Kathleen M. Maloney

Visiting Professor of Law

Legal Research Center
Legal Assistant:

Biography

After practicing law for many years at both civil and criminal trial and appellate levels in Arizona, Professor Maloney worked as a Visiting Professional advising Appellate Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague. While at the ICC, Professor Maloney worked on multiple cases involving genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. She drafted opinions and judgments for Navi Pillay, Chief Judge in the Appeals Division, allowing her to complete numerous appeals and transition to Geneva as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Professor Maloney has prepared written and oral appellate arguments on genocide and conspiracy presented at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

More recently, Professor Maloney has been an amicus curiae before the ICC. Her work on ending impunity for forced marriage in conflict zones and as a crime against humanity has been cited by the ICC Appeals Chamber and published by the Journal of International Criminal Justice (2021) and the International Criminal Law Review (2023, forthcoming). Professor Maloney’s fieldwork and extensive research and writing on human rights, international development and disarmament, gender-based discrimination, and structural violence from child abuse and sexual assault to armed conflict and organized crime has been conducted across four continents. Her work for UN and Non-Governmental Organizations, academic institutes, and professional groups has been shared through speaking engagements, moderating and presenting at conferences, professional panels, and publication or broadcasts in domestic and global media.

Before joining Lewis & Clark Law’s faculty in 2012, Professor Maloney taught at Willamette University’s Human Rights Law Clinic. While teaching there, Professor Maloney directed, edited, and co-wrote a statewide study published in 2010, “Modern Slavery in Our Midst: A Human Rights Report on Ending Human Trafficking in Oregon.”

As a Fulbright Scholar in India for almost two years, Professor Maloney’s field interviews, research, and writing focused on factors perpetuating the low socioeconomic status of indigent, tribal, and rural women and identifying strategies for empowering them. She conducted case studies for the ILO, the FAO, and the Institute for Social Studies Trust (Bangalore).

Professor Maloney is a founding Board Member of Just Planet, an international human rights nonprofit promoting and defending human rights worldwide. She and her colleagues have made submissions to the UN Human Rights Council, treaty bodies, and experts, advancing the rights of indigenous peoples, children, women, and the right to life in the face of climate change and environmental degradation. Just Planet shared the 2023 UN Human Rights Prize for Universal Recognition of the Right to a Clean, Healthy, and Sustainable Environment with its partners.

Professor Maloney is a certified, court-connected Family Law Mediator handling cases involving custody, parenting time, and financial issues. She runs a private domestic relations mediation practice and volunteers as a small claims mediator in Multnomah and Clackamas counties.

Specialty Areas and Course Descriptions

Academic Credentials

  • B.A, MA, Stanford University
  • JD, University of Arizona, summa cum laude, Order of the Coif
  • MSt. (L.L.M. equivalent), Oxford University, Distinction, International Human Rights Law

Bibliography

Maloney, K. M., O’Brien, M., & Oosterveld, V. (2023). Forced Marriage as the Crime Against Humanity of ‘Other Inhumane Acts’ in the International Criminal Court’s Ongwen Case. International Criminal Law Review (published online ahead of print 2023). https://doi.org/10.1163/15718123-bja10157

Ending Impunity for Forced Marriage in Conflict Zones: The Need for Greater Judicial Emphasis on the Human Rights of Girls, Journal of International Criminal Justice, (July 2021)

Valerie Oosterveld, Kathleen M. Maloney and Melanie O’Brien, The ‘Other Inhumane Act’ of Forced Marriage in Prosecutor v Ongwen, http://opiniojuris.org/2022/05/03/symposium-in-pursuit-of-intersectional-justice-at-the-international-criminal-court-group-two-the-other-inhumane-act-of-forced-marriage-in-prosecutor-v-ongwen/

Modern Slavery in Our Midst: A Human Rights Report on Ending Human Trafficking in Oregon International Human Rights Clinic, Willamette University College of Law, 2010.

Humanizing Terrorism Through International Criminal Law: Equal Justice for Victims, Fair Treatment of Suspects, and Fundamental Human Rights at the ICC, Santa Clara Journal of International Law, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 69-86, 2010 https://doi.org/10.1093/cdj/21.1.52

Russia’s Nuclear Waste Law: A Response to the Legacy of Environmental Abuse in the Former Soviet Union Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law, Vol. 10, No. 2, 1993.

More than a Parley, Oxford University Press, Community Development Journal, Volume 21, Issue 1, January 1986, Pages 52–58, https://doi.org/10.1093/cdj/21.1.52