Laurel E. Fletcher is Clinical Professor of Law at UC Berkeley, School of Law. Fletcher is active in the areas of human rights, humanitarian law, international criminal justice, and transitional justice. Fletcher has advocated on behalf of victims before international courts and tribunals, and has issued numerous human rights reports on topics ranging from sexual violence in armed conflict to human rights violations of tipped workers in the US restaurant industry. She also has conducted several empirical human rights studies, including of the impact of detention on former detainees who were held in U.S. custody in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. She served as co-Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Transitional Justice (2011-2015). Fletcher was selected as a Herbert Smith Freehills Visitor to the Faculty of Law in the University of Cambridge for 2019.
Her recent publications include A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing? Transitional Justice and the Effacement of State Accountability for International Crimes, 39 Fordham Int’l L.J. 447 (2016); Refracted Justice: The Imagined Victim and the International Criminal Court, in “Contested Justice: the Politics and Practice of International Criminal Court Interventions” 302 (C.M. De Vos, Sara Kendall & Carsten Stahn eds., Cambridge Univ. Press, 2015); and Writing Transitional Justice: An Empirical Evaluation of Transitional Justice Scholarship in Academic Journals, 7 J. Hum. Rts. Prac. 177 (2015) (co-author: Harvey M. Weinstein). In 2009, she and Eric Stover published “The Guantanamo Effect: Exposing the Consequences of U.S. Detention and Interrogation Practices” (UC Press).
Education
B.A., Brandeis University (1986)
J.D., Harvard University (1990)
Laurel E Fletcher is teaching the following courses in Spring 2025:
• 283I sec. 001 - Global Rights Innovation Lab Clinic Seminar
• 295.5O sec. 001 - Global Rights Innovation Lab Clinic
Courses During Other Semesters
| Semester | Course Num | Course Title |  Teaching Evaluations | Fall 2025 | 263 sec. 001 | International Human Rights | 283I sec. 001 | Global Rights Innovation Lab Clinic Seminar | 283M sec. 001 | Global Rights Innovation Lab Advanced Clinic Seminar | 295.52 sec. 001 | Global Rights Innovation Lab Advanced Clinic | 295.5O sec. 001 | Global Rights Innovation Lab Clinic | Fall 2024 | 262.53 sec. 001 | Technology and Human Rights | View Teaching Evaluation | 262.54 sec. 001 | Human Rights Futures: New Directions in Law and Practice | View Teaching Evaluation |
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UC Berkeley Law to open Global Rights Innovation Lab Clinic
“What we’re trying to do in GRIL is expand the opportunity to data science students who are also on a career path to work with clients and give them the opportunity to work alongside lawyers in a social justice space and (learn) how they can apply data for good,” said GRIL director Laurel Fletcher.
Human Rights Clinic Adds Expanded Domestic Agenda to Pathbreaking International Work
After a quarter century of pathbreaking international work, the Human Rights Clinic expands its domestic agenda, with Professor Roxanna Altholz ’99 at the helm.
New Resentencing Practicum Among a Slate of Fascinating, Varied Fall Course Offerings
The lineup is “a remarkable mix of classes covering topics relevant to practice areas old and new,” Professor and Associate Dean for J.D. Curriculum and Teaching Jonathan D. Glater says.
What I Should Have Said to Fernando Botero
“Overwhelmed by the paintings and awe-stuck by the artist who created them, I fumbled my few seconds with Mr. Botero. My memory is that I offered an anodyne appreciation of his work. If I could speak with him now, here is what I would say:,” writes Professor Laurel E. Fletcher in her opinion piece.
Timely Business-Related Offerings Among Berkeley Law’s Deep Reservoir of New Courses
A whopping 18 courses are available to Berkeley Law students for the first time this semester, including 3 focused on emerging areas in the corporate sector.
Rare Feat: Berkeley Law Students Present Their Research at Major International Forum
Selected to discuss their work at the recent event in Miami, where the vast majority of presenters were faculty scholars, “is a big deal,” says Professor Katerina Linos.
Standing Firm: How Berkeley Law Faculty and Students are Stepping Up to Advance and Defend Basic Rights
With basic rights in peril at home and around the world, the law school community is answering the call.
Full Steam Ahead: Clinical Program Names Roxanna Altholz ’99 and Ty Alper New Co-Directors
A change in leadership of Berkeley Law’s clinics arrives as the surging program adds faculty and plans to add more clinics.
International Human Rights Clinic Fights Growing Surveillance of Victims and Advocates
IHRLC co-directors Roxanna Altholz and Laurel E. Fletcher and clinical students help the Fundación Para la Justicia file a criminal complaint against the Mexican attorney general’s office for illegal surveillance, among other assistance.
US welcomes International Criminal Court action against Putin
Professor Katerina Linos and Professor Laura Fletcher weigh in on the powers and importance of how the ICC investigates war crimes allegations against Russia
When did it become illegal to defend human rights?
Professor Laurel Fletcher discusses that oppressive governments are criminalizing human rights activism by adopting cyberlaws that align with European standards which allow them to restrict legitimate online expression
Clinic Reveals ‘Increasingly Hostile Environment’ for Online Freedom of Expression in Gulf Nations
The International Human Rights Law Clinic found 225 credible incidents of online freedom of expression violations against human rights defenders.
‘Terrific Teachers, Superb Scholars, and Wonderful Colleagues’: Six Professors Awarded Faculty Chairs
Professors Katerina Linos, Steven Davidoff Solomon, Abbye Atkinson, Elisabeth Semel, Laurel E. Fletcher, and Jeffrey Selbin are honored for their contributions to scholarship and legal education.
New Podcast and Human Rights Blog Series Further Expand Miller Institute’s International Reach
“Borderlines” and a blog series on human rights broadens the reach of Berkeley Law’s hub for international law.
Mobilized: Students, Faculty, and Alumni Help New Project Address Afghanistan’s Humanitarian Crisis
Led by Afghan refugees who are also alumnae, the initiative will help Afghans seeking to leave the country and preserve evidence of human rights abuses committed by the Taliban.
Esteemed International Program Enlists New Cohort of Berkeley Law Student Fellows
Kelsey Peden ’21, Najia Humayun ’22, Christine Hulsizer ’21, and Simone Lieban Levine ’21 reap wide-ranging benefits from the unique Salzburg Cutler Fellow international law program.
Former UN High Commissioner Pillay Says It’s Time for the Human Rights Council to Act on Sri Lanka
Professor Laurel Fletcher, Director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic, interviews the former high commissioner of Sri Lanka, who served from 2008 to 2014, about the role of her office in addressing the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka in the final stages of the war and since that time, and her views on what the council should do at its upcoming session
Scattered But Not Distant
While COVID-19 brought in-person events to a screeching halt, Berkeley Law’s intellectual life has continued at full speed through a steady stream of timely online offerings. Other than brief pauses
Vision Quest: Charting a Path Forward for Berkeley Law’s Transformative Clinical Program
A change in leadership of Berkeley Law’s clinics arrives as the thriving program welcomes its biggest class of in-house students and solidifies plans to expand.
Clinic Defends Human Rights of Sri Lankan Torture Victim, Asks United Nations for Justice
Three International Human Rights Law Clinic students helped draft a complaint with the United Nations on behalf of a British citizen tortured by Sri Lankan officials in 2016.