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American Judges And International Law, A. M. Weisburd

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This article addresses an issue with which federal courts have been forced to deal with increasing frequency: How ought a judge go about determining the content of customary international law? The article seeks to demonstrate, using the example of the treatment of the concept of "jus cogens" by the courts of appeals, that federal courts have come to rely on doubtful sources in addressing questions of international law. More specifically, it sets out to show that courts frequently do not rely on the actual practice of governments to determine the content of customary international law, which would seem to be …