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Self-Execution And Treaty Duality, Curtis A. Bradley
Self-Execution And Treaty Duality, Curtis A. Bradley
Faculty Scholarship
The Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution states that, along with the Constitution and laws of the United States, treaties made by the United States are part of the "supreme Law of the Land." At least since the Supreme Court's 1829 decision in Foster v. Neilson, however, it has been understood that treaty provisions are enforceable in U.S. courts only if they are "self-executing." The legitimacy and implications of this self-execution requirement have generated substantial controversy and uncertainty among both courts and commentators. This Article attempts to clear up some of the conceptual confusion relating to the self-execution doctrine and, …
Unratified Treaties, Domestic Politics, And The U.S. Constitution, Curtis A. Bradley
Unratified Treaties, Domestic Politics, And The U.S. Constitution, Curtis A. Bradley
Faculty Scholarship
Under contemporary treaty practice, a nation's signature of a treaty typically does not make the nation a party to the treaty. Rather, nations become parties to treaties through an act of ratification or accession, which sometimes occurs long after signature. Nevertheless, Article 18 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, which many commentators regard as reflecting customary international law, provides that when a nation signs a treaty it is obligated to refrain from actions that would defeat the object and purpose of the treaty until such time as it makes clear its intent not to become a party …
Treaties As Law Of The Land: The Supremacy Clause And The Judicial Enforcement Of Treaties, Carlos Manuel Vázquez
Treaties As Law Of The Land: The Supremacy Clause And The Judicial Enforcement Of Treaties, Carlos Manuel Vázquez
Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works
Courts in recent years have perceived threshold obstacles to the enforcement of treaties deriving from their nature as contracts between nations that generally depend for their efficacy on the interest and honor of the parties, rather than on domestic adjudication. This approach to treaty enforcement is in tension with the Constitution’s declaration that treaties are part of the law of the land and its instruction to judges to give them effect. The Founders understood that treaties depended on interest and honor on the international plane, but they made treaties enforceable in our courts anyway in order to avoid the international …