Ashley Deeks
Academic Fellow
Education -
J.D. with honors, University of Chicago Law School, 1998
- B.A. magna cum laude, Art History, Williams College, 1993
Experience
After graduating from law school, Ashley clerked for then-Chief Judge Edward Becker on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. She then joined the U.S. Department of State’s Office of the Legal Adviser, where she served most recently as the Assistant Legal Adviser for Political-Military Affairs, advising on the law of armed conflict, the use of force, conventional weapons, and the legal framework for the conflict with al Qaeda, as well as intelligence issues. In previous positions at the State Department, Ashley handled international law enforcement and diplomatic property questions. In 2005, she served as the Embassy Legal Adviser at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. She received several State Department Superior and Meritorious Service Awards.
Ashley was a 2007-08 Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow and a Visiting Fellow in residence at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Research InterestsInternational Law
Law of Armed Conflict
National Security Law
Comparative Law
Selected Publications• Litigating How We Fight (forthcoming), in International Law & the Changing Character of War, Newport, RI: Naval War College (2011)
• Administrative Detention in Armed Conflict, 40 Case W. Res. J. Int’l L. 403 (2009)
• Starting from Here, in International Law & Military Operations, Newport, RI: Naval War College (2009)
• Promises Not to Torture: Diplomatic Assurances in U.S. Courts, Am. Soc’y Int’l L. Discussion Paper (2008)
• European Court of Human Rights: Case of Saadi v. Italy, 47 Int’l Legal Mats. 542 (2008)
• Avoiding Transfers to Torture, Council on Foreign Relations Special Report (2008)
• Iraq’s Constitution: A Drafting History (with co-author), 40 Cornell Int’l L. J. 1 (2007)
• Iraq’s Constitution and the Rule of Law, 28 Whittier L. Rev. 837 (2007)
• Inside L: Some Thoughts on the Office of the Legal Adviser, 2 Chi. J. Int’l L. 503 (2001)
• Raising the Cost of Lying: Rethinking Erie for Judicial Estoppel, 64 U. Chi. L. Rev. 873 (1997)
