Alex Whiting, who supervised prosecutions in the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in the Hague and most recently served as an assistant special counsel in the Special Counsel’s Office at the U.S. Department of Justice, returned to Harvard Law School as a professor of practice on July 1.
Whiting previously served as an assistant clinical professor of law at Harvard Law School from 2007 to 2010, as a professor of practice from 2013 to 2019, and as a visiting professor of practice from 2021 to 2023.
With extensive prosecutorial experience in both federal courts and international tribunals, Whiting specializes in international and domestic criminal law, international criminal tribunals, and evidence.
“Alex brings to our school practically unique experience running high-profile, high-stakes prosecutions and investigations,” said Harvard Law School Dean John C.P. Goldberg. “His top-level legal experience and track record of teaching excellence, combined with his longstanding commitment to HLS and our students, make him perfect for the role of professor of practice. I am thrilled he is rejoining our community.”
Prior to his federal government service, Whiting worked in the Kosovo Specialist Prosecutor’s Office from 2019 to 2023, successively holding positions as the head of investigations, deputy specialist prosecutor, and acting specialist prosecutor. From 2010 to 2013, Whiting served at the International Criminal Court overseeing ongoing investigations and prosecutions first as the investigation’s coordinator, and then as prosecutions coordinator in the Office of the Prosecutor. Previously he was a prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia from 2002 to 2007.
“I am delighted to return to teaching at HLS,” said Whiting. “One of my true passions is to be in the classroom engaging with the amazing students who attend this school.”
In returning to Harvard, Whiting added he is also looking forward to the opportunity to be closer to his twin sister Sarah Whiting, Dean and Josep Lluís Sert Professor of Architecture at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.
As a member of the Harvard Law faculty, Whiting has taught courses on war crimes prosecution, federal prosecution, government lawyering, and evidence, and he has supervised students working on legal projects for international criminal tribunals and nongovernmental organizations focused on war-crimes.
Whiting, who holds a bachelor’s degree and Juris Doctor from Yale University, began his career as a U.S. federal prosecutor. From 1991 to 2002, he first served with the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division in Washington, D.C., and then with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.
He is the author of “Prosecute Little Fish at the ICC,” co-written with Ward Ferdinandusse, published in the Journal of International Criminal Justice (2021); “A Program for the Next Prosecutor,” published in the Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law (2020); and “Dynamic Investigative Practice at the International Criminal Court,” published in the Law and Contemporary Problems (2013).
With Harvard Law Professor Martha Minow and Syracuse Law Professor Cora True-Frost, Whiting has edited a volume of essays that examine the role and the legacy of the first prosecutor for the ICC, Luis Moreno Ocampo. He also co-wrote “International Criminal Law: Cases and Commentary,” with Antonio Cassese, Guido Acquaviva, and Mary Fan (2011).
Whiting currently serves as editor of the Just Security blog, and he was a fellow, from 2021 to 2023, at the National Institute of Military Justice. He has served on several task forces, including for the American Society of the International Law International Criminal Court, where he published report on policy options for U.S. engagement with the ICC, and for the American Bar Association international criminal justice standards task force
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