ICFAI University Press, P.S. Prasad ed., 2009)

Human Rights and the International Criminal Court, in STICKS AND STONES: LIVING WITH UNCERTAIN WARS (Padraig O'Malley and Paul L. Atwood eds., 2006)

Amicus Curiae Brief in Commonwealth v. Diemer, in PROCEEDINGS OF THE INTERNATIONAL LAW ASSOCIATION (AM. BRANCH) (2004)

Providing Low Cost Clinical International Law Internships for Law Students, in 2001-2002 PROCEEDINGS OF THE INTERNATIONAL LAW ASSOCIATION (AM. BRANCH) (2002)

The Declaration of the Rights of Man, and the Citizen, the American Constitution and the Declaration of Independence: Eighteenth Century Investigations of Human Rights, in CELEBRATING HUMAN RIGHTS: PAPERS FROM THE BICENTENNIAL SYMPOSIUM ON HUMAN RIGHTS (Margaret Collins Weitz ed., 1990)

Abolishing the Political Offense Exception, in LEGAL RESPONSES TO INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM: U.S. PROCEDURAL ASPECTS ( M. Cherif Bassiouni ed., 1988)  

Other Publications

• Opposing Armed Attacks, THE KOREA TIMES AT P. 7 ( 2008 ) June 8, 2008
• U.S. No Longer Keeping Its Treaties, THE KOREA TIMES AT P. 9 ( 2008 ) April 27, 2008
• Kosovo, Tibet: Same or Different?, THE KOREA TIMES AT P. 7 ( 2008 ) March 27, 2008
• Nuclear States' Double Standard, THE KOREA TIMES AT P. 9 ( 2008 ) March 9, 2008
• INTERNATIONAL LAW VIDEO COURSE Elizabeth F. Defeis, Project Director, Chinese, Russian and Spanish Language Versions ( 1999 ) (on camera contributor)
• Enforcing Human Rights, ADVOCATE ( 1994 ) (Suffolk University Law School)
• PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT IN DIEMER V. MASSACHUSETTS, CERT. DENIED, 540 U.S. 1150 (2004) (co-author)

Media

• The Catherine T. Judge Teaching and Service Award (November 2019)
• Lecture: Sovereign Immunity in National and International Courts: Prosecuting Foreign State Terrorists : University of Missouri at Kansas City, Summer School, Oxford, U.K., August 3, 2016.
• Lecture to the Faculty of the Men's and Women's Law Colleges: Sovereign Immunity in National and International Courts, Prince Sultan University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 4, 2016.
• Panel presentation: The Right to Life: Defenses to the Death Penalty, Human Rights Day Conference, Women's Law College, Prince Sultan University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, April 7, 2016.
• Lecture: Assessing the Legality of Nuclear Weapons: Massachusetts Peace Action, Suffolk University Law School, Boston, MA. February 3, 2015.
• Co-Chair: Workshop on The U.N. and International Law: Can They Help with Global Crises?: Massachusetts Peace Action Conference: Foreign Policy For All, M.I.T. Cambridge, MA., November 8, 2014.
• Chair/Panelist: Self-Determination, Secession and Non-Intervention in the Age of Crimea and Kosovo, International Law Association (American Branch) Conference, New York, N.Y., October 24, 2014.
• Civilian Casualties in Modern Warfare, Athens Institute for Education and Research, Annual International Conference on Law, Athens, Greece, July 15th, 2014.
• Panelist: Civilian Casualties in Modern Warfare, Humanitarian Law Society, Suffolk University, Boston, MA., March 25 2014.
• Panelist: Finding Coherence in the European Court of Human Rights’ Religion Decisions International Law Association (American Branch) Conference, New York, N.Y., October 26, 2013.
• Chair Panelist: Intervention in Syria: Law, Morality and Consequences, Suffolk University, Boston, MA., September 9, 2013.
• Lecture given to the Harvard Ondontologial Society, Civilian Casualties in Modern Warfare, Cambridge, MA., November 15, 2012.
• Panelist: Foreign Sovereign Immunity in National Courts as Required by International Law, International Law Association (American Branch) Conference, New York, N.Y., October 25, 2012.
• Panelist: What Makes a State? American Society of International Law conference, Washington, D.C., March 30, 2012.
• Chair/Panelist: Civilian Causalities in Modern Warfare: The Death of the Collateral Damage Rule, International Law Association (American Branch) conference, New York, N.Y. October 22, 2011.
• Chair/Panelist: The International Court of Justice’s Role in Resolving the Kosovo Crisis, International Law Association (American Branch) conference, New York, N.Y., October 22, 2010.
• Lecture, The Distinction Between the Jus Ad Bellum and the Jus In Bello, Core Professional Training on Humanitarian Law and Policy, Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA June 14, 2010.
• Lecture, Overview of Public International Law, Core Professional Training on Humanitarian Law and Policy, Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA July 11, 2011.
• Chair/Panelist: Challenging Territorial Sovereignty, Secession, Autonomy or Status Quo: Kosovo, South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Moldova and Tibet, International Law Association (American Branch) conference, New York, N.Y. October 24, 2009.
• Chair/Panelist: Medellin v. Texas: U.S. Compliance with I.C.J. Judgments and Treaties, International Law Association (American Branch) conference, New York, N.Y. October 17, 2008.
• Panelist: Prosecuting and Judging Genocide Before International Tribunals, ILSA Conference on Understanding Genocide, Vermont Law School, South Royalton, VT., October 3, 2008.
• Lecture, Immigration, Refugee and Asylum Law: US/UK/EU: The Protocol to the Convention on Refugees and Its Relation to the Torture Convention, St. Edmund Hall, Oxford, U.K. Summer CLE program, August 7, 2008.
• Lecture, The Case Method, Socrates and Medellin v. Texas, Yonsei University College of Law, Seoul, South Korea, April 29, 2007.
• Delegate, International Association of Law Schools Conference: Learning from Each Other: Enriching the Law School Curriculum in an Interrelated World, Soochow University, Kenneth Wang Law School, Suzhou, China, Oct. 17-19, 2007.
• Lecture, Assessing the Legality of the US/Coalition Invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, Fudan University Law School, Shanghai, China, Oct. 16, 2007.
• Luncheon Speaker, Sovereignty, Self-Determination and Secession, American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, Boston, MA. Sept. 28, 2007.
• Lecture, Immigration, Refugee and Asylum Law US/UK/EU: The Protocol to the Refugee Convention and Its Relation to the Torture Convention. UMKC Summer Program, Oxford, U.K., August 1, 2007.
• Chair: Human Rights: Works in Progress, AALS-ASIL Conference, Vancouver, Canada, June 18, 2007.
• Panelist: Massachusetts’ Implementation of the Refugee Convention, Centennial Conference on Human Rights, Suffolk University Law School, April 26, 2007.
• Lecture: War Crimes, Boston Public Library for Worldboston, April 10, 2007.
• Moderator: Hot Button Issues in Immigration Law, Suffolk University Law School, April 5, 2007.
• Lecture: Six Months in Shanghai, St. Botolph’s Club, Boston, March 19, 2007.
• Panelist: The Rule of Law in Afghanistan, Suffolk University Law School, February 8, 2007.
• Panelist: Teaching International Law in a Globalized World, International Law Associate Conference, New York, October 28, 2006.
• Lectures Delivered at universities in China, 2006: “Assessing the Legality of the US/Coalition Invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq”; “The Death Penalty and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.” Fudan University Law School, Shanghai; Shanghai Jiao Tong University Law
• School, Shanghai; South-Central University of Nationalities, Wuhan; University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu.
• Chair: Command Responsibility: Prosecuting Military Commanders and Civilian Ministers for Violations of the Laws of War, International Law Association Conference, New York, October 22, 2005.
• Chair: Torture and Detention: Is This the American Way? Ford Hall Forum, Faneuil Hall, Boston, May 3, 2005.
• Panelist, The Critical Impact of Avena on Criminal and Immigration Cases, CLE Program, Suffolk University Law School, November 18, 2004, with accompanying materials.
• Panelist: The Use of Force and the Geneva Conventions, New England School of Law, Boston, October 30, 2004
• Chair and panelist: The Implementation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations after Avena, International Law Association (American Branch) New York, October 15, 2004.
• Panelist, Aspects of International Justice, Amnesty International Regional Conference, Boston University, November 13, 2004.
• International Bar Association, Human Rights Law Trainer for Iraqi judges, prosecutors and lawyers: Dubai, United Arab Emirates, June 19-24, 2004; September 6-10, 2004.
• Moderator: The Alien Tort Claims Act: Human Rights Tool or a Threat to Global Business? Suffolk University Law School, Moakley Institute, April 20, 2004.
• Chair and panelist at the Association of American Law Schools annual conference: The New Architecture of International Law After Iraq. Presented a paper: The Failure of Unilateralism as the Phoenix for Collective Security, January 4, 2004, Atlanta, GA.
• Panelist at MCLE Boston, sponsored by MASS LAWS: Public International Law: Dead or Alive? December 8, 2004.
• Panelist and chair at the International Law Association (American Branch) International Law Weekend. Presented a paper: Resolution of Claims to Self-Determination: The Expansion and Creation of Dispute Settlement Mechanisms, October 25, 2003, New York.
• Panelist at Conference on Sovereignty and Intervention, held at Tufts University, Medford, MA. (February 28, 2003): The International Criminal Court: Contested Jurisdiction.
• New England Cable News interview on Security Council Resolutions on Iraq (November 14, 2002).
• Panelist at Conference on: The ICTY at Ten: A Critical Assessment of The International Criminal Tribunal Over the Past Decade, held at New England School of Law, Boston (November 9, 2002): The Availability of the Defense of Duress to Charges of War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity.
• Lectures at Suffolk - UMKC Summer Law Program, St. Edmund Hall, Oxford University, U.K. 2002: Terrorism and the Laws of War (August 5, 2002); The Legality of Assassinations (August 7, 2002).
• Address on The Status of the Guantanamo Detainees, held at the Boston Bar Association (March 11, 2002).
• Panelist at conference on the International Right to Health; held at Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA.: Managing Globalization to Improve Health (March 20, 2002).
• Roundtable of Experts on Intermediate Sovereignty: New England School of Law: Sponsored by the Carnegie Foundation (May 4, 2001).
• Teach-In on Terrorism, Suffolk University Law School (September 20, 2001).
• ILSA Conference, New England School of Law: Winning Jessup Tactics (November 9, 2001).
• WBZ Radio Interview and Channel 56 News interview on terrorism (September 12, 2001).
• CNN interview on 9/11 events (September 21, 2001).
• Appeared on WGBH Channel 2 Greater Boston and NPR discussing the extradition of Roman Polanski (September 28, 2009).
• Appeared on WGBH Channel 2 Greater Boston on Zacharius Moussoui's indictment (December 12, 2001).
• Bridging Self-Determination and Territorial Sovereignty: Experts Round Table, Boston (May 4, 2001).
• Equal Access to Justice: Immigration Law, Boston (March 2, 2001).
• Globalizing Constitutional Law, AALS Conference (January 4, 2001).
• Universal Jurisdiction: Permissive or Mandatory, Boston (November 3, 2000).
• Teaching the Laws of War: Much Too Important to be Left to the Military Academies, New York (October 26, 2000).
• The Nagorno Karabach Crisis: A Time for Resolution, Conference Panelist: The Right to Self-Determination and Conflict Resolution, American University, Washington D.C. (May 18, 2000).
• Preventing Genocide Conference: Speaker on The Availability of International Courts, Suffolk University Law School, Boston (April 15, 2000).
• International Law Association's International Law Weekend Conference Panelist: 1) Innovations in Teaching International Law: International Law Clinics 2) Self-Determination After Kosovo and East Timor, New York (November 6, 1999).
• International Extradition and the Pinochet Case, Lecture, CLE Program, Oxford, U.K. (August 9, 1999).
• The War Over Kosovo: A Teach-In Forum, Speaker, The National Lawyers Guild, Suffolk University Law School, Boston (June 3, 1999)
• Panelist: The Kosovo Crisis and the Use of Force, Christ Church, Cambridge, MA. (April 17, 1999).
• Navigating the Frontiers of Work Related Immigration CLE Program, Suffolk University Law School, Boston (April 9th, 1999).
• New England Cable News, Interview on the Kosovo Crisis, April 2nd, 1999.
• Panelist: Innovations in Teaching International Law; International Law Association, Annual Conference, New York (November 13, 1998).
• Panelist: The Extradition of Augusto Pinochet; The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University (November 16, 1998).
• Panelist: Peace and Democracy: The Link and the Policy Options; International Law Association, Annual Conference, New York (November 7, 1997).
• Panelist: The Concept of Self in Self-Determination in the Taiwan/China Context, Conference on Bridging the Taiwan Strait, New England School of Law (October 17, 1997).
• Panelist: The Implementation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Conference on Transforming International Law into Reality, The Coalition for a Strong United Nations, Hampshire College Massachusetts (September 27, 1997).
• Moderator: The Indian Reorganization Act and the Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal: Legal Solutions in Sovereign Nations: Annual Academic Convention, Suffolk University, Boston, (March 8, 1997).
• Panelist: The New Dynamics of Self-Determination: International Law Association, Annual Conference, New York (November 1, 1996).
• Moderator: The Significance of the United Nations Secretary-General, John F. Kennedy Library, Boston, (October 13, 1996).
• Panelist, The International Trial of the Century: Reflections on the Yugoslavian War Crimes Tribunal, United Nations Association of Greater Boston, (March 12, 1996).
• Panelist, The World Court and the International Criminal Court, Conference on Reforming the United Nations, J. F. Kennedy Library, Boston, (November 11, 1995).
• Moderator: International War Crimes Tribunal: The Case of the Former Yugoslavia; Suffolk University, Boston, (April 28, 1994).

Professional Activities

Boston Committee on Foreign Relations: Board of Directors, 2009 to present. International Law Association (American Branch): Honorary Vice-President, 2012 to present; Vice-President, 2000-2012; Co-Director of Studies 2006-2011; International Committee on Teaching International Law, 1999-2011; Board of Editors: Prince Sultan University Research Review: An International Journal, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 2016 to present; International Association of Penal Law: Board of Directors, 2003 to 2015. Association of American Law Schools: International Law Section, Chair 2003-2004; Immigration Section Executive Committee: 1992-1994; International Law Students Association: Board of Directors, 2002 to 2006; Advisory Council: 2015 to present; United Nations Association of Greater Boston: Board of Directors, 1998 to 2015.

Bar Admittance

• MA
• Federal District Court of Mass.
• 1st Circuit Court of Appeals
• U.S. Supreme Court