Diane Desierto

About/Bio

Prof. Dr. Diane Desierto (JSD, Yale) is Professor of Law and Global Affairs, Human Rights LLM Faculty Director, and Founding Director of the Global Human Rights Clinic at Notre Dame Law School, with a joint appointment at the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame (USA). She is a Faculty Fellow in five of the University's Institutes (Klau Center for Civil and Human Rights, Kellogg Institute of International Studies, Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, Pulte Institute for Global Development, and Nanovic Institute of European Studies); Professor of International Law and Human Rights at the Philippines Judicial Academy, and Co-Principal Investigator of the Notre Dame Reparations Design and Compliance Lab. Diane formerly clerked at the International Court of Justice, served as Director of Studies (and Faculty) at the Hague Academy of International Law, was Legal Adviser to the Philippines' Senate President and Vice-Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations; serves as Resource Expert for ASEAN, the Asian Development Bank, EU External Action Service, USAID, and is the current Chair-Rapporteur of the Expert Drafting Group of the UN Intergovernmental Working Group on the Right to Development. She teaches, publishes, and practices in the areas of public international law, international economic law and development, international human rights law and international humanitarian law, international arbitration and dispute settlement, maritime security, and all areas of ASEAN Law. Diane is a designated Affiliate and Philippines Focal Point of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Bar Association; counsel for Southeast Asia-related international claims and sovereign arbitration disputes where she has been successively hailed as one of the "Future Leaders in Arbitration" by Who's Who Legal; Member of the Advisory Board of Oxford Investment Claims and Co-Chair of the Oxford Investment Academy; Member of the Academic Forum for the UNCITRAL Working Group on Reform of ISDS; Member of the Drafting Team for the Hague Rules on Business and Human Rights Arbitration; Academic Council Member of the Institute of Transnational Arbitration; Listed Arbitrator of the British Virgin Islands Arbitration Centre; and a Member of the Editorial Board of the European Journal of International Law.

Recently Published

International Law Cannot Endure Without Human Rights.

After ten full years of serving as one of the intrepid Editors of EJIL:Talk!, and twelve years of service to the European Journal of International Law beginning with my membership in the Scientific Advisory Board in 2013 to the Editorial Board in 2021, I am grateful to complete my service and rejoin the world’s already-all-too-visible college of international…

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Undoing the Grand Bargain? Pax Americana and the United Nations

Since its 3 February 2025 Executive Order, the United States has engaged in a series of decisions to either pause or entirely remove funding for various international organizations and agencies within the United Nations system, including withdrawing from the World Health Organization, withdrawing from the United Nations Human Rights Council, the 90-day pause in…

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International Legal Protection for Mothers Experiencing Global Crises and Natural Disasters

Humanity now stands at a total population of 8.1 billion, of which 2 billion are mothers. Apropos of this year's Christmas celebrations throughout the Christian part of humanity, I've often had occasion to observe to my students that the classic Nativity story is also a stirring narrative of how the birth of Jesus Christ occurred…

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