Ratner, Michael

Michael Ratner is vice-president of the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York. He has litigated numerous cases in the U.S. against major international human rights violations that have expanded the reach of customary international law and resulted in millions of dollar judgments for abuse victims. He was a principal counsel in the successful suit to close the camp for HIV-positive Haitian refugees on Guantanamo Base, Cuba. His previous work has included: Special Counsel (with Reed Brody) to Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to assist in the prosecution of human rights crimes; Instructor, Yale Law School, International Human Rights Law Clinic; Legal Director, Central for Constitutional Rights; President National Lawyers' Guild; and Clerk, U.S. District Court, Judge Constance Baker Motley. He is the co-author with Beth Stephens of International Human Rights Litigation in U.S. Courts (Transnational Publishers, Inc., 1996). He has won numerous awards including Trial Lawyer of the Year from the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice. Currently he is the Skelly Wright Fellow at Yale Law School where he teaches international human rights litigation.