Honoring the Life and Legacy of Megan Fairlie

The international scholarly community lost a shining star with the untimely passing of Megan Fairlie, at age 52, a few days ago.

Megan was a Professor of Law at Florida International University College of Law where she specialized in Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure & Litigation, International Human Rights, International Law, and Professional Responsibility. Megan joined FIU in 2007. She graduated with a J.D. from Washington and Lee Law School in 1996, before I (Mark) joined the faculty, but she returned afterwards to deliver an honorific lecture through the Transnational Law Institute in which she inspired students that they, too, could pursue their passion. Her 2017 lecture, to a packed hall, addressed comparative criminal procedure in mass atrocity trials.

Megan was a prolific scholar, having authored scores of law review articles and book chapters. Her main research area was international criminal procedure, particularly questions arising during proceedings before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Court (“ICC”). See full CV here. Megan’s scholarship touched many themes – complementarity, procedure, and judging. One thread that pervaded her work, however, was her insistence on the salience of the rights of the accused, to wit, the at times unpopular notion that ICL trials fundamentally remain criminal trials and that defendants retain the benefits of due process. Megan insisted that ICL is about L and that procedure really mattered.

She was a courageous voice that held ICL to account – she invested her intellectual efforts in assessing the credibility of witness statements, the shadow side of outreach, provisional release, and the frailty of recorded testimony. She never approached the equality of arms with equanimity. Hers was a crucial voice. Megan was concerned about the role of substitute judges and judicial rule-making. Megan’s view of ICL was as a consistent, even-handed, and progressive force that remained faithful to core values of fairness and precepts of transparency. In her worldview, acquittals were not anathema; they were part of a bigger picture of the constitutionalism that ICL and customary international law could provide. Perhaps her views were born out of her experiences as a prosecutor – an Assistant District Attorney – and out of a cognizance of the potential excesses of national penal systems and their disempowerment and discrimination.

Megan was also an ardent supporter of the US within an ICC, an ICC as she envisioned it, and she deeply inhabited the US ICL space.

She authored or co-authored numerous writings on the US relationship to the ICC, including posts on Opinio Juris. See also another OJ post here. Megan also served with me (Jennifer) as a co-chair of the International Criminal Court Committee of the American Branch of the International Law Association. Megan wrote with precision and eloquence and a deep-seated commitment to the rule of law and accountability for all, without exceptionalism.

Additionally, Megan immersed herself in many other ICL spaces – including in and around Galway, a place dear to her heart. She was a sought-after speaker internationally, having presented in Amsterdam, at the Max Planck Institute in Freiburg, and the University of Innsbruck. She was also a great porte-parole of the global in the dynamic local world of Miami, where she was based.

Megan received her PhD in International Human Rights Law from the National University of Ireland (Galway), where she studied with Professor William A. Schabas, who later became a treasured friend. In recent years, Megan returned to teach at the Irish Center for Human Rights in their renowned summer program. Megan’s LL.M. was from the same University. She received her B.A. (summa cum laude) from the State University of New York at Albany where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.

Having commenced her law career in North Carolina as an Assistant District Attorney, she later served as Counsel in both houses of the New York State Legislature in Albany, New York. She also served as a Visiting Professor at Albany Law School, and a Lecturer in Law at the University of Ulster, Belfast, where she was part of the Transitional Justice Institute.

Beyond her scholarship and technical expertise, Megan will be remembered for her zest for life, her dry and clever humor, and being a devoted mother to her two young daughters. She was extraordinarily principled in her views, and a joyful person who enriched the lives of those who were fortunate enough to spend time with her. She was patient and perseverant; deeply supportive of others; great fun over drinks; and an ardent conversationalist full of wit and the occasional wonderful whim. Even in illness, she retained a remarkable sense of positivity and optimism.

Megan succumbed, after a long battle with cancer, on December 27, 2022.

We write to celebrate the accomplishments of this remarkable person, steeped in humanity, and bounded in grace, grit, and generosity.