Abram Chayes
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Abram Chayes (July 18, 1922 – April 16, 2000) was an American scholar of
international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...
closely associated with the administration of John F. Kennedy. He is best known for his "legal process" approach to international law, which attempted to provide a new, less formalistic way of understanding international law and how it might further develop. By focusing on how international legal rules are actually used by foreign policy decision-makers, Chayes sought to study international law, not within a vacuum of legal rules and procedures, but in a dynamic political environment.


Early life and education

Abram Chayes's full name was Abram Joseph Chayes, but he did not use his middle name. He was born in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. His parents, Kitty and Edward Chayes, were both lawyers. He graduated summa cum laude from
Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...
in 1943 and served in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1945 as a field artillery officer in France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Japan, leaving the service with the rank of captain. He received the
Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...
and
Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...
. Chayes graduated first in his class from
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...
in 1949, where he served as president of the ''
Harvard Law Review The ''Harvard Law Review'' is a law review published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the ''Harvard Law Review''s 2015 impact factor of 4.979 placed the journal first out of ...
''.


Legal, academic, and governmental career

After law school, Chayes was a legal advisor to Governor
Chester Bowles Chester Bliss Bowles (April 5, 1901 – May 25, 1986) was an American diplomat and ambassador, List of governors of Connecticut, governor of Connecticut, congressman and co-founder of a major advertising agency, Benton & Bowles, now part of Publi ...
of Connecticut from 1949 to 1951, and then served in Washington, D.C., as Associate General Counsel of the President's Materials Policy Commission in 1951. He clerked for Justice
Felix Frankfurter Felix Frankfurter (November 15, 1882 – February 22, 1965) was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1939 until 1962, advocating judicial restraint. Born in Vienna, Frankfurter im ...
of the
United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...
from 1951 to 1952, and practiced law privately with
Covington & Burling Covington & Burling LLP is an American multinational law firm. Known as a white-shoe law firm, it is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and advises clients on transactional, litigation, regulatory, and public policy matters. The firm has addition ...
in Washington, D.C., from 1952 to 1955. In 1955 he joined the faculty at
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...
as an associate professor and began teaching courses in constitutional law and international law. In the late 1950s, Chayes was among the original members of a group of Harvard faculty members who worked on the presidential campaign of John F. Kennedy. He led the team that drafted the 1960 Democratic Convention platform and was one of Kennedy's principal issues advisers during the campaign. On February 9, 1961, Chayes was sworn in as Legal Adviser to the
State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...
. Chayes played an important role in a number of major crises, including the Berlin Crisis of 1961 and the
Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis () in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of Nuclear weapons d ...
of 1962. He also worked on the
Partial Test Ban Treaty The Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT), formally known as the 1963 Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water, prohibited all nuclear weapons testing, test detonations of nuclear weapons except for those co ...
of 1963 banning atmospheric nuclear tests. In 1964, Chayes worked at the law firm of Ginsburg & Feldman in Washington, D.C., before returning to Harvard Law School in 1965, where in 1976 he became the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law. Chayes developed a new international law course at Harvard and co-authored a widely used book, ''International Legal Process''. He also taught civil procedure and authored a widely cited article in the ''Harvard Law Review'' on the legal remedies and the difficulty of dealing with domestic social issues legally. He became professor emeritus in 1993, but continued to teach until incapacitated by complications from
pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...
. After leaving the Kennedy administration, Chayes remained politically active. He worked on the 1968 presidential campaign of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, wrote articles on nuclear arms control, co-authored a book with Jerome Wiesner, President Kennedy's Science Adviser, on Anti-Ballistic Missiles and strategic policy, and advised Democratic members of the Senate in the debate in the early 1970s over ABM deployment (he was a strong supporter of the ABM Treaty of 1972). In 1972, Chayes advised the presidential campaign of
George McGovern George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American politician, diplomat, and historian who was a U.S. representative and three-term U.S. senator from South Dakota, and the Democratic Party (United States), Democ ...
on foreign policy matters, and in 1976 was a foreign policy adviser to the presidential campaign of
Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
. In the 1980s, Chayes argued on behalf of the Government of
Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...
against the United States in the seminal
International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...
(ICJ) case ''
Nicaragua v. United States ''The Republic of Nicaragua v. The United States of America'' (1986) was a case where the International Court of Justice (ICJ) held that the U.S. had violated Public international law, international law by United States and state-sponsored terro ...
''. The ICJ ruled that the U.S. was guilty of "unlawful
use of force The use of force, in the context of law enforcement, may be defined as "the amount of effort required by police to compel compliance by an unwilling subject." Multiple definitions exist according to context and purpose. In practical terms, use o ...
" when it mined Nicaragua's harbors. Chayes also wrote articles arguing that the Reagan Administration was barred from testing and deployment of the
Strategic Defense Initiative The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) was a proposed missile defense system intended to protect the United States from attack by ballistic nuclear missiles. The program was announced in 1983, by President Ronald Reagan. Reagan called for a ...
(SDI), or "Star Wars" under the 1972 ABM Treaty.


Publications

Before returning to Harvard Law, Chayes received a grant from the Carnegie Corporation to publish ''The Cuban Missile Crisis''.Abram Chayes, The Cuban Missile Crisis: International Crises and the Role of Law (1974). In this publication, Chayes illuminated the interrelations of law and foreign policy decisions that created what many call the finest hour of Kennedy's Administration. In doing so, he reinforced the notion that “law is not a set of fixed, self-defining categories of permissible and prohibited conduct” but instead is a dynamic set of normative rules that can guide foreign policy decision-makers. In his book, Chayes focused his analysis on three major decisions: 1) the choice of the quarantine, as opposed to harsher or milder responses, 2) the decision to seek an O.A.S. authorizing resolution, and 3) the manner and method of the approach to the U.N. analysis of the situation. In doing so, he highlighted the principal ways in which international law affected the course of action adopted: first, as a constraint, then as a basis of justification or legitimation of action, and third as providing organizational structures, procedures and forums. Because the presence of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba did not constitute an armed attack on the United States, warranting a more aggressive unilateral response, the Kennedy Administration imposed a naval
quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals, and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have bee ...
on Cuba. This more restrictive response only blocked offensive military equipment from being imported. A classic
blockade A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are ...
, on the other hand, restricts all imports, including food supplies, and is considered an act of war. Although the Soviet Union initially responded to the proposed quarantine by accusing the U.S. of “piratical acts” and “unheard of breaches of international law,” Washington lawyers took comfort in
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
support and a unanimous O.A.S. action authorizing the naval quarantine. By gaining the approval of the O.A.S. and using the unique forum of the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
for the crystallizing and mobilizing of national government views, the U.S. gained support and neutralized opposition during the crisis. In sum, Chayes noted the importance of the U.S. government's willingness to accept the obligation of international legal justification, and therefore, public accountability, during the successful mitigation of the Cuban Missile Crisis. In doing so, the role of international law in decision-making advanced. In 1968, Chayes, along with Thomas Ehrlich and Andreas Lowenfeld, formally introduced a new approach to the study of international law by publishing a two-volume textbook entitled: International Legal Process: Materials for an Introductory Course. The textbook focuses on three issue areas: 1) the limits of adjudication, 2) economic affairs, and 3) political problems, in order to provide a general introduction into the scope, adequacies and failures of an international legal system operating in a contemporary and complex international arena with new political actors, including a proliferation of international organizations. Each issue area contains problems that Chayes hoped would ignite classroom discussion and critical analysis, since, as he pointed out, most of these problems do not arise before courts or arbitral tribunals, but are debated by parties, under pressure from a variety of sources including NGOs and domestic lobbyists, during the policy decision-making process. Philip Heymann once said: “For Abe, problems were there to give joy to the people who tackled them.” Most recently, in his book The New Sovereignty: Compliance with International Regulatory Agreements, Chayes and Antonia Handler Chayes, his wife and co-author, sought to understand what states, international organizations, officials, and other actors do when they implement, or try to implement, regulatory treaties. These collaborative efforts, taking place within a complex web of norms, rules, and practices, attempt to raise levels of party compliance to acceptable levels. Although treaties are sometimes equipped with sanctioning provisions, “teeth” to enforce treaty compliance, Chayes argued that these coercive economic sanctions reflect an easy but incorrect analogy to domestic legal systems, where the coercive power of the state is thought to play an influential role in enforcing national laws. He believed economic sanctions are costly, not only the state that is believed to be defying its treaty obligations, but also on the sanctioning state. Not only are the intended results of economic sanctioning slow and not conducive to altering state behavior, but the political investment required to mobilize and maintain an economic effort in a system without any recognized hierarchy of authority is dangerously high. Alternatively, Chayes noted that unilateral enforcement is not workable because an unduly burdensome obligation would fall on this “policing state,” most likely the United States. Before proposing an alternative framework that would replace the ineffective economic sanctioning model of compliance, Chayes discussed reasons for noncompliance. He stated that the principal source of noncompliance is not willful disobedience, but instead comes from the lack of clarity, capacity, and priority. First, in an effort to formulate rules that govern future conduct for a variety of players, treaties often result in ambiguous language that does not provide determinate answers to disputed questions of interpretation. Second, states have inherent limitations on the capacity to comply. For example, although a state might have enacted implementing legislation, it will still need to create an effective regulatory enforcement system to ensure the laws are being followed. Additionally, other limitations of scientific and technical judgments, bureaucratic capability, and fiscal resources come into play. Lastly, regulatory treaties often require significant changes in economic or social systems that, by its very nature, take time and can lead to a deceptive picture of state noncompliance. Chayes cites to examples including global efforts to protect human rights by international agreements. As against this enforcement model, Chayes proposed an alternative managerial model of compliance, relying on a problem-solving, cooperative approach instead of a coercive one. He suggests an array of activities to ensure compliance. First, Chayes highlighted the need for transparency, including the development of data on performance through self-reporting and verification to check the reliability of reported data, both through state verification systems and, as a less formal and costly alternative, in the form of external checks from other states and nongovernmental scientific interest groups. Second, Chayes proposed informal dispute settlement measures, suggesting compulsory conciliation that would result in nonbinding recommendations. This would ensure that conciliation efforts would be able to address a broad range of disputes, while maintaining principles of sovereignty by not forcing parties to accept the decisions reached. Third, deficits in technical and bureaucratic capability and financial resources can be healed through treaty provisions that expressly provide for technical assistance to those states that are incapable of compliance due to these domestic handicaps. Fourth, Chayes combined the elements of transparency, dispute settlement, and capacity building into a broader process of “jawboning” – the effort to persuade the violator to change its ways. This can be accomplished through discourse among the parties, the treaty organization, and the international community. Chayes argued that in an international system that is increasingly interdependent, states no longer have the freedom to act independently, but instead must submit to the pressures of international regulation. He thereby cites Robert D. Putnam “The sanction for violating he norms and expectations generated by this networkis not penal, but exclusion from the network of solidarity and cooperation.” Throughout the book, Chayes stressed the importance of the international legal process in creating and sustaining regulatory treaties, noting how the need for improving compliance can be accomplished by cooperative problem-solving by international society.


Legacy

In 1996 he received the Peace Advocacy Award, with his wife, Antonia Handler Chayes, from the Massachusetts chapter of the Lawyers Alliance for World Security. In 1999-2000, Professor Chayes led a team of lawyers suing
Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Милошевић, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the President of Serbia between 1989 and 1997 and President of the Federal Republic of Yugos ...
in the U.S. Courts for genocide in Kosovo, and helped investigate corruption in Bosnia. He continued to work on international environmental law, teach, and serve on the Harvard interdisciplinary group on climate change. In 1999 he received the Harvard Law School Association Award (HLSA) recognizing his service as an "inspirational teacher and distinguished scholar, advocate for the rights of sovereign nations and the protection of the global environment, ndbeloved mentor to generations of Harvard Law students." The Law School celebrated his career with two days of panels and events concerning issues in international law on April 23–24, 1999. Abram Chayes was widely celebrated as “a wonderfully gregarious man” who, throughout his tenure at Harvard Law School, always “could be counted upon to greet the newest faculty recruits with genuine ebullience, curiosity and good-will.” He was also popular with students; one of his traditions as a teacher that as much appreciated and long remembered by his law school students was to read aloud in his delightfully raspy voice the opening pages of
Bleak House ''Bleak House'' is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, first published as a 20-episode Serial (literature), serial between 12 March 1852 and 12 September 1853. The novel has many characters and several subplots, and is told partly by th ...
by
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...
at the beginning of the last class of the semester in his first-year course on
Civil Procedure Civil procedure is the body of law that sets out the rules and regulations along with some standards that courts follow when adjudicating civil lawsuits (as opposed to procedures in criminal law matters). These rules govern how a lawsuit or ca ...
. His abundant good faith and zest for life spilled over into his intellectual endeavors, allowing him to foster a new way of thinking about the international law and the way it impacts world affairs.


Personal life

Abram Chayes married Antonia (Toni) Handler on December 24, 1947; they had five children, including journalist Sarah Chayes as well as Eve, Gayle, Lincoln, and Angelica Chayes. Antonia Handler Chayes served as Undersecretary of the Air Force in the Carter Administration, and is a current Professor of Practice of International Politics and Law at The Fletcher School,
Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...
.


Death

Chayes died on April 16, 2000, at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston at the age of 77 of pancreatic cancer.


Selected writings

* ''The Cuban Missile Crisis: International Crisis and the Role of Law'' (Oxford University Press 1974; second edition, 1987). * ''The International Legal Process'' (Little, Brown, 1968, 1969) (with T. Ehrlich and A. Lowenfeld). * ''The New Sovereignty: Compliance with International Regulatory Agreements'' (Harvard University Press, 1996 and 1998) (with Antonia Handler Chayes).


See also

* List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 2)


References


Further reading

* Pearson, Richard. "Abram Chayes, 77, Dies." ''Washington Post'', April 17, 200

* "Abram Chayes, International Law Specialist, Dies at 77." ''Harvard Gazette'', April 20, 2000

* "Abram Chayes, 77, Leading International Law Specialist, Kennedy Administration's Chief International Lawyer, and Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Emeritus." Pugwash, April 16, 2000


See also

* List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 2)


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chayes, Abram 1922 births 2000 deaths Connecticut lawyers Lawyers from Washington, D.C. American legal writers American legal scholars Harvard Law School alumni Harvard Law School faculty 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American non-fiction writers People associated with Covington & Burling Harvard College alumni Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States United States presidential advisors Military personnel from Illinois Kennedy administration personnel United States Army officers United States Army personnel of World War II