Chris Jenks

Chris Jenks (@ChrisJenks_SMU) is a professor of law and directs the criminal justice clinic at the SMU Dedman School of Law in Dallas, Texas.

Jenks served as Special Counsel to the Office of the General Counsel of the Department of Defense (2017-2018) where he was awarded the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service

He teaches and writes on the law of armed conflict (LOAC) and criminal justice. Professor Jenks is the co-author of a LOAC textbook and co-editor of a forthcoming war crimes casebook. He has published articles on drones, child soldiers, extraordinary rendition, law of war based detention, and targeting.

Professor Jenks previously served in the United States Army for over twenty years, first as an Infantry officer serving in Germany, Kuwait and Bosnia and later as a Judge Advocate, serving in Korea and Iraq. He also worked in the Department of State’s office of the legal adviser human rights and refugees section and as a member of the US mission to United Nations, where he represented the United States during negotiations on cultural and humanitarian resolutions.  In his final assignment, he served as the Chief of the Army’s International Law Branch in the Pentagon.