Professor Benjamin Davis appointed to American Bar Association Standing Committee on Law and National Security

July 24, 2015

Benjamin G. Davis, associate professor of law, was recently appointed to serve on the American Bar Association (ABA) Standing Committee on Law and National Security for a three-year term by ABA President-Elect Paulette Brown.

The ABA’s oldest standing committee, the Standing Committee on Law and National Security is charged with examining a wide variety of legal issues that exist in the national security sphere, including cybersecurity, military commissions, counter-terrorism threats, drones, laws of war, and international humanitarian law.

Davis, an international expert on topics such as cyber dispute resolution, drones, detainee treatment, military commissions, and domestic law issues, will join the committee at the 2015 ABA Annual Meeting next month. 

“It is a great opportunity to do important work with distinguished colleague members and advisory committee members on the pressing issues in the national security arena that confront America and the world,” said Davis. “I can then bring that experience back to my students to help deepen their understanding of cutting edge national security issues.”

Professor Davis has been working on issues of international law and national security for 12 years. In 2006 he led the successful effort to adopt the American Society of International Law Centennial Resolution on Laws of War and Detainee Treatment, only the eighth resolution in the history of that organization. He has testified in overseas cases on torture, and has spoken and written extensively on the topics of accountability and the military commission process in the national security arena. Davis also heads the College’s Guantanamo Bay Military Commissions Human Rights Observer Program for students and alumni. He is a graduate of Harvard College (BA), and Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School (JD/MBA).