Dr. Mattar’s professional expertise is in comparative and international law, especially human rights law. Recognized as an international expert on anti-trafficking legislation, Dr. Mattar has worked over 15 years in more than 75 countries, including countries in the Middle East, to promote state compliance with international human rights standards and to advise governments on drafting, implementing, and enforcing anti-trafficking legislation and related human rights laws. Since 2001, as the Executive Director, Dr. Mattar has been leading the work of The Protection Project at The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies focusing on 7 areas namely, combating trafficking in persons, clinical legal education; corporate social responsibility; legal reform; promotion of religious dialogue; building civil society capacity; and human rights education. Dr. Mattar was privileged to contribute to the proliferation of the clinical legal education movement in Arab universities. He was appointed as the Director of the Law Clinic at Qatar University College of Law.

Dr. Mattar has testified in the United States on the status of human trafficking around the world at various Congressional Hearings, including the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission; the Helsinki Committee for Security and Cooperation; the House Committee on Government Reform, Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness; the House Committee on International Relations, Subcommittee on International Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Human Rights; and the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights. He also testified before the Russian Duma, the Mexican Senate,the Inter- American Commission on Human Rights and the Egyptian Parliament. He has served as a member of numerous United Nations expert groups, as well as an advisor to the League of Arab States, UNODC, UNDP, ILO, IOM,UNFEM, the CEDAW Committee, the World Bank and the Bibliotheca Alexandria. He wrote the inter- parliamentary Handbook on the Appropriate Responses to the Problem of Trafficking in Persons. Most recently he co-drafted the United Nations Model Law on Legal Aid.

Dr. Mattar taught courses on International Trafficking in Persons; Corporate Social Responsibility; International Contract Law; Comparative Law; Obligations, Labor Law, Evidence, Lease, Contract Drafting Techniques; Investment and Trade Laws of the Middle East; Islamic Law in American Courts , Drafting Human Rights Legislation, Legal Ethics, Buisness Clinics ; Introduction to the American Legal System; International Business and Human Rights; The Arab Charter on Human Rights and International Human Rights. Dr. Mattar, as a Senior Research Professor of International Law, co-taught the International Human Rights Clinic at The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, which he founded. He was also the founder and editor-in-chief of The Protection Project Journal of Human Rights and Civil Society. He was an adjunct professor of law at American University Washington College of Law, Georgetown Law Center and Indiana University Robert McKinney School of Law. Dr. Mattar still serves as a non-resident distinguished professor of law at Alexandria University.

His latest publications include: ” Integrating the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts as a Source of Contract Law in Arab Civil Codes” in the Proceedings of the Qatar University College of Law Conference celebrating 10 Years of the Passage of Qatar Civil Code, November 23-24 (2014); “Mixed Legal Systems: East and West” (co-editor 2014), “Human Rights in Islamic Law Especially Procedural Justice” 16 European Journal of Legal Reform 274 (2014), ” An Analysis of the Human Trafficking Legislation in the Arab World, UNODC(2014); “Article 43 of the Arab Charter on Human Rights: Reconciling National, Regional, and International Standards,” 26 Harvard Human Rights Journal 91 (2013); “Transnational Legal Responses to Illegal Trade in Human Beings,” 33 SAIS Review of International Affairs, 137 (2013), “Guiding Principles in Consensus Building”, Book Review: Just Business: Multinational Corporations and Human Rights, John Ruggie, 6 The Protection Project Journal of Human Rights and Civil Society 107( 2013); “Corporate Criminal Liability: Article 10 of the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime,” 66 Columbia University Journal of International Affairs 107 (2012); “Corporate Liability for Violations of International Human Rights Law”, in Labour Migration, Human Trafficking and Multinational Corporations 8 Ato Quayson and Antonela Arhin (2012); “Human Rights Legislation in the Arab World: The Case of Human Trafficking,” 33 Michigan Journal of International Law 101 (2011); “Interpreting Judicial Interpretations of the Criminal Statutes of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act: Ten Years Later,” 19 American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy and the Law 1247 (2011); ” Combating Trafficking in Persons in Accordance with the Principles of Islamic Law ” UNODC (2009); “Access to International Criminal Justice for Victims of Violence against Women under International Family Law,” 23 Emory Law Review 141 (2009); “Comparative Models of Reporting Mechanisms on the Status of Trafficking in Human Beings”,41 Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law 1 (2008); “Unresolved Questions in the Bill of Rights of the New Iraqi Constitution: How Will the Clash between ‘Human Rights’ and ‘Islamic Law’ Be Reconciled in Future Legislative Enactments and Judicial Interpretations?” 30 Fordham International Law Journal 126 (2007); “Incorporating the Five Basic Elements of a Model Anti-Trafficking in persons Legislation in Domestic Laws: From the United Nations Protocol to the European Convention”, 14 Tulane Journal of International and Comparative Law 357 ( 2006 ); ” State Responsibility in Combating Trafficking in Persons in Central Asia “, 27 Loyola International and Comparative Law Review 145 (2005).

Dr. Mattar received his Doctorate of Juridical Sciences (S.J.D.) and Master of Laws (LL.M) from Tulane University, his Master of Comparative Law (M.C.L.) from University of Miami, and his License en Droit (LL.B.) from Alexandria University. He received the ” Distinguished Leadership Award ” from the Qatar Foundation to Combat Human Trafficking and the ” Public Service in International Law Award ” from the District of Columbia Bar. Dr. Mattar was also a recipient of the Fulbright scholarship , the American Peace fellowship , the Egyptian Research grant and the British Council fellowship.