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Cecile Aptel
Professor of the Practice of International Law
Contact Information
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(617) 627-4166
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160 Packard Avenue
Biography
Professor Cécile Aptel has been Professor of Practice of International Law at Fletcher since 2015. She is also a Visiting Scientist at Harvard. Her expertise covers international and transitional justice, the governance of new technologies, and child and human rights. Her international career spans major peace, justice and accountability efforts.
Prof. Aptel has held senior leadership positions across the United Nations, the Red Cross Movement, universities, and global NGOs, and has worked and lived in several countries in Africa, the Americas, Europe and the Middle East. She recently served as Deputy Director of the UNICEF Global Office of Research and Foresight and Deputy Director of UNIDIR. Previously, she was Director and Acting Under�Secretary�General at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and before that served as the top legal policy adviser to successive UN High Commissioners for Human Rights, leading OHCHR's global work on rule of law and democracy.
Prof. Aptel has played a central role in establishing several major international justice institutions. She directed the creation of the UN International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism on Syria (IIIM), helped set up the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, and contributed to the establishment of the Special Court of Bosnia�Herzegovina. She has participated in multiple international investigations, including in Lebanon (UNIIIC) and in Africa for the UN Office of Internal Oversight. Earlier in her career, she helped found the UN international tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, where she worked for a decade and drafted several landmark judgments, including the first judgment on genocide.
Prof. Aptel has also served as a consultant for UNICEF, UNODC, and the International Center for Transitional Justice, where she established the organisation's first programme on children and justice. She was awarded the 2010 Jennings Randolph Senior Fellowship by the United States Institute of Peace for her pioneering work on justice for children, and has briefed the UN Security Council on children and armed conflict.
In addition to Fletcher, Prof. Aptel has taught at Harvard, the Geneva Graduate Institute, Geneva Academy, and the universities of Pretoria, Caen, and Oxford.
She holds a PhD in international law and is the author of more than 40 publications on international justice, human rights and the protection of children.
Prof. Aptel has held senior leadership positions across the United Nations, the Red Cross Movement, universities, and global NGOs, and has worked and lived in several countries in Africa, the Americas, Europe and the Middle East. She recently served as Deputy Director of the UNICEF Global Office of Research and Foresight and Deputy Director of UNIDIR. Previously, she was Director and Acting Under�Secretary�General at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and before that served as the top legal policy adviser to successive UN High Commissioners for Human Rights, leading OHCHR's global work on rule of law and democracy.
Prof. Aptel has played a central role in establishing several major international justice institutions. She directed the creation of the UN International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism on Syria (IIIM), helped set up the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, and contributed to the establishment of the Special Court of Bosnia�Herzegovina. She has participated in multiple international investigations, including in Lebanon (UNIIIC) and in Africa for the UN Office of Internal Oversight. Earlier in her career, she helped found the UN international tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, where she worked for a decade and drafted several landmark judgments, including the first judgment on genocide.
Prof. Aptel has also served as a consultant for UNICEF, UNODC, and the International Center for Transitional Justice, where she established the organisation's first programme on children and justice. She was awarded the 2010 Jennings Randolph Senior Fellowship by the United States Institute of Peace for her pioneering work on justice for children, and has briefed the UN Security Council on children and armed conflict.
In addition to Fletcher, Prof. Aptel has taught at Harvard, the Geneva Graduate Institute, Geneva Academy, and the universities of Pretoria, Caen, and Oxford.
She holds a PhD in international law and is the author of more than 40 publications on international justice, human rights and the protection of children.