Profile

S.J.D. (honoris causa) Case Western Reserve University

Professor David Crane was appointed a professor of practice at Syracuse University College of Law in the summer of 2006. Prior to that time he was a distinguished visiting professor for the 2005 academic year. From 2002-2005 he was the founding Chief Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, an international war crimes tribunal, appointed to that position by the Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan. Served With the rank of Undersecretary General, Professor Crane’s mandate was to prosecute those who bear the greatest responsibility for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other serious violations of international human rights committed during the civil war in Sierra Leone during the 1990’s. Among those he indicted for those horrific crimes was the President of Liberia, Charles Taylor, the first sitting African head of state in history to be held accountable. Professor Crane was the first American since Justice Robert Jackson and Telford Taylor at Nuremberg, in 1945, to be the Chief Prosecutor of an international war crimes tribunal. The Office of the Prosecutor is located with the Special Court in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Professor Crane served over 30 years in the federal government of the United States. Appointed to the Senior Executive Service of the United States in 1997, Mr. Crane has held numerous key managerial positions during his three decades of public service, to include a, and Waldemar A. Solf Professor of International Law at the United States Army Judge Advocate General’s School.

Professor Crane teaches international criminal law, international humanitarian law, and national security law at the College of Law. Additionally, he is a member of the faculty of the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism, a joint venture with the Maxwell School of Public Citizenship at Syracuse University. Professor Crane is on the leadership council of the American Bar Association’s International Law Section and currently serves as a co-chair on the sections International Criminal Court Task Force. In 2006/7, he founded Impunity Watch (www.impunitywatch.com) a law review and public service blog.

Professor Crane holds a Juris Doctor degree from Syracuse University, a Masters of Arts Degree in African Studies and a Bachelor of General Studies in History, summa cum laude, from Ohio University. For his service to humanity, Case Western Reserve University in Ohio awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in May 2008.

Various other awards include the Intelligence Community Gold Seal Medallion, the Department of Defense/DoDIG Distinguished Civilian Service Medal, and the Legion of Merit. In September of 2006 Professor Crane was given a key to the City of Highland Park, Illinois where he attended high school.

Professor Crane was a 2006 George Arents Pioneer Medal recipient from Syracuse University. In 2005, he was awarded the Medal of Merit from Ohio University and the Distinguished Service Award from Syracuse University College of Law for his work in West Africa. Prior to his departure from West Africa, Professor Crane was made an honorary Paramount Chief by the Civil Society Organizations of Sierra Leone.

The Proceedings of the Second International Humanitarian Dialogs (Elizabeth Anderson and David Crane, Eds., 2009).

The Special Court for Sierra Leone, in International Criminal Law (Cherif Bassiouni, ed., 3^rd edition, 2008).

 

 

“Back to the Future”—Reflections on the Beginning of the Beginning: International Criminal Law in the Twenty-First Century, Fordham Int’l L.J. Vol. 32, Number 6 (June 2009)