John Bassett Moore (December 3, 1860 – November 12, 1947) was an American lawyer and authority on

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

.Christine E. White
"Leading Figures in International Law: John Bassett Moore"
''International Judicial Monitor'' (Summer 2009). Moore was a State Department official, a professor at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, and a judge of the

Permanent Court of International Justice The Permanent Court of International Justice, often called the World Court, existed from 1922 to 1946. It was an international court attached to the League of Nations. Created in 1920 (although the idea of an international court was several cent ...

from 1922 to 1928, the first American judge to sit on that judicial body.

Biography

Moore graduated from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

and was admitted to the Delaware bar in 1883. He practiced law in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington (Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

, before working as a law clerk at the Department of State from 1885 to 1886. He was the

third assistant secretary of state Assistant Secretary of State (A/S) is a title used for many executive positions in the United States Department of State, ranking below the under secretaries. A set of six assistant secretaries reporting to the under secretary for political affairs ...

from 1886 to 1891, when he became Hamilton Fish Professorship of International Law and Diplomacy at

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

, the first chair of international law in the United States. Moore remained a Columbia professor until 1924, taking frequent leaves of absence to take up U.S. diplomatic posts. Moore briefly was

assistant secretary of state Assistant Secretary of State (A/S) is a title used for many executive positions in the United States Department of State, ranking below the under secretaries. A set of six assistant secretaries reporting to the under secretary for political affairs ...

in 1898. During his service with the Department of State he acted as secretary to the Conference on Samoan Affairs (1887) and to the Fisheries Conference (1887–1888). After the close of the war with Spain was secretary and council to the American Peace Commission at Paris. In 1901, he served as professor of International Law at the

Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associ ...

, where he initiated that college's long series of "International Law Blue Book" publications. Subsequently, Moore represented the government as agent before the United States and Dominican Arbitration Tribunal (1904), as delegate to the Fourth

International American Conference The Conferences of American States, commonly referred to as the Pan-American Conferences, were meetings of the Pan-American Union, an international organization for cooperation on trade. James G. Blaine, a United States politician, Secretary o ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

and special

plenipotentiary A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of his or her sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the wor ...

to the Chilean centenary (both 1910), and as delegate to the International Commission of Jurists at

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

(1912). He was on the Hague Tribunal from 1912 to 1938. In 1921, Moore was elected a judge of the

. While on the bench, he declined the position of the court presidency multiple times, arguing that an overseas judge should not hold that position. He resigned from the court in 1928 in order to focus on his scientific obligations. Moore resigned his professorship at Columbia in 1924. Moore was a proponent of neutrality, believing that the post-

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

system of alliances would tend to broaden wars into global conflicts. He was also a strong believer in the principle of separation of powers under the United States Constitution, asserting in 1921, "There can hardly be room for doubt that the

framers of the constitution The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787. Although the convention was intended to revise the league of states and first system of government under the Articles of Confederation, the intention fr ...

, when they vested in Congress the power to declare war, never imagined that they were leaving it to the executive to use the military and naval forces of the United States all over the world for the purpose of actually coercing other nations, occupying their territory, and killing their soldiers and citizens, all according to his own notions of the fitness of things, as long as he refrained from calling his action war or persisted in calling it peace."

Legacy and awards

Moore was honored on a U.S. definitive postage stamp issued December 3, 1966, the five-dollar value of the Prominent Americans series. In 1922, a new school was dedicated to Moore in his hometown of Smyrna, Delaware. The John Bassett Moore Intermediate School now serves as a public school for the fifth and sixth grades. In 1927, Moore was awarded the Theodore Roosevelt Medal. Moore died at his home in New York City on November 12, 1947, and was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.

Works

*''Reports on Extraterritorial Crime'' (1887) *''Extradition and Interstate Rendition'' (two volumes, 1891) *''American Notes on the Conflict of Laws'' (1896) *''History and Digest of International Arbitrations'' (6 vols., 1898) *''American Diplomacy'' (1905) *''Digest of International Law'' (8 vols., 1906) *''Works of James Buchanan'' (12 vols., 1909–1911, reissued 1960) *''Four Phases of American Development'' (1912) *''International Law and Some Current Illusions'' (1924) *''The Permanent Court of International Justice'' (1924) *''International Adjudications, Ancient and Modern'' (8 vols., 1937) *''Collected Papers'' (7 vols., 1945)

References

Sister projects

External links