Elizabeth F. Defeis

Professor of Law
 SETON HALL LAW SCHOOL


(973)642-8868
 
 
Biography & Scholarship
Biography
Publications
Curriculum Vitae
Courses & Syllabi
Constitutional Law
International Human Rights
Public International Law
European Union Law
International Criminal Law
Gender and the Law
International Law Video Course
Biography


Prof. Elizabeth F. Defeis has lectured internationally on human rights, rule of law, democracy and constitution building, electoral reform and standards for independence of the judiciary. Her expertise has been requested by governments and intergovernmental institutions including the OSCE and the United Nations. She has lectured in countries ranging from Azerbaijan, Russia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, Guinea Bissau, Nepal, Italy, Egypt and Germany. She has also participated in fact finding missions in Gaza and the West Bank, Armenia and Moldova and in numerous international conferences including the U.N. Conference on Women in Beijing, China and the U.N. Conference on Human Rights in Vienna, Austria.

Professor Defeis teaches in the areas of International Law, International Human Rights, International Criminal Law, European Union Law and United States Constitutional Law. She was a visiting Professor of Law at the University of Milan and held the Distinguished Chair at the University of Naples, Italy. She was also a visiting Professor at St. Louis University, School of Law, St. John’s University School of Law and Temple University School of Law. Through Fulbright Scholarships and the Speakers Program of the U.S. State Department she has lectured at various universities including those in Russia, Iran, India, Bangladesh, Italy, Egypt, Kenya and Armenia. She is the recipient of numerous awards including a Ford Foundation Fellowship, a Reginald Heber Smith Fellowship and an Honorary Doctor of Law Degree from St. John’s University.

Professor Defeis has written extensively in the areas of International Law, Human Rights, Gender Equality, European Union Law and U.S. Constitutional Law. She is also the Producer/Host of television programs including the 15 part video course on Women and the Law, Human Rights and New Jersey, the 3 part series The Italians and the Creating of America and the 10 part International Law Television Course which has been translated into Chinese, Spanish and Russian and is in distribution in more than 25 countries.

Professor Defeis currently serves on the Council of International Affairs and the European Affairs Committee for the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and previously Chaired the International Law Committee and the Committee on the United Nations for the Association. She is active in numerous professional associations including the ABA, the New York and New Jersey State Bar Associations, the International Association of Jurists Italy/U.S.A. and the American Law Institute. She is a member of the Board of SUNSGLOW and is a director of the Albert Einstein Institution, which explores alternatives to violence in the international context. Professor Defeis was appointed by Governor Thomas Kean to chair the Urban Development Corporation for the State of New Jersey.

Professor Defeis received her J.D. from St. John's University School of Law and her LL.M. from New York University, School of Law. Prior to joining the faculty of Seton Hall Law School, Prof. Defeis was selected for the Honors Program with the United States Department of Justice and was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York. She was also an Associate with the Law Firm of Carter, Ledyard, Milburn in New York specializing in complex litigation and was a Reginald Heber Smith Fellow at Bedford Stuyvesant Legal Services in Brooklyn, N.Y. focusing on test case litigation.
Professor Defeis joined the faculty of Seton Hall Law School in 1971 and was Dean from 1983 to 1988.

 
Keynote Addresses and Presentations

Liberty and Security after 9/11, International Association of Jurists, Italy-USA, April 2008, Rive del Garda, Italy

Evolution of Human Rights in the European Union, Conference on Fifty Years of European Community Law, Fordham Law School on , March 1, 2008, New York, N.Y.

Targeted Sanctions and the European Union, International Law Weekend, October 2007

United Nations and its Influence on Harmonization of Domestic Laws,  ABA Showcase Panel, Washington DC, May 2007

Human Rights and the European Union, Association of the Bar of the City of New York, October 2006, New York, N.Y.

Frozen Conflicts in International Law, United Nations, October 2006, New York, N.Y.

Separatism in Moldova: Political and Legal Aspects of a "Frozen Conflict," Woodrow Wilson Center for International Relations, September 2006, Washington DC

Sexual Abuse and United Nations Peacekeepers and Gender Equality and the United Nations, University of Paris (Nice) under the auspices of Hofstra Law School, June 2006, Nice, France

The United Nations & Gender Equality, Distinguished Lecture, Thomas Jefferson School of Law, November 2005, San Diego, California

Constitution Building & Design in Post Soviet Republies, October 2005, New York County Lawyers Association, New York, N.Y.

 
Publications
 
Human Rights and the European Court of Justice: An Appraisal, 31 fordham int'l law journal 1104 (may, 2008).         

U.N. Peacekeepers and Sexual Abuse and Exploitation: An End to Impunity,    7 wash. u. global stud. l. rev. 185 (2008).

Dual System of Human Rights: The European Union, 14 ilsa j. int'l & comp. l. 1 (fall, 2007).

Targeted Sanctions, Human Rights, and the Court of First Instance of the European Community, 30 Fordham int'l l.j. 1449 (may, 2007).

Journal of Catholic Legal Studies 2006 Symposium: Can God and Caesar Coexist? Balancing Religious Freedom and International Law, 45 j. cath. leg. stud. 73 (2006).

A Constitution for the European Union? A Transatlantic Perspective, 19 temp. int'l & comp. l.j. 351 (fall, 2005).

2004: The European Union’s Year of Expansion: A Bill of Rights for the European Union, 11 ILSA j. int'l & comp. l. 471 (spring, 2005).

Universal Declaration of  Human Rights: A Standard for States, 28 seton hall legis. j. 259 (2004).

Equality and the European Union, 32 GA. J. INT'L & comp. l. 73 (Winter, 2004).

Women's Human Rights Violations and Sex Trafficking, Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons-A New Approach, 10 ilsa j. int'l & comp. l. 485 (spring, 2004).

Litigating Human Rights Abuses in United States Courts: Recent Developments, 10 ILSA J. int'l & comp. l. 319 (spring, 2004).

International Human Rights and the U.S. Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976:The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and Human Rights, 8 ilsa j. int'l & comp. l. 363 (spring, 2002).

Human Rights and the European Union: Who Decides? Possible Conflicts Between the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights, 19 DICk. j. int'l. l. 301 (winter, 2001).

International Elections Monitoring: Should Democracy be a Right?: Elections-a Global Right?, 19 wis. int'l. l. j. 321 (fall, 2001).

The Treaty of Amsterdam: The Next Step Towards Gender Equality?,              23 Boston College Journal of International Law Rev. 1 (winter, 1999).

Minority Rights and Bi-lateral Agreements:An Effective Mechanism, 22 hastings int'l comp. l. rev. 291 (winter, 1999).

Elections and Democracy: Armenia, A Case Study, 20 loyola int'l & comp. l. j. 455 (march, 1998).

A Tribute to Justice Sandra Day O'Connor from an International Perspective, 27 seton hall l. rev. 391 (1997).

Armenian Constitutional Referendum: Towards a Democratic Process, 9 temp. int'l & comp. l.j. 269 (fall, 1995).

Constitution Building in Armenia: A Nation Once Again, 2 Parker School Journal of Eastern European Law, (Columbia University) 153 (1995).

The Role of International Law in the Twenty-First Century: Women's Human Rights: The Twenty-first Century, 18 fordham int'l. l. j. 1748 (may, 1995).

Equity and Equality for Women-Ratification of International Covenants as a First Step, 3 seton hall const. l.j. 363 (fall, 1993).

Freedom of Speech and International Norms: A Response to Hate Speech,    29 stan. j. int'l l. 57 (fall, 1992).

An International Human Right: Gender Equality, 3 Journal of Women's Legal History 90 (1991).

Women's Legal Rights: International Covenants as Alternative to ERA, Transnational Publications (with Halberstam) (1988).

Justice William Brennan: A Perspective, 16 Seton Hall Law Rev. 429 (1986)

 

Video Programs (Partial Listing)

Public International Law: 10 program television series, funded by the Department of Education.

The Italians and the Creating of America: 3 part television Series funded by the Columbus Citizens Foundation.

Four Justices From New Jersey and the United States Supreme Court, Constitutional Bicentennial program funded by, inter alia,  N.J. Bell, Prudential Insurance and Whaley Foundation, 1989.

Alternatives to Violence, 3 part television series with Dr. Gene Sharp, funded by the Department of Education.

Women and the Law, 15-part television course funded by Exxon Educational Foundation and U.S. Department of Education.