Bonnie Docherty

2012-2013 Academic Year

Lecturer on Law

Senior Clinical Instructor, International Human Rights Clinic

Appointments

• Senior Clinical Instructor, International Human Rights Clinic
• Lecturer on Law, Human Rights Program

Biographical Statement

Bonnie Docherty is a Lecturer on Law and Senior Clinical Instructor at the International Human Rights Clinic (IHRC). She is also a Senior Researcher in the Arms Division of Human Rights Watch. She is an expert on disarmament and international humanitarian law, particularly involving cluster munitions and civilian protection during armed conflict. Since 2001, she has played an active role, as both lawyer and field researcher, in the campaign against cluster munitions. Docherty participated in negotiations for the Convention on Cluster Munitions and has promoted strong implementation of the convention since its adoption in 2008. Her in-depth field investigations of cluster munition use in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Georgia helped galvanize international opposition to the weapons. Docherty has documented the civilian effects of armed conflict more broadly in Gaza, Israel, and Iraq and done research and advocacy surrounding incendiary weapons. She also has expertise in human rights and the environment, particularly the effects of mining on disadvantaged communities, and in freedom of expression. Docherty received her A.B. from Harvard University and her J.D. from Harvard Law School, where she was editor-in-chief of the Harvard Environmental Law Review, an executive editor for the Harvard Human Rights Journal, and an article editor for the Harvard International Law Journal.

Additional Information

Ms. Docherty will teach the clinical seminar Combating the Human Costs of Armed Conflict in the Fall 2012 term, and the clinical seminar The Promises and Challenges of Disarmament in the Spring 2013 term.

Representative Publications

• Docherty, Bonnie. "Meeting the Challenge: Protecting Civilians through the Convention on Cluster Munitions", Human Rights Watch (2010).
  Full text: WWW
  
• Docherty, Bonnie. "Chapters on Articles 2, 6, 7, and 8" in The Convention on Cluster Munitions: A Commentary (Gro Nystuen & Stuart Casey-Maslen eds., Oxford University Press, 2010).
  
• Docherty, Bonnie, Susannah Knox, Lauren Pappone & Anne Siders. "Bearing the Burden: The Effects of Mining on First Nations in British Columbia", Harvard Law School International Human Rights Clinic (2010).
  Full text: WWW
  
• Docherty, Bonnie & Tyler Giannini. "Confronting a Rising Tide: A Proposal for a Convention on Climate Change Refugees," 33 Harvard Environmental Law Review 349 (2009).
  Full text: WWW
  
• Docherty, Bonnie. "Breaking New Ground: the Convention on Cluster Munitions and the Evolution of International Humanitarian Law," 33 Human Rights Quarterly 934 (2009).
  
• Docherty, Bonnie. "Individual Property and Unlawful Destruction: An Expanded Compensation Model for Civilian Losses during Armed Conflict," Harvard International Law Journal Online, March 10, 2009.
  Full text: WWW
  
• Docherty, Bonnie. "The Time is Now: A Historical Argument for a Cluster Munitions Convention," 20 Harvard Human Rights Journal 53 (2007).
  Full text: WWW
  
• Docherty, Bonnie. "Challenging Boundaries: The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and International Environmental Law Protection," 10 NYU Environmental Law Journal 70 (2001).
  Full text: WWW
  
• Docherty, Bonnie. "Defamation Law: Positive Jurisprudence," 13 Harvard Human Rights Journal 263 (2000).
  Full text: WWW
  

Bibliography

View bibliography