Harold Koh

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Koh addresses the City Club of Cleveland


Harold Hongju Koh was a Legal Adviser to the United States Department of State. He was appointed by President Barack Obama and was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 25, 2009.[1]

Legal education and experience

Koh was born in Boston and attended both Harvard and Oxford University, where he was a Marshall Scholar. In 1980, he returned to the United States, and obtained his J.D. from Harvard Law. In 1996, he received a Masters of Arts degree from Oxford.[2]

At the beginning of his legal career, Koh clerked for two judges: with former Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun and then U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Malcom Wilkey.[2] After clerking, Koh became an associate at Covington & Burling, a Washington, DC law firm, shortly thereafter becoming an attorney with the United States Department of Justice.[2]

Yale Law School

In 1985, Koh joined the faculty at Yale Law School as an Associate Professor; by 1990, he was fully tenured. Koh taught until he was nominated by President Bill Clinton to the State Department in 1998. While at Yale, Koh was the Gerard C. and Bernice Latrobe Smith Professor of International Law, lecturing on Procedure Law, International Human Rights, International Business Transactions, Constitution and Foreign Affairs, International Trade, International Organizations, International Law and Political Science. Koh also served from 1993 to 1998 as Yale's Director of the Orville H. Schell Jr. Center for International Human Rights. Koh returned to Yale in 2001 becoming Dean in 2004.[2]

State Department

Koh was nominated by President Bill Clinton in 1998 to be Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy in the Human Rights and Labor Division of the United States Department of State. While in the State Department, Koh served as the Commissioner for the Commission for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He served as a U.S. Delegate and Head of Delegation to the United Nations General Assembly (Third Committee), and has also served on the United Nations Human Rights Commission, the Organization of American States, the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the U.N. Committee Against Torture, Inaugural Community of Democracies Meeting (Warsaw 2000), and the U.N. Conference on New and Restored Democracies (Cotonou, Benin 2000).[2]

During his State Department tenure, Koh also advised then-Secretary of State Madeline Albright on threats against the United States.[2]

Koh returns to State as top attorney

Koh returned to the State Department in 2009.[3] Koh had a confirmation hearing on the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs on April 28, 2009.[4]

On May 12, 2009, the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee voted to report Koh favorably for a Senate vote as he was approved on a 12-5 vote.[4]

Confirmation


Sen Jim. DeMint Opposing Koh

On June 25, 2009, Koh was confirmed as State Department legal adviser on a super-majority 62-35-3 Senate vote.[5]

In support of his vote, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry said in a statement: "Dean Koh is one of the foremost legal scholars in the country and a man of the highest intellect, integrity, and character," Sen. Kerry said. "He is exactly the type of Legal Adviser we need at the State Department, and I thank my colleagues for supporting his nomination."[5]

During the confirmation vote, Republicans warned that Koh would give too much weight to international law at the expense of American sovereignty. Democrats responded that as State Department legal adviser, Koh would certainly consider international law but would adhere to the Constitution.[5][6]

After his confirmation vote, Koh stated: “I cannot tell you how much the friendship and support of countless friends in the Yale Law School family has meant to me these last few months,” said Koh after his confirmation. “I feel so grateful and lucky. One former Legal Adviser described his job as "speaking law to power." I pledge to do my very best to bring the enduring values of our Law School to serve our country in facing its global challenges.”[7]

On the issues

Handling of accused terrorists

During the War on Terrorism, Koh was vocal that terrorism detainees should be handled through the federal court system. Critics of this approach contended it would give accused terrorists procedural advantages and a soapbox to preach their views.[3]

Interrogation of detainees

Koh has advocated use of the Army Field Manual's guidelines for treatment of detainees and has opposed "enhanced" interrogation techniques. After his inauguration, President Obama, via an executive order, ordered the CIA to follow the manual in interrogation situations, which prohibits controversial detention and interrogation methods of any detainee.[3][8]

Academic Publications

  • A World Drowning in Guns
  • Why Obey International Law: The Value of Process[9]
  • Restoring America's Human Rights Reputation[10]
  • Unveiling Justice Blackmun[11]
  • Can The President Be Torturer In Chief?[12]
  • Why Transnational Law Matters[13]
  • Internalization Through Socialization[14]
  • A World Without Torture[15]
  • Separating Myth From Reality About Corporate Responsibility[16]
  • America's Offshore Refugee Camps[17]
  • Who Are the Archetypal 'Good' Aliens?[18]
  • Two Cheers for Feminist Procedure[19]

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "Washington Independent," Harold Koh nominated as State Department Legal Adviser, March 23, 2009
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Yale Law School, Harold Koh Bio
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Los Angeles Times" Human Rights Advocate Harold Koh named to State Department Legal Post, March 25, 2009
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Library of Congress, Nomination of Harold Koh, March 31, 2009 Search under Harold Hongju Koh
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "The Cable" Harold Koh Confirmed, June 25, 2009
  6. ↑ "Yale Daily News" Senate approves Koh nomination, June 25, 2009
  7. ↑ "Yale Law" Harold Hongju Koh Confirmed as Legal Adviser of U.S. State Department, June 25, 2009
  8. ↑ WhiteHouse.gov, Executive Order 13491 -- Ensuring Lawful Interrogations
  9. ↑ 11 Int'l Legal Theory 27
  10. ↑ 40 Cornell Int'l L.J. 635
  11. ↑ 72 Brook. L. Rev. 9
  12. ↑ 81 Ind. L.J. 1145
  13. ↑ 24 Penn St. Int'l L. Rev. 745
  14. ↑ 54 Duke L.J. 975
  15. ↑ 43 Colum. J. Transnat'l L. 641
  16. ↑ 7 J. Int'l Econ. L. 263
  17. ↑ 29 Richmond L. Rev. 139
  18. ↑ 88 American Society of International Law Proc. 450
  19. ↑ 61 University of Cincinnati Law Review 1201
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