Current Members
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Judge Joan E. Donoghue
(Member of the Court since 9 September 2010)
Previous position:
United States Department of State
2007-2010: Principal Deputy Legal Adviser: Senior career attorney of the Department of State;
Acting Legal Adviser, January to June 2009 (advice to Secretary Clinton and President Obama on
all aspects of international law); Advice on development, interpretation and application of
international humanitarian law and human rights law; United States submissions in advisory
proceedings in Accordance with International Law of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence
by the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government of Kosovo (International Court of Justice);
Advice on drafting, negotiation and implementation of resolutions of the Security Council, General
Assembly and other United Nations bodies; Oversight of legal work related to the law of the sea,
Antarctica, the Arctic, fisheries and the environment; Supervision of United States advocacy in
Iran-United States Claims Tribunal and North American Free-Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
investor-state arbitration; Head of delegation, bilateral claims negotiations with Iraq; Legal advice
and congressional testimony regarding 2008 United States-Iraq Security Agreement and Strategic
Framework Agreement; Implementation of President Obama's Executive Orders on Guantanamo,
detention and interrogation; Oversight of treaty approval process, including testimony for advice
and consent of United States Senate; Representative to United States-European Union Legal
Dialogue; Representative to Council of Europe Committee of Legal Advisers.
Previous international law positions:
George Washington University School of Law (2005): Adjunct Professor, Public International Law.
United States Department of State
2000-2001: Deputy Legal Adviser: oversight of bilateral law enforcement co-operation; Implementation of legislation on foreign assistance and economic sanctions; Supervision of international economic issues, including legal aspects of bilateral investment treaty (BIT) negotiation and formulation of model BIT provisions.1994-1999: Assistant Legal Adviser for Economic and Business Affairs: legal adviser in negotiation of understandings with the European Community regarding United States economic sanctions and conflicts of jurisdiction; Litigation regarding United States state and local sanctions (Crosby v. National Foreign Trade Council, United States Supreme Court); Legal adviser and supervisor in investment negotiations (bilateral investment treaties and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Multilateral Agreement on Investment); Legal advice regarding OECD Anti-Corruption Convention; Formulation of United States positions in NAFTA investor-state cases (Loewen Group, Methanex); Legal adviser in bilateral aviation negotiations.
1993-1994: Assistant Legal Adviser for African Affairs: legal advice on the transition to democracy in South Africa, including work with United States Congress to revise federal law and work with United States states to repeal state sanctions; Advice on international humanitarian law, including on the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda; Advice on recognition and state succession.
Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow and visiting professor, Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California at Berkeley (1992): research and writing on international environmental law and immunities law; Teaching of United States foreign relations law and international environmental law.
Georgetown University Law Center (1991): Adjunct Professor, Foreign Relations Law.
United States Department of State
1989-1991: Assistant Legal Adviser for Oceans, Environment and Science: legal adviser,
negotiation of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; Legal adviser,
negotiation of Protocol Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife to the Cartagena
Convention; Legal Adviser, Meeting of the Consultative Parties to the Antarctic Treaty;
Formulation of positions in General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade dispute settlement
(Tuna-Dolphin and Turtle-Shrimp); Submission to United States Senate of United States-USSR
treaty on maritime boundary; Representative to legal expert groups on liability for environmental
damage; Head of delegation and legal adviser in fisheries negotiations.
1986-1989: Director, Office of Diplomatic Law and Litigation: head of office responsible for
foreign state immunity, head of state immunity, immunity of diplomats and special missions
immunity; Litigation and legislation regarding United States Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act;
Litigation regarding immunity of Heads of State, diplomats and other personnel; Congressional
testimony regarding diplomatic immunity; Negotiation of international agreements governing
privileges and immunities.
1986: Attorney, Office of Law Enforcement and Intelligence: negotiation of extradition and mutual legal assistance agreements; Legal advice related to international narcotics issues.
1984-1986: Attorney, Office of Inter-American Affairs: member, United States team in Nicaragua v. United States (International Court of Justice); United States-Cuba migration negotiations; Legal advice regarding implementation of Panama Canal Treaty; Legal adviser in negotiation of Commission for the Study of Alternatives to the Panama Canal (United States-Panama-Japan).
Other professional experience:
Freddie Mac, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary (2003-2005); Associate General Counsel, Legislative and Regulatory Affairs (2001-2003): leadership of Office of General Counsel after Board of Directors replaced the most senior executives in 2003 (initially as Acting General Counsel); Oversight of all litigation in regulatory and judicial proceedings; Overhaul of corporate governance; Elected Member of Board of Directors.
United States Department of the Treasury (1999-2000), Deputy General Counsel: supervision of all aspects of Department's legal work; Oversight of legal advice regarding regulations, licences and litigation under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act; Supervision of legal work with respect to international financial institutions; Management of litigation against Department of the Treasury.
Covington & Burling, Washington, D.C. (1981-1984) Federal court and administrative litigation.
Education:
Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, J.D., 1981; University of California, Santa Cruz, B.A. with Honours in Russian Studies; BA with Honours in Biology, 1978;
Publications:
"The public face of private international law: prospects for a convention on foreign State immunity", 57 Law and Contemporary Problems 305 (1994); "International law and policy-making about global change", in The Ecological and Social Dimensions of Global Change (David D. Caron, Terry Chapin, Joan Donoghue, Mary Firestone, John Harte and Lisa Wells, eds., Institute of International Studies, University of California at Berkeley, 1994); Book review, The International Politics of the Environment, by Andrew Hurrell and Benedict Kingsbury, 88 American Journal of International Law 411 (1994); "EC participation in the protection of the marine environment", 17 Marine Policy 515 (1993); "Taking the 'sovereign' out of the foreign sovereign immunities act: a functional approach to the commercial activities exception", 17 Yale Journal of International Law 489 (1992); "The trade provisions of international environmental agreements: can they be reconciled with the GATT?", 86 American Society of International Law Proceedings 233 (1992); "Perpetual immunity for foreign diplomats? A response to 'the Abisinito Affair: a restrictive theory of diplomatic immunity?'", 27 Columbia Journal of Transnational Law 615 (1989).
Selected honours and awards:
Distinguished Honor Award (highest award given by the Secretary of State) (2009); Presidential Rank Award (Meritorious Executive) (2009); Younger Federal Lawyer (awarded by the Federal Bar Association) (1988).
Other information:
Member, American Society of International Law; Member, District of Columbia Bar Association; Studied Russian, Arabic, Spanish and French.