Profile of Invited Expert “Scheffer”

Profile

Full Name

Ambassador David Scheffer

Position

Clinical Professor Emeritus (Mayer Brown/Robert A. Helman Professor of Law, 2006–2020)

Organization

Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law

URL

http://www.law.northwestern.edu/faculty/profiles/DavidScheffer/

Biography

David Scheffer is Clinical Professor Emeritus (Mayer Brown/Robert A. Helman Professor of Law, 2006-2020) at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. He is International Francqui Professor at KU Leuven, Belgium, Professor Practice at Arizona State University, and Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Scheffer was U.S. Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues from 1997 to 2001 and led the U.S. delegation in U.N. talks establishing the International Criminal Court. He negotiated and coordinated U.S. support for the establishment and operation of International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, the Special Court for Sierra Leone, and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. Scheffer headed the Clinton Administration’s Atrocities Prevention Inter-Agency Working Group (1999-2001). From 1993-1996, he was senior adviser and counsel to the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Dr. Madeleine Albright, and served on the Deputies Committee of the National Security Council. Scheffer was the U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Expert on U.N. Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials (2012-2018).

Scheffer graduated from Harvard College (magna cum laude, Government/Economics), Oxford University (Knox Fellow, Honour School of Jurisprudence), and Georgetown University Law Center (LL.M., International and Comparative Law). He is a member of the New York, Washington, D.C., and Supreme Court bars. He received the Berlin Prize in 2013 and the Champion of Justice Award of the Center for Justice and Accountability in 2018.

Selected Citations to Published Materials

David Scheffer, The Sit Room: In the Theater of War and Peace (Oxford University Press, 2019).
David Scheffer, All the Missing Souls: A Personal History of the War Crimes Tribunals (Princeton University Press, 2012).
David Scheffer, The International Criminal Court, in Routledge Handbook of International Criminal Law 67 (William Schabas & Nadia Bernaz eds., 2011).
David Scheffer, Crimes Against Humanity and the Responsibility to Protect in Forging a Convention for Crimes Against Humanity 305 (Leila Sadat ed., 2011).
David Scheffer & Caroline Kaeb, The Five Levels of CSR Compliance: The Resiliency of Corporate Liability under the Alien Tort Statute and the Case for a Counterattack Strategy in Compliance Theory, 29 Berkeley J. Int’l L. 334 (2011), available online.
David Scheffer, The Complex Crime of Aggression Under the Rome Statute, 23 Leiden J. Int’l L. 897 (2010).

History

Member for: 13 years 13 weeks

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michelleg30: Transitional Justice as an Alternative to Prosecution in the Israel–Palestine Conflict I. Introduction War is not “pareto optimal.”1 According to the “bargaining theory of war,” a sustainable peace agreement is more beneficial to both sides than continued conflict.2 Transitional justice, the “processes and mechanisms associated with a society’s attempt to come to terms with a legacy of... (more)
huangz2024: The Matter of Statehood on the Palestine Issue I. Introduction In 2021, the Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) received a request from the Prosecutor related to territorial jurisdiction over Palestine and issued its response and decision to the request. The main conclusion of the decision was to extend the jurisdiction to “the territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely Gaza and the West Bank,... (more)
Katharina Schapfeld: Preventing Genocide: What Are the Duties of State Parties Under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and How Could They Be Fulfilled in the Current Situation? I. Introduction “There can be no more important issue, no more binding obligation, than the prevention of genocide.”1 The year 2023 doesn’t only mark the 75th anniversary of the... (more)
freyaschmidt: How Can Israel Ensure Proportionality in its Response to Hamas’ Attacks? I. Introduction With Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, the situation that has been smoldering for decades has entered the next round. It is accompanied by countless legal questions that revolve around the legal classification of Palestine and thus the admissibility of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the role of international (... (more)
Jordan Murphy: The Claim of Genocide Filed Against Israel: The Elements of a Genocide Charge and its Application to the Situation in Palestine Speaking on the claim of genocide filed against Israel at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in November 2023, Palestine representative Gilles Devers asserted that the requisite criteria having been established in Gaza is not an opinion but “a reality of law.”1 Such a claim is a strong one: only two cases have... (more)
AA375: The Israel/Hamas Situation Through the Lens of the ICC Introduction The International Criminal Court (ICC) was established to investigate, prosecute, and try individuals for the most serious crimes, namely the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.1 The ICC has a responsibility to tackle situations of high gravity affecting the interests of the international community... (more)
Pilgrim: Palestinian Statehood Under the Montevideo Convention: An Unconventional Approach I. Introduction For the International Criminal Court (ICC) to have jurisdiction over the situation in Gaza and Israel after the Hamas terror attacks of October 7, 2023, Palestine must be a State.1 The Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States (Montevideo Convention) provides a four-element test for Statehood.2 To be a State under... (more)
Kellan Grant: I. Introduction On October 7, 2023, a widespread surprise attack on Israel was launched by Hamas leaders, commanders, and militants in which they invaded Israeli towns from the Gaza Strip. Since then, an ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas has ensued. Devastatingly, many civilians in both Israel and the Palestine area have lost their lives as a result. Since October 7, 2023, there have been numerous assertions made that various crimes are being,... (more)
Joan Komolafe: What is the Threshold of the Right to Defend Oneself? An Analysis of the Current Israeli–Palestine Conflict, Under the Legal Definitions of the Rome Statute I. Abstract Few hostilities have consumed the international psyche and caused as much polarization as the Israel and Palestine conflict. In particular, the intensification of violence between Israel and Gaza in October of 2023 has caused a global re-examination of... (more)
MelissaHernandez: The October 7th attacks launched what appears to be one of the worst humanitarian crises in the last decades. With more than 1,200 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, killed in a single day, and about 240 hostages, this day is being characterized as “the deadliest day for Jews since the holocaust.”1 On the other hand, the Hamas attack triggered an Israeli response that has resulted in more than 11,000 deaths in Gaza, which would surpass the total number of... (more)
msperling: Palestine at the International Criminal Court: Overzealous Jurisdiction Preventing Peacemaking Introduction On October 7, 2023, fighters affiliated with the Hamas government of the Gaza Strip attacked Israel, raping, torturing, and kidnapping Israeli men, women, and children. Around 1200 people, a vast majority of whom were civilians, were killed, and 240 were taken hostage. More than 130 of the hostages are still in captivity or have since been... (more)