Bettauer, Ronald J. - Wilhelm Merton-Zentrum

RONALD J. BETTAUER
1518 HIGHWOOD DRIVE, MCLEAN, VIRGINIA 22101
703-536-0729; mobile 703-628-1640
ron.bettauer@verizon.net
Alternate e-mail: Ronald.Bettauer@unvienna.org; rbettauer08@law.gwu.edu
UNITED NATIONS REGISTER OF DAMAGE CAUSED BY THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE WALL IN
THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY (UNROD), Board Member (2008 to present).
GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL, Visiting Scholar (2007 to present).
PANEL OF INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATORS, American Arbitration Association’s International
Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) (2008 to present).
UNITED NATIONS COMPENSATION COMMISSION, Member, Panel of Experts on the Future of
the Follow-Up Programme for Environmental Awards (2009).
OFFICE OF THE LEGAL ADVISER, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE (1969 to 2007). Direction and
expertise in negotiating international instruments for the United States in the positions listed
below, with special emphasis on international litigation and arbitration on investments and
claims (specific examples on pages 4-6).
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Deputy Legal Adviser (2000 to 2007). General management of the Office of the Legal
Adviser, directing and supervising offices dealing with:
- international arbitration, claims, investment disputes and litigation;
- arms control and disarmament;
- non-proliferation;
- private international law;
- United Nations and other international organizations; the International Court of Justice; the
Permanent Court of Arbitration.
▪ Assistant Legal Adviser for International Claims and Investment Disputes (1986 to 2000).
Representing the United States in international tribunals and international negotiations on
claims and other disputes, including:
- the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal;
- NAFTA investment arbitrations;
- the U.N. Compensation Commission (Iraq Gulf War claims);

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- claims settlement negotiations with Germany, Vietnam, Cambodia, Soviet Union,
Taiwan;
- Holocaust claims involving Swiss banks, Germany, Austria and French banks;
- investment disputes, claims of U.S. nationals, and intergovernmental claims brought
by and against the United States.
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Assistant Legal Adviser for Nuclear Affairs (1977 to 1986). Civil nuclear cooperation and
nuclear non-proliferation, including bilateral and multilateral nuclear negotiations and
legislation concerning U.S. nuclear export policy and agreements.
Deputy Assistant Legal Adviser, Oceans, Environment and Scientific Affairs (1974 to
1977):
- nuclear energy;
- law of the sea;
- international science cooperation and environmental affairs.
Attorney, United Nations Affairs (1969 to 1974). Extensive conference work, such as:
- United Nations General Assemblies;
- U.N. Human Rights Commission;
- Lucerne Weapons Conference;
- Geneva Diplomatic Conferences on International Humanitarian Law.
EDUCATION
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New York University School of Law (J.D., 1969 – cum laude); Root-Tilden Scholar; Law
Review, Note & Comment Editor.
Williams College (B.A., 1966 – magna cum laude with highest honors in Political Science).
▪ Institut d’ Études Politiques de l’Université de Paris (Certificat d’Etudes Politiques, 1965).
PUBLICATIONS
§ A list is included on pages 7-8.
AWARDS
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Best Project Award (2009), American Bar Association Section of International Law, for
chairing the joint ABA-American Society of International Law Task Force on Treaties in U.S.

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Law.
Outstanding Performance by an International Lawyer in Government (2008), American
Bar Association Section of International Law.
▪ Senior Executive Service Presidential Rank Awards: Distinguished Executive (2001, 1990);
Meritorious Executive (2006, 1994, 1986).
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Distinguished Executive Service Award (1998), Senior Executive Association.
OTHER
▪ Bar admissions: New York (1969) and the District of Columbia (1976).
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Chair, Joint American Society of International Law – American Bar Association International
Law Section Task Force on Treaties in U.S. Law (2008-2009).
Member: American Society of International Law; American Bar Association (Vice-Chair, UN
and International Institutions Coordinating Committee, Section of International Law); Institute
for Transnational Arbitration (Advisory Board).
Foreign languages: French and German.

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EXAMPLES OF LITIGATION AND NEGOTIATION EXPERIENCE
INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION AND LITIGATION
Personal appearances in hearings for the United States, in addition to supervising U.S.
representation in all arbitration before the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal and all cases brought
against the United States under NAFTA Chapter 11 (1986 to 2007), including arbitrator selection,
memorials, and challenges:
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Iran-United States Claims Tribunal:
- Case B/36, $44.8 million United States recovery on Lend Lease claims;
- Case B/58, Iran’s $788 million railroad claim dismissed;
- Cases A/15 (IV) and A/24, Iran’s claims concerning U.S. domestic litigation (still
pending);
- Case B/61, Iran’s $2.5 billion claims concerning military property in private hands (still
pending);
- Case A/33, U.S. claim that Iran must replenish the Security Account upheld;
- Case B/1 (Claims 2 & 3), Iran’s $20+ billion claim concerning U.S. military sales,
personally managed preparation of largest submission of briefs and evidence (35,000
pages).
NAFTA Investor-State Arbitrations:
- the Loewen case, where $750 million discriminatory treatment, minimum standard of
treatment, and expropriation claims were dismissed;
- the Mondev case, where a $50 million denial of justice claim was dismissed;
- the Canfor case and the consolidated softwood lumber cases, seeking over $540 million on
national treatment, most favored nation, minimum standard of treatment and expropriation
claims (still pending);
- the Methanex case, where $970 million expropriation, fair and equitable treatment, and
national treatment claims were dismissed and the United States obtained award of costs;
- the Glamis case, in which $50 million is sought for the alleged expropriation of a gold mine
in California by federal and California state measure, principally requiring backfilling of an
open pit mine as a reclamation measure (still pending).

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- the Canadian Cattle Cases, where a claim by Canadian owners and operators of cattle
feeding, feedlot and transportation businesses in Canada seek approximately $235 million,
alleging that the United States violated its national treatment obligation by closing the
border to the importation of Canadian cattle after the discovery in 2003 of a case of
bovine spongiform encephalopathy in a cow in Alberta, Canada, was dismissed.
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International Court of Justice:
- the Oil Platforms case, where Iran’s claims for damages under the Treaty of Amity for the
destruction of oil platforms during the Gulf tanker war were dismissed.
Settlement Negotiations:
- a $131.8 million settlement with Iran of the Iran Air case before the International Court of
Justice and bank transaction claims before the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal;
- multiple claims settlements negotiated with Iran’s Bureau of International Legal
Services and with Iran’s Presidential Legal Adviser.
REPRESENTING THE UNITED STATES AND NEGOTIATING INSTRUMENTS
Key role in representing the United States in bilateral and multilateral negotiations in many fora,
such as:
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Iraq Gulf War Claims:
- U.S. Representative on the Governing Council of the UN Compensation Commission,
including when establishing the compensation framework (e.g., decisions 1-20);
- filing all claims for U.S. claimants at the UN Compensation Commission.
Collective bilateral state claims settlements:
- bilateral claims settlement agreements with Germany on claims against the GDR and
on Nazi persecution claims;
- bilateral claims settlement agreements with Vietnam, Cambodia, USSR and Taiwan.
Holocaust Issues:
- establishment of the German Holocaust Foundation, a 10 billion DM claims fund;
- Swiss Bank settlement;
- Nazi persecutee relief fund and closeout of the Tripartite Gold Commission;
- Austrian Holocaust settlement;
- French bank Holocaust settlement.

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Ethiopia-Eritrea Peace Agreement, establishing claims and boundary commissions.
Law of War:
- diplomatic and experts conferences that resulted in the 1977 Protocols to the 1949 Geneva
Conventions;
- head of delegation to Geneva meetings of experts and of states parties to the Convention on
Certain Conventional Weapons (negotiated 25-nation 2006 declaration on anti-vehicle
mines);
- head of delegation to the Lucerne and Montreux conventional weapons conferences;
- the International Conference of the Red Cross in Tehran.
Nuclear Non-Proliferation:
- headed U.S. delegation that negotiated the conventions on early notification of a nuclear
accident and on assistance in the case of a nuclear accident or radiological emergency;
- headed U.S. delegation that negotiated the convention on the physical protection of nuclear
materials;
- bilateral peaceful nuclear cooperation agreements with Australia, Canada, and Egypt;
- IAEA General Conferences, OPANAL, and the 1985 NPT review conference.
Environment: negotiated for the United States the UN Environmental Program (UNEP)
principles on shared natural resources; transfrontier pollution principles in the OECD.
Cultural Property: negotiated for the United States the UNESCO convention on the means of
prohibiting and preventing the illicit import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural
property.
United Nations:
- UN General Assemblies (Legal and Human Rights Committees);
- UN Human Rights Commission;
- negotiated the UN Convention on the prevention and punishment of crimes against
internationally protected persons, including diplomatic agents.

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PUBLICATIONS
▪ “Germany Sues Italy at the International Court of Justice on Foreign Sovereign Immunity –
Legal Underpinnings and Implications for U.S. Law,” ASIL Insight, vol. 13, issue 22 (Nov.
19, 2009), available at http://www.asil.org/files/insight091119pdf.pdf.
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Negotiating With The Iranian Government: Lessons From U.S.-Iran Claims Negotiations,
23-6 Mealey’s Int’l Arb. Rep. 27 (2008).
▪ Book Review of The Protection of Cultural Property in Armed Conflict, 102 A.J.I.L 220
(2008).
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Member of Steering Committee, International Mass Claims Processes: Legal and Practical
Perspectives (H. Holtzmann & E. Kristjánsdóttir ed, Oxford U. Press, 2007).
The Role of the United States Government in Recent Holocaust Claims Resolution, 20 Berkeley
J. Int’l L. 1 (2002).
The Task Remaining: The Government Cases in The Iran-United States Claims Tribunal and
the Process of International Claims Resolution – A Study by the Panel on state Responsibility
of the American Society of International Law 355 (D. Caron & J. Crook, ed., Transnational
Publishers, 2000).
▪ Book Review of International Claims: Their Settlement by Lump Sum Agreements, 1975-1995,
94 A.J.I.L 810 (2000).
▪ Richard B. Lillich: In Service to the United States, 6 J. of Transnational L. & Pol’y 391
(1977)(co-author).
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A Progress Report on Government Cases Before the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal, 11-1 Mealey’s
Int’l Arb. Rep. 14. (1996).
Introductory Notes to documents published in International Legal Materials: Ministry of
Defense and Support for the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran V. Elahi, 48 I.L.M.
804 (2009); Gandara v. Bennett, 47 I.L.M. 801 (2008); German-United States: Agreement
Concerning Final Benefits to Certain United States Nationals Who Were Victims of National
Socialist Measures of Persecution, 35. I.L.M. 193 (1996); United States Lump Sum Claims
Settlement Agreements with Albania, Vietnam and Cambodia, 34 I.L.M. 595 (1995).
▪ The United Nations Compensation Commission—Developments Since October 1992, 89
A.J.I.L. 416 (1995).
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Establishment of the UN Compensation Commission: The U.S. Government Perspective in The
United Nations Compensation Commission [13 th Sokol Colloquium] 29 (R. Lillich ed.,
Transnational Publishers, 1995).

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▪ Book Review of Nonproliferation and U.S. Foreign Policy, 14 J. of Int’l L. and Pol. 725 (1982).
▪ The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act of 1978, 10 Law & Pol’y Int’l Bus. 1105 (1978).
SELECTED RECENT SPEAKING AND CONFERENCE ACTIVITIES
§ Panelist, “Claims of Victims of Terrorism against Foreign States in U.S. Courts,” 2008 Annual
Meeting of the American Society of International Law, April 10, 2008, Washington, D.C., 102
ASIL PROC. 101 (2008).
§ International Symposium in Advance Case Management Issues, International Centre for the
Settlement of Investment Disputes, June 8, 2008, Dublin, Ireland.
§ International Council for Commercial Arbitration, Dublin Conference, 50 th Anniversary of the
New York Convention, June 8-10, 2008, Dublin, Ireland.
§ Neutrals Conference, American Arbitration Association – International Centre for Dispute
Resolution, February 27-28, 2009, Coronado, California.
§ Moderator, “The Roles of the Investor’s Home State and International Institutions,” Frankfurt
Roundtable on Executing Treaty Awards—A Fresh Look at Sovereign Immunity, March 6,
2009, Frankfurt, Germany.
§ Discussant, India and International Arbitration, George Washington University Law School
symposium on Emerging India: Rights and Responsibilities, Washington, D.C., March 13, 2009
(publication in the George Washington International Law Review pending).
§ Sixth Annual Institute for Transnational Arbitration – American Society of International Law
Conference, March 2009, Washington, D.C.
§ Moderator, panel on Medellín v. Texas and the Self-Execution of Treaties, 2009 Annual
Meeting of the American Society of International Law, March 26, 2009, Washington, D.C.
§ Panelist, “Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, Anti-Terrorism Litigation, and International
Law,” Human Rights Litigation in U.S. Courts, The Twenty-Second Sokol Colloquium on
Private International Law at the University of Virginia School of Law, April 2, 2009,
Charlottesville, Virginia.
§ 2009 ABA Annual Meeting (July 31-August 2, 2009, Chicago, Illinois); 2009 ABA Annual
International Law Section Retreat (July 29-30, 2009, Fontana, Wisconsin), 2009 ABA
International Law Section Spring Meeting (April 14-17, 2009, Washington, D.C.); 2008 ABA
International Law Section Spring Meeting (April 2-3, 2008, New York, N.Y.); 2008 ABA
Annual International Law Section Retreat (August 6-7, 2008, Atlantic City, N.J.); 2008 ABA
Annual Meeting (August 7-9, 2008, New York, N.Y.); 2009 ABA International Law Section
Spring Meeting (April 14-17, 2009, Washington, D.C.).