Elena Baylis

Elena Baylis is a Visiting Professor of Law during the 2022-23 school year. Her permanent appointment is at the University of Pittsburgh, where she holds the position of Professor of Law in the Law School with a joint appointment (by courtesy) in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.

Professor Baylis is an expert in post-conflict justice. Her scholarship focuses on the intersections between international criminal law and rule of law initiatives, the role of transnational networks, and the interactions between international, national, and sub-national institutions and communities. She has written extensively about the new wave of hybrid courts and served as an expert and a primary drafter for the Dakar Guidelines on the Establishment of Hybrid Courts. She has conducted field research and worked on legal education/rule of law initiatives in several post-conflict states, including Kosovo, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Her research has been commissioned by the International Center for Transitional Justice and the US Institute of Peace. In the US context, she has also published papers on the risk of crimes against humanity within the United States, marriage equality, and national security policy.

Before joining the University of Pittsburgh, Professor Baylis taught at Mekelle University Law Faculty in Ethiopia as a Visiting Assistant Professor from the University of Alabama Law School. She practiced civil litigation and advised clients on foreign policy matters with Shea & Gardner in Washington, DC and clerked for Judge Mariana Pfalezer of the US District Court for the Central District of California. Professor Baylis is a graduate of Yale Law School, where she was awarded the Raphael Lemkin Prize for the best paper on international human rights. She earned her BA summa cum laude from the University of Oregon Honors College.