Lives of Consequence
Honorable Shireen Avis Fisher '70
Justice of the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone
Appointed by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in October 2013, the Honorable Shireen Avis Fisher ’70 currently serves as a Justice of the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone. She served as an Appeals Judge at the Special Court for Sierra Leone from 2009 through 2013, and was its president in 2012 and 2013. While President, she presided over the Appeal of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, the first sitting Head of State to be charged in an International Court with violation of international criminal law. Justice Fisher oversaw the judgment affirming Taylor’s conviction and 50-year sentence for aiding and abetting crimes against humanity committed by rebels during Sierra Leone’s civil war, and wrote a concurring opinion that has been credited with clarifying the essential elements of aiding and abetting liability in international criminal law.
Prior to her appointment to the Special Court, Justice Fisher was appointed by High Representative, (Lord) Paddy Ashdown, as an International Judge of the War Crimes Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where from 2005 through 2008 she adjudicated cases involving allegations of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide arising out of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. Between 2008 and 2009 she served as a Commissioner on the Kosovo Independent Judicial and Prosecutorial Commission.
She was appointed to the bench of the U.S. State of Vermont in 1986, having been called to the State and Federal Bar 10 years earlier. Justice Fisher represented the International Association of Women Judges from 2002 through 2012 as an independent expert to the Hague Conference on Private International Law, participating in Special Sessions for the drafting and review of Hague Treaties on international family law. After earning her B.A. from William Smith, Justice Fisher earned a Juris Doctor from the Columbus School of Law, Catholic University of America, and her LL.M in International Human Rights Law from University College London. In December 2014 she was awarded a Ph.D. in International Law from University College London, on the basis of her doctoral dissertation on judicial interpretation of treaty-based national law.
She has lectured on international law and has been involved in international judicial education and judicial institution building since 1993, including presenting at events sponsored by the United Nations, the European Union, Universities, NGO’s and other entities. Her recent publications include articles on gender sensitivity in international law and enforcement of sentences of those convicted of International Crimes. She was one of eight experts who prepared and presented the Expert Initiative on Promoting Effectiveness at the International Criminal Court, the report which was publicly released in December 2014. She is the 2014 recipient of the Global Justice of the Year Award, presented by Northwestern University School of Law’s Center for International Human Rights, as well as the “Commissioner’s Achievement Award” for her “efforts on behalf of children around the word” in recognition of her contributions to drafting the Hague Child Support Treaty. Recently she was honored by the Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice for inclusion and will be added to the Gender Justice Legacy Wall at the International Criminal Court. The wall is designed to “celebrate many of those who, over the past 125 years, have contributed to the field of international gender justice as practitioners, advocates, judges, prosecutors, grassroots and other organizations, survivors, witnesses, academics, diplomats and others.”
Justice Fisher’s husband, Gregg ’70, is a freelance composer and sound designer and retired head of the sound design department and Senior Lecturer in sound design at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (part of the University of London), where he taught from 2001 through 2016. He has recently finished scoring and designing sound for a production of “Angels in America” performed in London. Currently, he is composing for film and he is writing and composing a new musical, with the working title “Stop It.”
In 2015, the William Smith College Alumnae Association recognized Justice Fisher with its highest honor, the Alumna Achievement Award, which is presented to an alumna who, by reason of outstanding accomplishments in her particular business, profession or community service, has brought honor and distinction to her alma mater.