Mehdi Hakimi
- Executive Director, Rule of Law Program
- Room 337, Crown Quadrangle
Biography
Mehdi J. Hakimi is the Executive Director of the Rule of Law Program at Stanford Law School. He develops and implements projects in the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa. As Lecturer in Law, he also teaches classes on comparative law, law and development, and legal education.
He was the former Chair of the Law Department at the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF). In addition to teaching various courses, he founded and directed AUAF’s Business Law Clinic Program as well as the university’s Moot Court Program. Mehdi has worked with various institutions on international development and human rights issues including The Asia Foundation and Yale Law School.
Mehdi has served as counsel, consultant, and expert witness on comparative and foreign law issues in various jurisdictions including major country guidance cases in Europe and North America. His work has been cited and quoted in judicial decisions and litigation briefs in national and international proceedings. Mehdi has advised international organizations, governments, academic and research institutions, and global law firms on, inter alia, the Afghan legal system. He has also been referenced in publications by the European Union, as well as Congressionally-mandated reports examining U.S. policies and actions in Afghanistan.
His scholarship is published or forthcoming in the California Law Review, Yale Journal of International Law, Stanford Journal of International Law, Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, Michigan Journal of International Law, Georgetown Journal of International Law, Northwestern Journal of Human Rights, MENA Business Law Review, Judicature, and The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, among others. He has authored or co-authored multiple books on the laws of Afghanistan. His work has been translated into Farsi/Dari.
He has been interviewed by or featured in national and international media including Reuters, National Public Radio, Al Jazeera, Voice of America, Bloomberg, New York Daily News, Beijing News, The Pioneer, The Altamont Enterprise, The Diplomat, Tolo News, and other outlets. Mehdi is an LL.M. candidate at Harvard Law School. He also holds a J.D., an M.B.A., and a B.A. (Economics). A licensed attorney, he practiced litigation, international trade, and business law at a leading Canadian law firm. Born in Afghanistan, Mehdi speaks Persian/Farsi/Dari (native), English, Arabic, and French. For more information, please visit his personal website.
Education
- LL.M. (Candidate), Harvard Law School
- J.D., University of Ottawa
- M.B.A., University of Ottawa
- B.A. (Economics), Carleton University
Related Organizations
Projects
Iraq Legal Education Initiative
Launched in 2012, the Iraq Legal Education Initiative (ILEI) is a partnership between Stanford Law School and the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS). The project presentes a unique opportunity to build a center of excellence for legal education in Kurdish Iraq.
Learn moreRwanda Legal Development Project
Since 2013, the Rule of Law Program has partnered with the Rwanda Law Reform Commission to produce extensive policy analysis around the feasibility of a national Interpretation Law. In 2016-17, the Rule of Law Program will focus on producing materials that the government can use to train and sensitize legal practitioners, legislative drafters, and law students on the effects of the reform. Interested students should take the State-building and Rule of Law Seminar in winter quarter.
Learn moreCambodia Law and Policy Initiative
The Rule of Law Program has been working in Cambodia since 2015. The Program is working with Destination Justice, a nongovernmental organization, to produce an annotated Constitution, and formerly assisted the English Language Based Bachelor of Law Program at the Royal University of Law and Economics with academic accreditation.
Learn more