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International Law

University of Michigan Law School

Series

Treaty interpretation

Articles 1 - 8 of 8

Full-Text Articles in Law

International Law Rules On Treaty Interpretation, Steven R. Ratner Jan 2022

International Law Rules On Treaty Interpretation, Steven R. Ratner

Book Chapters

International law is central to the interpretation of both of the Brexit-related treaties. The TCA explicitly requires the parties and any dispute settlement body to interpret it according to the rules of interpretation of public international law, notably the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT). The WA, and thus the Protocol, by specifying that any of its provisions concerning Union law or concepts must be interpreted in accordance with EU law (including the case law of the CJEU), implies that its many provisions not concerning EU law will need to be interpreted by the default rules of …


Deference To The Executive, Julian Arato Jan 2016

Deference To The Executive, Julian Arato

Book Chapters

This chapter examines the practice of deference to the executive, by national courts, in the context of interpreting treaties. When faced with an issue of treaty interpretation, to what extent must a national court engage in its own independent analysis, and to what extent ought the court give weight to interpretations advanced by the executive branch? And if deference to the executive is permissible as a matter of international doctrine, what considerations ought to guide the manner of deference, and the determination of how much deference is appropriate? I argue that international law does not formally preclude national judicial deference …


Contemporary Practice Of The United States Relating To International Law, Kristina Daugirdas, Julian Davis Mortenson Jan 2015

Contemporary Practice Of The United States Relating To International Law, Kristina Daugirdas, Julian Davis Mortenson

Articles

In this section: United States Objects to Russia’s Continued Violations of Ukraine’s Territorial Sovereignty, Including by Convoys Purporting to Provide Humanitarian Aid • United States and Afghanistan Sign Bilateral Security Agreement • United States Announces “Changes and Confirmations” in Its Interpretation of the UNConvention Against Torture • United States and China Make Joint Announcement to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Bolstering Multilateral Climate Change Negotiations • United States Deepens Its Engagement with ISIL Conflict • NATO Affirms that Cyber Attacks May Trigger Collective Defense Obligations


The Michigan Guidelines On Well-Founded Fear, Colloquium On Challenges In International Refugee Law Jan 2005

The Michigan Guidelines On Well-Founded Fear, Colloquium On Challenges In International Refugee Law

Other Publications

An individual qualifies as a Convention refugee only if he or she has a "well-founded fear" of being persecuted. While it is generally agreed that the "well-founded fear" requirement limits refugee status to persons who face an actual, forward-looking risk of being persecuted (the "objective element"), linguistic ambiguity has resulted in a divergence of views regarding whether the test also involves assessment of the state of mind of the person seeking recognition of refugee status (the "subjective element").


Is There A Subjective Element In The Refugee Convention's Requirement Of 'Well-Founded Fear'?, James C. Hathaway, William S. Hicks Jan 2005

Is There A Subjective Element In The Refugee Convention's Requirement Of 'Well-Founded Fear'?, James C. Hathaway, William S. Hicks

Articles

Linguistic ambiguity in the refugee definition's requirement of "well-founded fear" of being persecuted has given rise to a wide range of interpretations. There is general agreement that a fear is "well-founded" only if the refugee claimant faces an actual, forward-looking risk of being persecuted in her country of origin (the "objective element"). But it is less clear whether the well-founded "fear" standard also requires a showing that the applicant is not only genuinely at risk, but also stands in trepidation of being persecuted. Beyond vague references to the subjective quality of "fear," few courts or commentators have undertaken the task …


International Tax Law As International Law, Reuven S. Avi-Yonah Jan 2004

International Tax Law As International Law, Reuven S. Avi-Yonah

Articles

Is international tax law part of international law? To an international lawyer, the question posed probably seems ridiculous. Of course international tax law is part of international law, just like tax treaties are treaties. But to an international tax lawyer, the question probably seems less obvious, because most international tax lawyers do not think of themselves primarily as international lawyers (public or private), but rather as tax lawyers who happen to deal with crossborder transactions. And indeed, once one delves into the details, it becomes clear that in some ways international tax law is different from "regular" international law. For …


Framing Refugee Protection In The New World Disorder, James C. Hathaway, Colin J. Harvey Jan 2001

Framing Refugee Protection In The New World Disorder, James C. Hathaway, Colin J. Harvey

Articles

A number of jurisdictions have fastened onto a "solution" that appears to reconcile respect for refugee law with the determination of states to rid themselves quickly of potentially violent asylum seekers. Courts in these states have been persuaded that a person who has committed or facilitated acts of violence may lawfully be denied a refugee status hearing under a clause of the Refugee Convention that authorizes the automatic exclusion of persons whom the government reasonably believes are international or extraditable criminals. Refugee law so interpreted is reconcilable with even fairly blunt measures for the exclusion of violent asylum seekers. In …


Refugee Rights Are Not Negotiable, James C. Hathaway, Anne K. Cusick Jan 2000

Refugee Rights Are Not Negotiable, James C. Hathaway, Anne K. Cusick

Articles

America's troubled relationship with international law, in particular human rights law, is well documented. In many cases, the United States simply will not agree to be bound by international human rights treaties. For example, the United States has yet to ratify even such fundamental agreements as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. When the United States does agree to become a party to an international human rights treaty, it has often sought to condition its acceptance …