Nancy Combs
Vice Dean, Professor of Law and
Director, Human Security Law Center
Email: [[ncombs]]
Office phone: (757) 221-3830
Office location: Room 107A
Areas of Specialization
Human Rights Law; International Criminal Law; International Law; Post-Conflict Justice; Transitional Justice
Currently Teaching
International Criminal Law
Representative Professional Activities and Achievements
Nancy Combs joined the faculty in 2004. A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall), Professor Combs was awarded the Thelin Marrin prize for graduating first in her class, and she served as an Articles Editor on the California Law Review. Professor Combs received her B.A., in philosophy, summa cum laude, from the University of Portland and her Ph.D. from Leiden University in December 2005. After law school, Professor Combs served as a law clerk to Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and to Justice Anthony Kennedy on the United States Supreme Court.
Prior to joining the faculty, Professor Combs served as legal advisor at the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal in The Hague, The Netherlands. Since joining the faculty, she has written extensively on topics in international law and international criminal justice, publishing two books and numerous articles and essays appearing in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, the Vanderbilt Law Review, the Hastings Law Journal, the Harvard International Law Journal, and the Chicago Journal of International Law, among others. She currently serves as member of the International Expert Framework, an international working group that is developing general rules and principles of international criminal procedure.
Professor Combs is a 2009 recipient of William and Mary's Alumni Award Fellowship Award for teaching excellence. Before attending university, Professor Combs owned and operated a chimney sweeping business.
Scholarly Publications
Books
- Fact-Finding Without Facts: The Uncertain Evidentiary Foundations of International Criminal Convictions (Cambridge Univ. Press 2010).
- Guilty Pleas in International Criminal Law: Constructing a Restorative Justice Approach (Stanford Univ. Press 2007).
Articles
- Legitimizing International Criminal Justice, 33 Mich. J. Int'l L. 321 (2012). SSRN.
- Regulation of Defense Counsel: An Evolution Toward Restriction and Legitimacy, in The Legacy of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (Bert Swart, Goran Sluiter, and Alexander Zahar eds., Oxford Univ. Press, forthcoming 2011).
- Obtaining Guilty Pleas for International Crimes: Prosecutorial Difficulties, in Transnational Perspectives on Prosecutorial Power (forthcoming 2011) (Erik Luna and Marianne Wade eds.).
- Evidence in International Criminal Law, in Handbook of International Criminal Law (William Schabas & Nadia Bernaz eds., Routledge Press, 2010).
- Symposium Issue, Testimonial Deficiencies and Evidentiary Uncertainties in International Criminal Trials, 14 UCLA J. Int'l L. & Foreign Aff. 235 (2009) (solicited). SSRN.
- Plea Bargaining, in International Criminal Law (M. Cherif Bassiouni ed., Transnat'l Publishers 3d ed. 2008).
- Procuring Guilty Pleas for International Crimes: The Limited Influence of Sentencing Discounts, 59 Vand. L. Rev. 69 (2006).
- Profile: Judge George H. Aldrich, 7 Int'l L.F. D. Int'l 47 (2005).
- The International Criminal Court: An Analysis, in The Hague: Legal Capital of the World (Peter J. van Krieken & David McKay eds., Asser Press 2005).
- International Decisions: Prosecutor v. Plavsic, 97 Am. J. Int'l L. 929 (2003).
- Establishing the International Court, 5 Int'l L.F. 77 (2003).
- Copping a Plea to Genocide: The Plea Bargaining of International Crimes, 151 U. Pa. L. Rev. 1 (2002).
- International Criminal Jurisprudence Comes of Age: The Substance and Procedure of an Emerging Discipline, 42 Harv. Int'l L.J. 555 (2001).
- Carter, Reagan, and Khomeini: Presidential Transitions and International Law, 52 Hastings L.J. 303 (2001).
- Diplomatic Adjudication, 2 Chi. J. Int'l L. 267 (2001).
- On Children and Dual Nationality: Sabet and The Islamic Republic of Iran, 13 Leiden J. Int'l L. 173 (2000).
- Co-author, Introduction and Summary of Awards and Decisions and Orders, Iran-United States Claims Tribunal, in 25 Yearbook on Commercial Arbitration (2000).
- Toward a New Understanding of Abuse of Nationality in Claims Before the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal, 10 Am. Rev. Int'l Arb. 27 (1999).
- Words Not War: A Letter from The Netherlands, Portland, Spring 1998.
- Comment, Understanding Kaye Scholer: The Autonomous Citizen, the Managed Subject and the Role of the Lawyer, 82 Cal. L. Rev. 663 (1994).
