# David Scheffer > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/David_Scheffer > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/David_Scheffer.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Scheffer > Source revision: 1344746470 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **David John Scheffer** (born September 18, 1953) is an [American](/source/Americans) [lawyer](/source/Lawyer) and [diplomat](/source/Diplomat) who served as the first [United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues](/source/United_States_Ambassador-at-Large_for_War_Crimes_Issues), during [President](/source/President_of_the_United_States) [Bill Clinton](/source/Bill_Clinton)'s second term in office. He is the Mayer Brown/Robert A. Helman Professor of Law[1] at [Northwestern University School of Law](/source/Northwestern_University_Pritzker_School_of_Law), where he directed the Center for International Human Rights from 2006 to 2019.[2] ## Education and career Scheffer received [B.A.s](/source/Bachelor_of_Arts) from [Harvard](/source/Harvard) and [Oxford University](/source/Oxford_University), and an [LL.M.](/source/LL.M.) from [Georgetown University Law Center](/source/Georgetown_University_Law_Center). He began his legal career at the international law firm [Coudert Brothers](/source/Coudert_Brothers), working for a time in their [Singapore](/source/Singapore) office. He also served as counsel to the [U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs](/source/U.S._House_Committee_on_Foreign_Affairs). During Clinton's first term, he was initially the senior advisor to [Madeleine Albright](/source/Madeleine_Albright), who then served as [ambassador to the United Nations](/source/United_States_Ambassadors_to_the_United_Nations). Scheffer then sat on the [Deputies Committee](/source/National_Security_Council_Deputies_Committee) of the [National Security Council](/source/United_States_National_Security_Council) from 1993 until 1996, and then became the first Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues. As ambassador, Scheffer participated in the creation of the [International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia](/source/International_Criminal_Tribunal_for_the_former_Yugoslavia) and [Rwanda](/source/International_Criminal_Tribunal_for_Rwanda), the Special Court for [Sierra Leone](/source/Sierra_Leone), and the [Khmer Rouge tribunal](/source/Khmer_Rouge_tribunal). He also led the U.S. negotiating team in [United Nations](/source/United_Nations) talks on the [International Criminal Court](/source/International_Criminal_Court). Though Scheffer signed the [Rome Statute](/source/Rome_Statute) that established the ICC on behalf of the U.S. in 2000, he was a highly vocal critic of many aspects of the court and the negotiation process. He particularly opposed the prohibition on any party making [reservations](/source/Treaty#Reservations) to the Rome Statute and the manner in which the Statute structured the court's [jurisdiction](/source/Jurisdiction). Clinton's successor, [George W. Bush](/source/George_W._Bush), later withdrew the signature of the U.S. Scheffer has also taught classes on [international law](/source/International_law) and [war crimes](/source/War_crimes) as a law professor at [Northwestern](/source/Northwestern_University), [Georgetown](/source/Georgetown_University), [Columbia](/source/Columbia_Law_School), [Duke](/source/Duke_University), and [George Washington University](/source/George_Washington_University). He is an endorser of the [Genocide Intervention Network](/source/Genocide_Intervention_Network). In his capacity as director of the Center for International Human Rights and afterwards, Scheffer runs the Cambodia Tribunal Monitor website,[2] the primary source for accessing news, information, and video of trial proceedings from the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. In December 2011, Scheffer published a memoir and history, *All the Missing Souls: A Personal History of the War Crimes Tribunals* about the rise of international tribunals in the 1990s.[3][4] On January 18, 2012, Scheffer was appointed by Secretary General [Ban Ki-moon](/source/Ban_Ki-moon) as the U.N. Special Expert to advise on the United Nations Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials.[5] He was awarded a 2013 [Berlin Prize](/source/Berlin_Prize) Fellowship at the [American Academy in Berlin](/source/American_Academy_in_Berlin). In 2024 Scheffer criticized [South Africa's genocide case against Israel](/source/South_Africa's_genocide_case_against_Israel), arguing that any Palestinian civilian deaths are the result of a military action against an enemy which Israel has "a justifiable right to attack in self-defense," rather than genocidal intent.[6] ## References 1. ["Permanent Faculty Chairs"](https://www.law.northwestern.edu/research-faculty/faculty/chairs/permanent/). *Northwestern Pritzker School of Law*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20141028081429/http://www.law.northwestern.edu/research-faculty/faculty/chairs/permanent/) October 28, 2014 at the Wayback Machine. 1. ["Faculty Profiles: David J. Scheffer"](https://www.law.northwestern.edu/faculty/profiles/DavidScheffer/). *Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20060910130528/https://www.law.northwestern.edu/faculty/profiles/DavidScheffer/) September 10, 2006 at the Wayback Machine. 1. Dworkin, Anthony (January 27, 2011). ["Review of "All the Missing Souls""](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/all-the-missing-souls-a-personal-history-of-the-war-crimes-tribunals-by-david-scheffer/2011/12/28/gIQADzsEWQ_story.html). *Washington Post*. Retrieved January 30, 2012. 1. Sands, Phillippe (January 13, 2012). ["Justice for Others"](http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/1d2e1b58-3af1-11e1-be4b-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1kxoK5hMn). Financial Times. Retrieved January 30, 2012. 1. ["Cambodia: Ban designates new adviser for Khmer Rouge trials"](https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=40969&Cr=cambodia&Cr1=). UN News Centre. January 18, 2012. Retrieved April 4, 2012. 1. Burnett, Elena; Fox, Kathryn; Shapiro, Ari (12 January 2024). ["Former war crimes ambassador-at-large on Israel's defense to genocide allegations"](https://www.npr.org/2024/01/12/1224508453/former-war-crimes-ambassador-at-large-on-israel-s-defense-to-genocide-allegation). *NPR*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20240114204418/https://www.npr.org/2024/01/12/1224508453/former-war-crimes-ambassador-at-large-on-israel-s-defense-to-genocide-allegation) 14 January 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 14 January 2024. ## External links - [Cambodia Tribunal Monitor](http://www.cambodiatribunal.org/) - [Faculty profile at Northwestern University Law School](http://www.law.northwestern.edu/faculty/profiles/DavidScheffer/) - [Foreign Policy article on the 2011 arrest of Ratko Mladic, "The Least Wanted Most Wanted Man"](https://web.archive.org/web/20130604204913/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/06/02/the_least_wanted_most_wanted_man?page=full) - [Foreign Policy article on enforcing the ICC's 2011 al-Qaddafi arrest warrant, "Justice League"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140730233025/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/06/29/justice_league?page=full) - [David Scheffer at the American Academy Berlin as Bosch Public Policy Fellow](https://archive.today/20130906142120/http://www.americanacademy.de/home/person/david-scheffer) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [David Scheffer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Scheffer) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Scheffer?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.