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Expert Bio
David J. Scheffer is senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), with a focus on international law and international criminal justice. Scheffer is Clinical Professor Emeritus and Director Emeritus of the Center for International Human Rights at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law in Chicago, International Francqui Professor at KU Leuven (Belgium), and Professor of Practice at Arizona State University. Until recently he was Vice-President of the American Society of International Law. From 2012 to 2018 he was the U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Expert on U.N. Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials and he was the Tom A. Bernstein Genocide Prevention Fellow working with the Ferencz International Justice Initiative at the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (2019-2021).
During the second term of the Clinton Administration (1997-2001), Scheffer was the first ever U.S. Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues and led the U.S. delegation to the U.N. talks establishing the International Criminal Court (ICC). He signed the Rome Statute of the ICC on behalf of the United States on December 31, 2000. He negotiated the creation of five war crimes tribunals: the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, the Special Court for Sierra Leone, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, and the ICC. He chaired the Atrocities Prevention Inter-Agency Working Group (1998-2001). During the first term of the Clinton Administration (1993-1997), Scheffer served as senior advisor and counsel to the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Dr. Madeleine Albright, and he served on the Deputies Committee of the National Security Council.
Scheffer worked on the staff of the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs (1987 to 1989) and as an analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (1989 to 1993) and the U.S. Institute of Peace (2001 to 2002). He was a CFR International Affairs Fellow in 1986 to 1987. Scheffer was senior vice president of the United Nations Association of the United States from 2002 to 2003. His past academic positions include visiting professorships at Georgetown University Law Center, George Washington University Law School, and Northwestern University School of Law. He held an endowed professorship at Northwestern Law from 2006 to 2020 and was director of the Center for International Human Rights there from 2006 to 2019. He was an associate attorney with the international law firm of Coudert Brothers from 1979 to 1986.
Scheffer received the Berlin Prize in 2013 and was in residence at the American Academy of Berlin during the fall of 2013. He received the 2020 Dr. Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award of Tufts University and the Champion of Justice Award of the Center for Justice and Accountability in 2018. Foreign Policy magazine selected him as a “Top Global Thinker of 2011.” Among his more recent publications are the award-winning All the Missing Souls: A Personal History of the War Crimes Tribunals (Princeton, 2012), and The Sit Room: In the Theater of War and Peace (Oxford, 2019). For decades he has been publishing widely about international law and politics in law reviews, political journals, and on op-ed pages. He was the CNN International commentator for the Saddam Hussein trial and appears frequently in the media.
Scheffer earned degrees from Harvard College, Oxford University (where he was a Knox Fellow), and Georgetown University Law Center. He is a member of the New York, District of Columbia, and Supreme Court bars. He is a native of Norman, Oklahoma.
Affiliations
- Arizona State University, School of Politics & Global Studies, professor of practice
- Arizona State University, co-investigator (professor of practice), on U.S. Department of State transitional justice grant
- Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (or KU Leuven), International Francqui Professor
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Countries including the United States are ramping up calls for war crimes investigations following an apparent massacre in the Ukrainian city of Bucha. Could Russian leaders be brought to justice under international law?
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In the wake of its civil war, South Sudan has struggled to build democratic institutions and deliver justice for human rights abuses and atrocity crimes.
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If conflict were to break out between China and Taiwan, the latter’s right to defend itself would hinge on its international legal status and the circumstances of the hostilities.
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Though Nestlé and Cargill were not held accountable for child labor in their supply chains, the Supreme Court upheld the precedent that corporate decisions are subject to international law.
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An international court has upheld the guilt of former Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladic, but its narrower view of what constitutes genocide could make future cases harder to prosecute.
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The victory of pro-independence parties in Scotland’s elections means that another referendum is on the agenda. What’s at stake, and what comes next?
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In the wake of the assault on the U.S. Capitol, corporate leaders have taken a strong stand for democratic institutions. How does this fit into trends of corporate activism, and what comes next?
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Should U.S. companies be held responsible for child slavery on West African farms where cocoa beans are harvested? The top U.S. court’s decision could have major consequences for chocolate companies and global supply chains.
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The prospect of a contested U.S. presidential election has spurred concerns about militias appearing at voting locations. State and federal laws have strict guidelines for any deployment of forces at polls or to quell election violence, but worries persist.
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The Trump administration’s case for invoking “snapback” sanctions against Iran for violating the nuclear deal rests on shallow arguments that have left Washington alone in efforts to pressure Tehran.
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Fifteen years after the killing of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri roiled Lebanese society, the international tribunal’s ruling has left wide open the question of who at high levels was responsible.
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The U.S. government’s response to anti-racism protests risks causing lasting damage to American credibility and influence in protecting minorities and oppressed groups worldwide.
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The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to spark a wave of new laws intended to hold governments and businesses accountable for their public health responses during outbreaks.
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The ICC appeals chamber’s decision to move ahead on an investigation of grave abuses by combatants in Afghanistan, including U.S. forces, marks an unprecedented move that is likely to arouse intensive pushback from Washington.