Claudio Mauricio Grossman Guiloff (born November 26, 1947) is a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

and

law professor A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a legal practition ...

. From 1995 until the summer of 2016, he served as

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of the

Washington College of Law The American University Washington College of Law (AUWCL or WCL) is the law school of American University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It is located on the western side of Tenley Circle in the Tenleytown section of northw ...

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He continues to teach at the Washington College of Law and serve as Dean Emeritus. In November 2016, he was elected to the United Nations International Law Commission (ILC) for a five-year term. He was reelected to the ILC in 2021. In November 2021, he was also appointed Advisor without Portfolio to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. Grossman has also served as vice chair of the United Nations Committee Against Torture (2003–2008) and as Chairperson (2008–2015). He is a former member of the

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (the IACHR or, in the three other official languages Spanish, French, and Portuguese language, Portuguese CIDH, ''Comisión Interamericana de los Derechos Humanos'', ''Commission Interaméricaine des ...

(1993–2001). He was twice elected its president, first in 1996 and again in 2001. He was the IACHR's first Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women (1996–2000) and its Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Populations (2000–2001).

Early life and education

Grossman was born in Valparaíso, Chile. He attended the

law school A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...

at the

University of Chile The University of Chile () is a public university, public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

in Santiago. He received his Licenciado en Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales in March 1971, with a ''

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

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"Nacionalización y Compensación," coauthored with Carlos Portales.

Career

Grossman served as a

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

in the University of Chile's Faculty of Law in 1972 and as a

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at the Instituto de Estudios Internacionales (Institute of

International Studies International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

) at the University of Chile in 1973. From 1974 to 1980, Grossman was

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

at the Department of International Organizations of the Europa Institute of the Law School of the

University of Utrecht Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of 39,769 students, a ...

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. In August 1980, Grossman earned the ''Doctor in de Rechtsgeleerdheid'' (Doctor of the Science of Law) at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

. His thesis was ''Het Beginsel van Non-Interventie in de Organizatie van Amerikaanse Staten'' (The Principle of

Non-Intervention Non-interventionism or non-intervention is commonly understood as "a foreign policy of political or military non-involvement in foreign relations or in other countries' internal affairs". This is based on the grounds that a state should not inter ...

in the

Organization of American States The Organization of American States (OAS or OEA; ; ; ) is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, the OAS is ...

). From 1980 to 1983, Grossman was a professor in

at the Department of Law,

Universiteit Twente The University of Twente ( ; abbr. ) is a public technical university located in Enschede, Netherlands. The university has been placed in the top 170 universities in the world by multiple central ranking tables. In addition, the UT was ranked ...

. He serves on the Advisory Council for the

Crimes Against Humanity Initiative The Crimes Against Humanity Initiative is a rule of law research and advocacy project of the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute. Started in 2008 by Professor Leila Nadya Sadat, the Initiative has as its goals the study of the need for a comp ...

, a program from the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute at

Washington University School of Law The Washington University School of Law (WashU Law) is the law school of Washington University in St. Louis, a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1867, it is the oldest continuously operating law school west of the ...

in St. Louis, aimed at creating the first global treaty to prevent and punish crimes against humanity. In November 2021, he was appointed counsel without portfolio to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. His appointment faced criticism from civil society actors due to his alleged proximity to President

Sebastián Piñera Miguel Juan Sebastián Piñera Echenique (; 1 December 1949 – 6 February 2024) was a Chilean businessman and politician who served as President of Chile from 2010 to 2014 and again from 2018 to 2022. The son of a Christian Democratic Party (C ...

, especially at a time when the Prosecutor's Office was investigating communications denouncing the commission of crimes against humanity during the 2019 Chilean protests.

References

External links

Curriculum Vitae: Claudio GrossmanFaculty Profile: Claudio Grossman
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grossman, Claudio 1947 births Living people Eduardo de la Barra Lyceum alumni University of Chile alumni Chilean emigrants to the United States Chilean people of German descent Anti-torture activists Chilean human rights activists American human rights activists Members of the United Nations Committee against Torture Academics from Santiago, Chile Lawyers from Santiago, Chile American legal scholars Chilean officials of the United Nations Academic staff of the University of Chile