Professor of Law
Co-Director, Center for International and Comparative Law
Director, Summer Law Program in Madrid

Stephen Thaman, a recognized expert on comparative criminal law and procedure, joined the Saint Louis University School of Law faculty in 1995. He is a consultant to former Soviet republics that are reforming their criminal procedure codes. He helped Russia draft its Code of Criminal Procedure, which recently celebrated its two-year anniversary. Currently, he is assisting Latvia, Georgia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan as those republics rewrite their criminal codes.

“In general, the republics want to go to a more adversarial system,” says Professor Thaman, who is fluent in six languages. “They want more human rights guarantees and more rights for defendants. It’s fascinating to be a part of the process.” Professor Thaman is in demand as a speaker worldwide and has lectured in 21 countries on five continents on issues in U.S. and comparative criminal law and procedures.

His interest in international and comparative law began to develop in 1987. After 12 years as an assistant public defender in Alameda County, CA, he accepted a Fulbright Senior Professor Award at the Institute of Criminal Law and Procedure at the Free University of Berlin. Professor Thaman was also awarded a research fellowship at the Max-Planck- Institute for Comparative and International Criminal Law in Germany where he broadened his knowledge of international legal traditions.

In addition to traveling extensively, Thaman is a prolific writer and voracious reader. Legal journals from Germany, Spain, England, Italy and Japan fill his shelves and briefcase. His articles have appeared overseas in several languages and in such prominent U.S. journals as the Stanford Journal of International Law, the Hastings International and Comparative Law Review and the Parker School Journal of East European Law. His present scholarship focuses on a comparative analysis of exclusionary rules, jury systems in Asia, Latin America and Europe and a comparative perspective on the use of alternative methods of seeking criminal cases — other than full-blown jury trial. Also, he and his colleagues at the School of Law are conducting a comprehensive investigation of the Missouri death penalty to determine the criteria used by prosecutors in charging capital cases.