Winner of Thielen-Marin Prize for Best Academic Record ; Note and Comment Editor, California Law Review.

American Society of International Law : Member

International Law Association, American Branch : Member

Human Rights Advocates, National Advisory Board : Member

Center for Justice and Accountability : Legal Advisory Board

Due Process of Law Foundation : Board of Directors

After Amnesties are Gone: Latin American National Courts and the New Contours of the Fight Against Impunity

Central America, the Inter-American System, and Accountability for International Crimes

Editorial, Special Issue on Transitional Justice and International Criminal Justice

Reparations for Violations of and Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights

Reparations and Development

Social Reconstruction as a Local Process

The Pinochet Effect

Dealing with the aftermath of civil conflict or the fall of a repressive government continues to trouble countries throughout the world. Whereas much of the 1990s was occupied with debates concerning the relative merits of criminal prosecutions and truth commissions, by the end of the decade a consensus emerged that this either/or approach was inappropriate and unnecessary. A second generation of transitional justice experiences have stressed both truth and justice and recognize that a single method may inadequately serve societies rebuilding after conflict or dictatorship. Based on studies in ten countries, this book analyzes how some combine multiple institutions, others experiment with community-level initiatives that draw on traditional law and culture, whilst others combine internal actions with transnational or international ones. The authors argue that transitional justice efforts must also consider the challenges to legitimacy and local ownership emerging after external military intervention or occupation.

Transitional Justice in the Twenty-First Century: Beyond Truth versus Justice

Like much of Latin America, Argentina, Chile and Brazil experienced long military dictatorships whose influence lingered even after democracy was restored. But the three have begun to pursue prosecutions and reparations that are now seen as a template for similar efforts around the world.

From Amnesty to Accountability: Transitional Justice in South America (World Politics Review Features)

As dictatorships topple around the world and transitional regimes emerge from the political rubble, the new governments inherit a legacy of widespread repression against the civilian population. This repression ranges from torture, forced disappearances, and imprisonment to the killings of both real and perceived political opponents. Nonetheless, the official status of the perpetrators shields them from sanction, creating a culture of impunity in which the most inhumane acts can be carried out without fear of repercussions. The new governments wrestle with whether or not to investigate prior wrongdoings by state officials. They must determine who, if any, of those responsible for the worst crimes should be brought to justice, even if this means annulling a previous amnesty law or risking a violent backlash by military or security forces. Finally, they have to decide how to compensate the victims of this repression, if at all. Beginning with a general consideration of theories of punishment and redress for victims, Impunity and Human Rights in International Law and Practice explores how international law provides guidance on these issues of investigation, prosecution, and compensation. It reviews some of the more well-known historical examples of societies grappling with impunity, including those arising from the Second World War and from the fall of the Greek, Spanish, and Portuguese dictatorships in the 1970s. Country studies from around the world look at how the problem of impunity has been dealt with in practice in the last two decades. The work then distills these experiences into a general discussion of what has and hasn't worked. It concludes by considering the role of international law and institutions in the future, especially given renewed interest in international mechanisms to punish wrong-doers. As individuals, governments, and international organizations come to grips with histories of repression and impunity in countries around the world, the need to define legal procedures and criteria for dealing with past abuses of human rights takes on a special importance. Impunity and Human Rights in International Law and Practice aims to share their experiences in the hope that lawyers, scholars, and activists in those countries where dealing with the past is only now becoming an imperative may learn from those who have recently confronted similar challenges. This work will be essential reading for lawyers, political and social scientists, historians and journalists, as well as human rights experts concerned with this important issue.

Impunity and Human Rights in International Law and Practice

Nautilus Institute is pleased to announce the publication of Beyond Good Deeds, the recently issued report on corporate accountability. The goal of the report is to foster a more robust public debate on legal, political and institutional reforms needed to improve the responsibility and accountability of U.S. industry. Beyond Good Deeds examines the environmental and human rights challenges that confront multinational corporations in their global operations. It presents case studies from around the world, including Nigeria, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Ecuador, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, India, Costa Rica and the U.S., in two sectors-oil and high tech-which are of special importance both to the global and California economy. The report provides innovative policy recommendations for decision-makers seeking to improve corporate accountability.

Beyond Good Deeds: Case Studies and a New Policy Agenda for Corporate Accountability

The International Legal System: Cases and Materials, 6th (University Casebook Series) 6th (sixth) edition by Mary Ellen O'Connell, Richard F. Scott

UC Hastings College of the Law was founded in 1878 as the first law department of the University of California, and today is one of the top-rated law schools in the United States. Our alumni span the globe and are among the most respected lawyers, judges and business leaders today. Our faculty are nationally renowned as both teachers and scholars.

UC Hastings College of the Law

Professor Naomi Roht-Arriaza grew up in New York and Latin America, including stints in Chile, Guatemala and Costa Rica. She earned a B.A. from UC Berkeley, a M.A. from the UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy (formerly the Graduate School of Public Policy), and a J.D. from the UC Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall). Professor Roht-Arriaza has worked as an immigration paralegal, an organizer, and a teacher for a nonprofit focused on corporate accountability. After graduating from law school, she clerked for Judge James Browning of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. During 1991 to 1992, Professor Roht-Arriaza was the first Riesenfeld Fellow in International Law and Organizations at UC Berkeley School of Law.

Professor Roht-Arriaza is the author of The Pinochet Effect: Transnational Justice in the Age of Human Rights (2005) and Impunity and Human Rights in International Law and Practice (1995), and coeditor of Transitional Justice in the Twenty-First Century: Beyond Truth versus Justice. She is a coauthor on The International Legal System: Cases and Materials (6th Ed.) with Mary Ellen O’Connell and Dick Scott (Foundation Press 2010). She continues to write on accountability, both state and corporate, for human rights violations as well as on other human rights, international criminal law and global environmental issues. In 2011 she was a Democracy Fellow at the U.S. Agency for International Development, and in 2012 she was a Senior Fulbright Scholar in Botswana.

Transitional/Post-Conflict Justice

International Human Rights

International Humanitarian Law

International Criminal Law

Rule of Law

English

Spanish

French

Portuguese

Curriculum Vitae

Courses

Publications

Blog

From Amnesty to Accountability: Transitional Justice in South America

Facing Justice in the Court of Memory

Transitional justice and international criminal justice: a fraught relationship?

Deadly Aid : How U.S. foreign assistance is helping human rights violations -- and how to stop it

Distinguished Professor of Law

Naomi Roht-Arriaza comments from Guatemala City on the ongoing trial of former general and head of state Efraín Ríos Montt and his then-chief of intelligence on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity during the early stages of the Guatemalan civil war in the 1980s.

Naomi Roht-Arriaza is a professor at the University of California Hastings College of Law. She worked as a freelance journalist in Guatemala during the 1980s.

En español: http://youtu.be/ysuoDQgbCnE 

For more information about the Center for Latin American Studies at UC Berkeley, visit: http://clas.berkeley.edu

Naomi Roht-Arriaza on Rios Montt Trial

Naomi Roht-Arriaza habla desde Ciudad de  Guatemala sobre el juicio en curso al ex general y jefe de estado Efraín Ríos Montt y su entonces jefe de inteligencia por genocidio y crímenes contra la humanidad durante el comienzo de la guera civil en Guatemala en la década de 1980.


Naomi Roht-Arriaza es profesora en la Escuela de Derecho de la Universidad de California, Hastings. Trabajó como periodista independiente en Guatemala durante la década de 1980.

Also available in English: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOOJuL7vgW0

For more information about the Center for Latin American Studies at UC Berkeley, visit: http://clas.berkeley.edu

Naomi Roht-Arriaza sobre el juicio a Ríos Montt

On Wednesday 9 April 2014, Professor Naomi Roht-Arriaza, Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, gave a lecture in the context of the Supranational Criminal Law Lecture Series, entitled: "Genocide Prosecution in a National Court: Guatemala's Rios Montt Trial in Latin American Context".

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