Edwin Montefiore Borchard (October 17, 1884 – July 22, 1951) was an American international legal scholar, jurist, and

Sterling Professor Sterling Professor, the highest academic rank at Yale University, is awarded to a Academic tenure in North America, tenured faculty member considered the best in their field. It is akin to the rank of distinguished professor at other universities. ...

at the

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

. He was a leading advocate of innocence reform and compensation for victims of

wrongful conviction A miscarriage of justice occurs when an unfair outcome occurs in a criminal or civil proceeding, such as the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime they did not commit. Miscarriages are also known as wrongful convictions. Innocent ...

as well as the use of

declaratory judgment A declaratory judgment, also called a declaration, is the legal determination of a court that resolves legal uncertainty for the litigants. It is a form of legally binding preventive by which a party involved in an actual or possible legal ma ...

s. His work in international law emphasized non-intervention and neutrality.

Education

Borchard was born in 1884 in New York City to Michaelis Borchard, an import-export businessman, and Malwina Schachne. He attended the College of the City of New York from 1898 to 1902. He graduated with an LL.B. from

New York Law School New York Law School (NYLS) is a private, American law school in the Tribeca neighborhood in Manhattan, New York City. The third oldest law school in New York City, its history predates its official founding in 1891 by Theodore William Dwight, T ...

in 1905, a B.A. from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1908, and a PhD, from Columbia in 1913, writing a thesis entitled ''The Diplomatic Protection of Citizens Abroad''.

Career

Borchard served as the Law Librarian in the

Law Library of Congress The Law Library of Congress is the law library of the United States Congress. The Law Library of Congress holds the single most comprehensive and authoritative collection of domestic, foreign, and international legal materials in the world. Es ...

from 1911 to 1916. After a year working as an attorney for the

National City Bank of New York Citibank, N.A. ("N. A." stands for "National bank (United States), National Association"; stylized as citibank) is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of Citigroup, a financial services multinational corporation, multinational corporation. Ci ...

, he accepted a position at the

in 1917, where he was eventually appointed Sterling Professor of International Law and remained until his death. He highlighted cases of wrongly convicted people in the US and advocated for their right to compensation in ''Convicting the Innocent''. His work led to the passage of a federal law compensating victims of wrongful conviction in federal courts. He later served as a representative of the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. T ...

(ACLU) during the 1944 '' Korematsu v. United States''

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

case. Borchard's scholarship and public advocacy was very influential in stimulating the adoption of the

procedure in American courts in the 1920s and 1930s, a subject on which he also wrote a book, ''Declaratory Judgments.'' Borchard's other interests included music. He was first violinist in the New Haven Symphony Orchestra and president of the Orchestra Association.

Family

Borchard and his wife Corinne had two daughters, Carol Borchard Sopkin (married to George Sopkin, professor of music at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and cellist of the Fine Arts Quartet) and Alice Borchard Couch).

Bibliography

Dissertation

*Borchard, Edwin. (1915). ''The Diplomatic Protection of Citizens Abroad, or The Law of International Claims''

Books

*——. (1923). ''The Permanent Court of International Justice'' *——. (1932). ''Convicting the Innocent: Sixty-Five Actual Errors of Criminal Justice'' *——; Lage, William Potter. (1937). ''Neutrality for the United States'' *——. (1941). ''Declaratory Judgments'' *——. (1946). ''American Foreign Policy'' *——; Wynne, William H. (1951). ''State Insolvency and Foreign Bondholders''

Papers

*——. (1913). European Systems Of State Indemnity For Errors of Criminal Justice

Reference works

*——. (1912). ''Guide to the Law and Legal Literature of Germany''. U.S. Government Printing Office *——. (1913). ''The Bibliography of International Law and Continental Law''. Government Printing Office *——. (1917). ''Guide to the Law and Legal Literature of Argentina, Brazil and Chile''. Government Printing Office

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borchard, Edwin 1884 births 1951 deaths Yale Law School faculty Yale Sterling Professors Law librarians Columbia College (New York) alumni New York Law School alumni Lawyers from New York City