O. Schachter, 88; Helped Set Up U.N.’s Legal Framework

Oscar Schachter, a pioneer of international law who helped establish the legal framework for the United Nations, including a prohibition on the use of force in international relations, has died. He was 88.

Schachter, a longtime professor at Columbia University Law School, died Dec. 13 at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City of complications from heart disease, according to professor Lori Fishler Damrosch, a longtime friend and colleague.

Born in New York City, Schachter graduated from Columbia Law School in 1939 and joined the United Nations Legal Department in 1946. He was named director of the General Legal Division in 1952 and wrote several of the early legal opinions on how the world body would function. He also served as a legal advisor to a number of secretaries general.

“Professor Schachter did more than any other official in the United Nations to help shape the rule of law, and was the architect of the legal framework which has guided United Nations peacekeeping for more than 50 years,” U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said in a statement after Schachter’s death.

He became director of the U.N. Institute of Training and Research in 1966. That body trains personnel sent by governments from around the world to U.N. headquarters in New York City.

Schachter left the U.N. and joined the Columbia law faculty in 1975, where he remained, most recently as professor emeritus, until his death. He continued to write about international law, particularly on the U.N. policy concerning the use of force and on the peaceful settlement of international disputes.

“He never went public with his views on the U.S. action in Iraq in 2003,” said Damrosch, Schachter’s colleague at Columbia and the co-editor in chief of American Journal of International Law. (Schachter was co-editor from 1978 to 1984.)

“But in broad terms,” Damrosch said, “Oscar was firmly committed to the prohibition of the use of force. Concerning preemptive and anticipatory self-defense, he wanted that category defined as narrowly as possible and cases to be decided upon multilaterally by U.N. members.”

In her eulogy at Schachter’s funeral, Damrosch said he dealt incisively on the issue, which she referred to as “the central norm of the U.N. Charter.”

She noted that Schachter’s writings on the subject of intervention were in the forefront of recent public debate.

“As for peaceful settlement of disputes,” she said of Schachter, “he maintained with conviction not only that the rules on use of force are obligatory and well-grounded, but also that courts can apply them.”

Schachter was internationally known for his work at the U.N., but he also was known within his profession as an early supporter of women in international law.

“Oscar was a first mentor to the female trailblazers in our field and a most significant influence on their lives,” Damrosch said.

Several of his female students have risen to positions of international prominence. Among them is Justice Rosalyn Higgins, the first woman elected to the International Court of Justice at The Hague, who worked with Schachter as a graduate student at Yale Law School when he was a visiting professor there in the 1960s.

Schachter is survived by his wife, Muriel Sackler; two daughters; four grandchildren; a brother; and a sister.