California International Law Center

Given California's increasing importance as a player on the world stage, it is critical that we at the University of California engage globalization in a scholarly manner. And given that we at UC Davis serve a community of 30,000 students, we must prepare our students for a world in which transnational aspects become ubiquitous.

The University of California, Davis, School of Law has a tradition of engagement in matters of global consequence. Continuing that tradition, the California International Law Center fosters the work of faculty, students, and alumni in international, comparative, and transnational law, and in so doing the Center enhances California's role as a global actor.

The California International Law Center is designed first and foremost to give UC Davis School of Law students a greater connection to the practice of international law. It does so by bringing them into contact with leading international jurists, including judges from the International Court of Justice and the World Trade Organization, and with leading practitioners of international law, many of whom are alumni of UC Davis School of Law. We also offer a scholarly colloquium series in which international law scholars discuss their current research and administer summer fellowships for student engaging in human rights and public interest endeavors.

The California International Law Center also serves to highlight the international engagement of the UC Davis faculty and student body. The Center's Director, Fellow, and Faculty Council have deep and enduring interest on how law impacts the global community, publishing and consulting widely on pressing global issues—from cross-border crimes to transnational data flow, food security and global finance, international trade and immigration detention. Most importantly, our faculty prepare and guide our students for careers in our 21st century highly-globalized world.

The Center is honored by its long-standing partnerships with the American Society of International Law and other organizations committed to promoting the rule of law across the globe. The Center collaborated with the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights to build a framework for peace and reconciliation in that war-torn region of Sudan through the Darfur Project, partnered with the Foreign Trade Council to examine the impact of immigration on innovation and international trade, and engaged with Mars, Inc. to confront the critical and pervasive problem of the worst forms of child labor in agriculture.

The California International Law Center’s mission is to enhance our collective understanding of the possibilities and challenges as they relate to our community and our values. Guiding our vision and purpose is the law school's namesake, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., the 1964 Nobel Peace Prizewinner who seven years earlier had posed this question:

As we move to make justice a reality on the international scale, as we move to make justice a reality in this nation, how will the struggle be waged?

Through this Center our King Hall community continues to work for justice, at home and abroad. We hope that you will join us in our shared endeavor to better understand the processes of globalization and the role of law in enhancing human flourishing.

Dean Kevin R. Johnson

Anupam Chander Center Director