Vijay Padmanabhan
Assistant Professor of Law
Voice: 615-322-2615
Fax: 615-322-6631
Email: vijay.padmanabhan@vanderbilt.edu
View curriculum vitae (.pdf)
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Research Interest(s)
International human rights and criminal law, national security law
Education
J.D. New York University School of Law
B.S. Georgetown University
Biography
Vijay Padmanabhan's teaching and scholarship addresses international law, national security law, international human rights law, and international criminal law. He previously taught at Cardozo School of Law. Before entering the legal academy, Professor Padmanabhan served in the Office of the Legal Adviser for the U.S. Department of State, based in Washington, D.C., from 2003-08, where he was an attorney-adviser for political and military affairs. He served as the State Department's chief counsel on Guantanamo and Iraq detainee litigation and advised the department on law of war, human rights and public diplomacy questions. He also was an attorney-adviser for international claims and investment disputes from 2003-06, during which time he worked on litigation at the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal and on Holocaust restitution claims. He received the office's Superior Honor Award in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Before joining the State Department's Office of the Legal Advisor, Professor Padmanabhan clerked for Judge James L. Dennis on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He graduated first in his class from Georgetown University, where he majored in international business and minored in English and economics, and studied at the London School of Economics during the 1997-98 academic year. Professor Padmanabhan is affiliated with Vanderbilt's International Legal Studies and Criminal Justice programs and teaches International Law, Human Rights Law and National Security Law.
Representative Publications
Articles
"To Transfer or Not to Transfer: Identifying and Protecting Relevant Human Rights Interests in Non-Refoulement," 80 Fordham Law Review 73 (2011)
“Four Challenges to the Geneva Conventions and Other Existing Law Posed by Detention Operations in Contemporary Conflicts,” 105 American Journal of International Law 1 (2011) (with John B. Bellinger III)
“Norm Internalization through Trials for Violations of International Law: Four Conditions for Success and Their Application to Trials of Detainees at Guantanamo Bay,” 31 University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law 427 (2010)
"Legacy of 9/11: Continuing the Humanization of Humanitarian Law," Journal of International Humanitarian Law(forthcoming 2012)
From Rome to Kampala: the U.S. Approach to the 2010 International Criminal Court Review Conference, Council on Foreign Relations Special Report No. 55 (2010)
"Separation of Powers and National Security," in Journalist Sourcebook for National Security Law (Paul Rosenzweig, ed., forthcoming 2012)
Introductory Note to “Judgments of the Human Rights Committee and European Court of Human Rights,” 49 International Law Materials 567 (2009)
Note, “Democracy’s Building Blocks: South Africa’s Electoral Commissions,” 77 New York University Law Review 1157 (2002)
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