Law Commons^™

Deference To Administrative Agencies In Interpreting Treaties: Chevron, Charming Betsy, And Global Decisionmaking, Catherine E. Sweetser

Catherine E Sweetser

This Article examines how national courts in the United States should deal with domestic agency interpretations of international treaties. Under Chevron deference, a court defers to an agency interpretation where it believes that Congress when passing a statute intended to delegate lawmaking power to the agency. The Charming Betsy canon assumes that Congress also has an interest in complying with international norms and in binding the United States to follow international rules. In both these canons, Congressional intent becomes the touchstone. I first examine whether international law itself, as a rule of treaty interpretation, suggests that domestic agencies should receive …

The Post-Medellin Case For Legislative Standing, James A. Turner

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

After the terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches of government in this country shifted. President Bush expanded the executive’s unilateral authority in international affairs and war powers. Both President Bush and President Obama have extended executive power, and then staunchly protected their expansion of authority from limitation by the legislative and judicial branches. Further, Bush’s use of presidential signing statements to undermine legislative intent suggests that the executive’s power to avoid legislative input may be virtually limitless.

The Supreme Court’s 2008 Medellín v. Texas decision appeared …

International Criminal Courts And The Making Of Public International Law: New Roles For International Organizations And Individuals, Kenneth S. Gallant

Faculty Scholarship

Judicial decisions of the International Criminal Court and other international criminal tribunals now serve as instances of practice and statements of opinio juris for the formation of customary international criminal law and customary international human rights law related to criminal law and procedure. In these areas of law and others, they are no longer “subsidiary” sources as that word is used in the International Court of Justice Statute, Art. 38. In the same fields of customary international law, other binding acts of international organizations, such as the UN Security Council, are also used as practice, and the statements of these …

The Use Of Article 31(3)(C) Of The Vclt In The Case Law Of The Ecthr: An Effective Anti-Fragmentation Tool Or A Selective Loophole For The Reinforcement Of Human Rights Teleology?, Vassilis P. Tzevelekos

Michigan Journal of International Law

In Part I the Article will briefly introduce the question of the fragmentation of international law, and will more extensively delineate the role that the ILC attributed to Article 31(3)(c) and the ILC's expectations regarding its success in this role. Next, Part II will give an overview of the special elements of the ECHR socio-normative environment, which gave rise to the case law into which Article 31(3)(c) came into force. The Article will argue that, in addition to benefiting from the very special nature of the ECHR, the Strasbourg Court also has a significant number of interpretative tools that allow …