Diane Orentlicher, Professor of International Law at American University, has been described by the Washington Diplomat as “one of the world’s leading authorities on human rights law and war crimes tribunals.” She has lectured and published widely on issues of transitional justice, international criminal law and other areas of public international law, and has testified before the United States Senate and House on a range of issues relating to both domestic human rights laws and U.S. foreign policy. Professor Orentlicher has served in various public positions, including as the Deputy for War Crimes Issues in the U.S. Department of State (2009-2011); United Nations Independent Expert on Combating Impunity (on appointment by the UN Secretary-General) and Special Advisor to the High Commissioner on National Minorities of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (on secondment from the U.S. Department of State).

Professor Orentlicher’s book Some Kind of Justice: The ICTY's Impact in Bosnia and Serbia (Oxford University Press 2018, 2^nd ed. 2019) has been described as “the definitive account” of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Recipient of the Pauline Ruyle Moore scholarship award, Some Kind of Justice offers a groundbreaking account of how an international criminal tribunal affects local communities and the factors that account for its changing impact over time.

Professor Orentlicher’s recent scholarship has explored the social and legal impact of other war crimes tribunals, such as the postwar International Military Tribunal for the Far East and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.