home > the cfr think tank > experts > jerome a. cohen
Adjunct Senior Fellow for Asia Studies
Contact Info:
Phone: +1-212-434-9635
E-mail: jcohen@cfr.org
Location:
New York, NY
Media downloads:
One-page bio (PDF, 58K)
CV (PDF, 47K)
Video clip (MP4, 691K)
Internationally renowned expert on the Chinese legal system and professor at NYU School of Law. Current work examines the role of law in Asian countries.
Expertise:Legal and business transactions in Asia; international relations of East Asia; international law.
Experience:Professor, New York University Law School (current); Senior Partner, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison (current); Professor, Director of East Asian Legal Studies, and Associate Dean, Harvard University Law School (1964-81); Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley (1959-64).
Selected Publications:Investment Laws in Vietnam (Longman, 1990); Contract Laws of the People’s Republic of China (coauthor, Longman, 1988); People’s China and International Law (coauthor, Longman, 1974); Taiwan and American Policy: The Dilemma in U.S.-China Relations (Praeger, 1971); The Criminal Process in the People’s Republic of China: 1949-1963 (Harvard University Press, 1968).
Current Research Projects
Past Research Projects
June 25, 2009
Op-Ed
South China Morning Post
Jerome A. Cohen argues, "the term 'court of public opinion' is being taken literally in some parts of the mainland."
See more in China, Democracy and Human Rights
May 29, 2009
Op-Ed
South China Morning Post
Jerome A. Cohen and Yu-Jie Chen discuss the incorporation of two human rights covenants into Taiwan's domestic law.
See more in China, Taiwan, Democracy and Human Rights, International Law
May 14, 2009
Op-Ed
South China Morning Post
Jerome A. Cohen discusses the one year anniversary of the Sichuan earthquake.
See more in China, Democracy and Human Rights
May 2, 2009
Op-Ed
South China Morning Post
Jerome A. Cohen discusses the National Human Rights Act of China, and the gap between its language and its practice.
See more in China, Human Rights, International Law
April 18, 2009
Op-Ed
South China Morning Post
Jerome A. Cohen discusses the implications of United States vs. Stevens for Taiwan's legal system.
See more in Taiwan, Rule of Law
April 4, 2009
Op-Ed
South China Morning Post
Jerome A. Cohen discusses China's Third Five-Year Reform Programme for the People's Courts.
See more in China, International Law, Rule of Law
March 26, 2009
Interview
Jerome A. Cohen, an expert on human rights in China, sees "enormous progress" in economic and social rights but says deep problems--and sometimes harsh reprisals--persist for those seeking political and civil rights.
See more in China, Human Rights
March 19, 2009
Op-Ed
South China Morning Post
Jerome A. Cohen discusses the disappearance of Gao Zhisheng, China's most famous human rights lawyer, and argues that if China is serious about its ratification of the UN Convention against torture twenty years ago and its other international human rights commitments, it is obligated to come clean about Gao's fate.
See more in China, Human Rights, International Law
March 7, 2009
Op-Ed
South China Morning Post
Jerome A. Cohen writes on the discrepancy between theory and practice in the Chinese Government.
February 19, 2009
Op-Ed
South China Morning Post
Jerome A. Cohen warns that, "until President Barack Obama succeeds in restoring America's own reputation for respecting human rights, pressing China for further reforms would only make the U.S. look more hypocritical than it already does."
See more in China, Human Rights, International Organizations
February 9, 2009
Op-Ed
Wall Street Journal Asia
Jerome A. Cohen and Eva Pils look at the implications of the disappearance of human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng in China.
See more in China, Human Rights
February 7, 2009
Op-Ed
South China Morning Post
Jerome Cohen and Yu-Jie Chen write that "even authoritarian regimes, including Beijing, are under pressure to recognise the presumption of innocence."
See more in China, Democracy and Human Rights, Society and Culture
January 8, 2009
Op-Ed
South China Morning Post
Jerome A. Cohen writes, "the vibrant democracy for which so many in Taiwan have struggled is in trouble. Corruption threatens the integrity of the political system."
See more in Taiwan, Democracy Promotion, Human Rights
November 27, 2008
Op-Ed
South China Morning Post
Jerome Cohen writes that "the mainland already has institutions, including the procuracy, people's congresses and Communist Party discipline inspection commissions, to investigate abuses of the criminal process."
See more in China
November 13, 2008
Op-Ed
South China Morning Post
Jerome A. Cohen writes that "recent arrests may simply reflect massive corruption by the DPP, which dominated executive government for the past eight years."
See more in China, Society and Culture
November 1, 2008
Op-Ed
South China Morning Post
Jerome Cohen writes that "China's record on torture not only violates its international obligations, but also undermines its own criminal justice goals."
See more in China
October 18, 2008
Op-Ed
South China Morning Post
Jerome Cohen writes that "no one was left in doubt that the party would serve as the authoritative voice of the masses."
See more in China
October 2, 2008
Op-Ed
South China Morning Post
Jerome Cohen writes that "Fonterra's China business may not survive the scandal."
See more in China
August 21, 2008
Op-Ed
South China Morning Post
Jerome Cohen writes that the mainland of China is far more open to foreigners today than it was 36 years ago. Yet the Olympics’ spotlight confirmed that the country still has dark corners that the Communist Party wants to keep that way.
See more in China
July 26, 2008
Op-Ed
South China Morning Post
This August, as the media trumpets the triumphs of the Olympic athletes, the world should also recognise a group of more significant Chinese heroes—the human rights activists whose persecution, prosecution and punishment have become the shame of the motherland, writes Jerome Cohen
See more in China, Democracy and Human Rights
Explore international efforts to curb nuclear proliferation with a new interactive from CFR's program on International Institutions and Global Governance.
The Canadian oil sands present an important challenge to policymakers: they promise energy security benefits but present climate change problems. Michael A. Levi assesses the energy security and climate change effects of the oil sands and makes recommendations for U.S. policymakers within the context of broader bilateral relations with Canada.
This report explores an important element of the maritime policy regime: the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Author Scott G. Borgerson examines the international negotiations that led to the convention, the history of debates in the United States over whether to join it, and the strategic importance of the oceans for U.S. foreign policy today.
Complete list of Council Special Reports
In War of Necessity, War of Choice, Richard N. Haass contrasts the decisions that shaped the conduct of two wars between the United States and Iraq involving the two presidents Bush and Saddam Hussein, and writes an authoritative, personal account of how U.S. foreign policy is made, what it should seek, and how it should be pursued.
In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba’s unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.
As Ray Takeyh shows in Guardians of the Revolution, behind the famous personalities and extremist slogans of Iran is a nation that is far more pragmatic—and complex—than many in the West have been led to believe.
Complete list of CFR Books
For more information on the David Rockefeller Studies Program, contact:
Sebastian Mallaby
Director of the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for
Geoeconomic Studies, Deputy Director of Studies, and Paul A. Volcker Senior
Fellow for International Economics
smallaby@cfr.org
Janine Hill
Deputy Director of Studies Administration
+1.212.434.9753
jhill@cfr.org
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