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Full-Text Articles in Law

The Political Branches And The Law Of Nations, Bradford R. Clark, Anthony J. Bellia Aug 2016

The Political Branches And The Law Of Nations, Bradford R. Clark, Anthony J. Bellia

Anthony J. Bellia

In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the U.S. Supreme Court went out of its way to follow background rules of the law of nations, particularly the law of state-state relations. As we have recently argued, the Court followed the law of nations because adherence to such law preserved the constitutional prerogatives of the political branches to conduct foreign relations and decide momentous questions of war and peace. Although we focused primarily on the extent to which the Constitution obligated courts to follow the law of nations in the early republic, the explanation we offered rested on an important, …


The Law Of Nations As Constitutional Law, Anthony J. Bellia, Bradford R. Clark Oct 2013

The Law Of Nations As Constitutional Law, Anthony J. Bellia, Bradford R. Clark

Anthony J. Bellia

Courts and scholars continue to debate the status of customary international law in U.S. courts, but have paid insufficient attention to the role that such law plays in interpreting and upholding several specific provisions of the Constitution. The modern position argues that courts should treat customary international law as federal common law. The revisionist position contends that customary international law applies only to the extent that positive federal or state law has adopted it. Neither approach adequately takes account of the Constitution’s allocation of powers to the federal political branches in Articles I and II or the effect of these …


The Law Of Nations As Constitutional Law, Anthony J. Bellia, Bradford R. Clark Jan 2012

The Law Of Nations As Constitutional Law, Anthony J. Bellia, Bradford R. Clark

Journal Articles

Courts and scholars continue to debate the status of customary international law in U.S. courts, but have paid insufficient attention to the role that such law plays in interpreting and upholding several specific provisions of the Constitution. The modern position argues that courts should treat customary international law as federal common law. The revisionist position contends that customary international law applies only to the extent that positive federal or state law has adopted it. Neither approach adequately takes account of the Constitution’s allocation of powers to the federal political branches in Articles I and II or the effect of these …


The Law Of Nations As Constitutional Law, Bradford R. Clark, Anthony J. Bellia Jr. Jan 2012

The Law Of Nations As Constitutional Law, Bradford R. Clark, Anthony J. Bellia Jr.

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Courts and scholars continue to debate the status of customary international law in U.S. courts, but have paid insufficient attention to the role that such law plays in interpreting and upholding several specific provisions of the Constitution. The modern position argues that courts should treat customary international law as federal common law. The revisionist position contends that customary international law applies only to the extent that positive federal or state law has adopted it. Neither approach adequately takes account of the Constitution’s allocation of powers to the federal political branches in Articles I and II or the effect of these …


The Political Branches And The Law Of Nations, Bradford R. Clark, Anthony J. Bellia Dec 2010

The Political Branches And The Law Of Nations, Bradford R. Clark, Anthony J. Bellia

Journal Articles

In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the U.S. Supreme Court went out of its way to follow background rules of the law of nations, particularly the law of state-state relations. As we have recently argued, the Court followed the law of nations because adherence to such law preserved the constitutional prerogatives of the political branches to conduct foreign relations and decide momentous questions of war and peace. Although we focused primarily on the extent to which the Constitution obligated courts to follow the law of nations in the early republic, the explanation we offered rested on an important, …


Deference To Administrative Agencies In Interpreting Treaties: Chevron, Charming Betsy, And Global Decisionmaking, Catherine E. Sweetser Sep 2010

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 Political Branches And The Law Of Nations, Bradford R. Clark Jan 2010

The Political Branches And The Law Of Nations, Bradford R. Clark

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the U.S. Supreme Court went out of its way to follow background rules of the law of nations, particularly the law of state-state relations. As we have recently argued, the Court followed the law of nations because adherence to such law preserved the constitutional prerogatives of the political branches to conduct foreign relations and decide momentous questions of war and peace. Although we focused primarily on the extent to which the Constitution obligated courts to follow the law of nations in the early republic, the explanation we offered rested on an important, …