Law Commons^™

The Relationship Between The Law Of Treaties And The Law Of State Responsibility With Reference To Non-Performance Of Treaty, Oluwateniola Akinbodewa Solape

Theses and Dissertations

The crisis of non-performance of international treaties in international law constitutes a fundamental challenge to the main foundation of international law, which ought not to be ignored. With treaty being a key source of international law, is it expedient that we pay attention to non-performance of treaty obligations, less we undermine the integrity of international law. Enforcing the performance of international treaties can be challenging due to the decentralized nature of the international legal system and the principles of state sovereignty. The law of treaties by itself doesn’t seem to provide much forum for responsibility for non-performance of treaties and …

Consensus Decision-Making And Legislative Inertia At The Wto: Can International Law Help?, Americo B. Zampetti, Patrick Low, Petros C. Mavroidis

Faculty Scholarship

The recent emergence of Joint Statement Initiatives (JSIs) – that is, negotiating initiatives among a subset of the World Trade Organization (WTO) membership – has reignited the debate over law-making in the WTO. As things stand, the WTO operates on the basis of a widespread expectation that consensus needs to be achieved for any decision to be taken. Agreements that produce rights and obligations only among a subset of the membership (‘plurilaterals’, or Annex 4 agreements) are also subject to the consensus rule and thus remain exceptional. Are JSIs the first move towards redressing the current equilibrium in favour of …

State Succession In Respect Of Treaties And Notifications: A Bottleneck Approach, Aymeric Hêche

UAEU Law Journal

Nowadays, State succession in respect of treaties is mainly concerned with separation and dismemberment of States. According to the 1978 Vienna Convention on the topic, the predecessor’s treaties automatically bind the Successor State (article 34 of the said Convention). In practice, successor States are not officially bound until they issue a notification of succession. Except upon submission of a notification, the depositary does not list the Successor State as a party. The scope of this article is to highlight the central position of notifications in the succession process. Given the major role played by notifications, it is worth questioning notifications …

Fish Don't Litter In Your House: Is International Law The Solution To The Plastic Pollution Problem?, Taylor G. Keselica

Pace International Law Review

This article addresses the complex issue of plastic pollution—focusing on ocean plastics. Specifically, this article examines the ocean plastics problem, critiques current binding and non-binding international environmental law surrounding ocean plastics, hazardous wastes, and pollution, and proposes a more effective solution to the ocean plastics problem. Section I provides a basic history of the creation of plastics and discusses plastics as they are used today. Section II considers the concerns surrounding ocean plastics, focusing on impacts of plastic on marine ecosystems as well as human health effects. Section III, IV, and V discuss the ongoing attempts to address the ocean …

Right To Health In Gats: Can The Public Health Exception Pave The Way For Complementarity?, Swati Gola

Pace International Law Review

This paper demonstrates how a right to health approach in the interpretation of the public health exception outlined in GATS Article XIV(b) can bring about a harmonious application of international human rights and international trade law regimes. Focusing on the interpretive value of the right to health for the public health exception in GATS, it examines whether a WTO Member, who has committed itself under GATS to fully liberalize all service sectors that have implications for health (e.g., hospital and other healthcare services), still retains the regulatory space to undertake measures to fulfill their right to health obligations and can …

Protecting U.S. Citizens Abroad And Bringing The United States Into Compliance With The Vienna Convention Post-Medellin, Margaret Anne Christie

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Contributions Of United Nations Security Council Resolutions To The Law Of Non-International Armed Conflict: New Evidence Of Customary International Law, Gregory H. Fox, Kristen E. Boon, Isaac Jenkins

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Nobility Of Interpretation: Equity, Retrospectivity, And Collectivity In Implementing New Norms For Performers' Rights, Antony Taubman

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Bg Group V. Republic Of Argentina: A Supreme Misunderstanding Of Investment Treaty Arbitration, Jarrod Wong

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Sovereign Immunity - Taxation - Residence Of Foreign Sovereign Diplomatic And Consular Staff Is Immune From Taxation Under A Bilateral Agreement And The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, Maija S. Blaubergs

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The United States, The Oas, And The Dilemma Of The Undesirable Regime, James P. Rowles

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Bond And The Vienna Rules, Roger P. Alford

Journal Articles

This Article briefly outlines the Court’s holding in Bond, and the general framework of interpretation set forth in the Vienna Rules. It then looks at Supreme Court jurisprudence that is consonant with the Vienna Rules. The Article then analyzes Bond’s interpretive approach using the Vienna Rules methodology. It concludes with reflections on the future of Supreme Court treaty interpretation and how that interpretation could avoid reaching the constitutional question of the scope of the treaty power.

Uniform Interpretation Of The 1980 Uniform Sales Law, Franco Ferrari

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Demanding Accountability Where Accountability Is Due: A Functional Necessity Approach To Diplomatic Immunity Under The Vienna Convention, Nina M. Bergmar

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Note addresses the inability of domestic workers to seek redress for exploitation by diplomat employers. In examining the legal quagmire facing these workers, this Note highlights a departure by courts from the functional necessity theory underlying the Vienna Convention. Courts now rely wholly on the U.S. State Department's interpretation of the scope of diplomatic immunity, communicated through "Statements of Interest." The significant deference given to such statements has had dire consequences for exploited victims. Under a functional necessity approach, domestic workers are able to demand redress, as exploitation is a private act--i.e., not in furtherance of the diplomatic mission--undertaken …

The Limits Of Administrative Guidance In The Interpretation Of Tax Treaties, Michael Kirsch

Michael Kirsch

This Article addresses the increasingly important role of administrative guidance in interpreting the United States' international treaty obligations. The relationship between administrative guidance and treaties raises important issues at the intersection of international law, constitutional law, and administrative law. These issues are explored in the context of the United States' extensive tax treaty network. Tax treaties play an important role in a global economy, attempting to reconcile the complex and ever-changing internal tax laws of different countries. The Treasury Department is considering the increased use of administrative guidance to interpret the meaning and application of tax treaties, particularly in response …

Putting The Cisg Where It Belongs: In The Uniform Commercial Code, Kina Grbic

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of The Death Penalty Jurisprudence Of The October 2007 Supreme Court Term, Richard Klein

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Relevance Of Subsequent Agreement And Subsequent Practice For The Interpretation Of Treaties, Sean D. Murphy

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

In May 2012, the International Law Commission (ILC) appointed a special rapporteur, Georg Nolte, to complete a project on “subsequent agreements and subsequent practice in relation to the interpretation of treaties.” Previously referred to by the name “treaties over time,” the project is expected to result by 2016 in a series of “observations” or “conclusions” about how the meaning of a treaty might be determined based, at least in part, on the conduct of the States Parties after the treaty is concluded.

The project raises a large number of interesting issues, some of which concern terminology and line drawing, others …

The Taking Of Diplomatic Hostages, Tehran 1979: An Islamic And International Legal Perspective., Michael P. Hatchell

Michael P Hatchell

This paper will examine the hostage crisis at the American embassy in light of Islamic Sharia, the 1979 International Court of Justice case concerning United States Diplomatic and Consular Staff in Tehran, the Iranian constitution and international law—both treaty law and principles of customary international law. Each one will shed a different light on the hostage crisis in 1979 and through their individual lenses a collective picture will emerge that will sharpen the condemnation of hostage taking regardless of the situation, rationale or ideology.

Customary Rules Of Interpretation In The Practice Of Wto Dispute Settlement Bodies, Lukasz A. Gruszczynski

Lukasz A Gruszczynski

Human Rights Treaty Body Reform: New Proposals, Andrew Kloster

Andrew Kloster

“Reform” in international human rights law has become a narrow concept. A survey of the literature reveals that nearly any suggestion for reform concerns greater enforcement of international human rights substantive norms.

It is the purpose of this article to address the neglected question of treaty body role. Section II provides a nuts-and-bolts guide to the treaty body mandates for United Nations delegates, States Parties, and international lawyers. This section sketches the proper and improper actions for treaty bodies to take. It is our contention that if treaty bodies were limited to their proper role, they could more effectively use …

Was The 2003 Invasion Of Iraq Legal?, Andru E. Wall

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

The Object And Purpose Of A Treaty: Three Interpretive Methods, David S. Jonas, Thomas N. Saunders

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article examines the three most prominent uses of the term "object and purpose" within the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and, in each instance, offers a new method for applying the term. First, the rule that a treaty be interpreted "in light of" its object and purpose requires a process of interpretation that oscillates between a treaty's individual provisions and the logic of all its provisions as a whole. Second, for reservations, the term exists to preserve "rule coherence[,]" as that term has been developed by Professor Thomas Franck. Lastly, states are required upon signature not to …

The U.S. And German Interpretations Of The Vienna Convention On Consular Relations: Is Any Constitutional Court Really Cosmopolitan?, Peter A. Heinlein

Maryland Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Introductory Note To International Court Of Justice: Decision On The Request For Interpretation Of The Avena Judgment, Chiara Giorgetti

Law Faculty Publications

On 19 January 2009, the International Court of Justice ("ICJ" or "the Court") issued its Judgment On the Request for the Interpretation of the Avena Judgment ("Judgment") denying Mexico's request for interpretation, and holding that the matters claimed by Mexico "are not matters which ha[d] been decided by the Court in its Judgment," and thus could not give rise to an interpretation as requested by 2Mexico.' This is probably the last step in a complex and lengthy litigation between Mexico and United States,2 which began on January 9, 2003, when Mexico instituted proceedings at the ICJ against the U.S. for …

Treaty Bodies And The Interpretation Of Human Rights, Kerstin Mechlem

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The eight United Nations human rights treaty bodies play an important role in establishing the normative content of human rights and in giving concrete meaning to individual rights and state obligations. Unfortunately, their output often suffers from methodological weaknesses and lack of coherence and analytical rigor, which compromise its legitimacy.

This Article suggests that these deficits could in large part be addressed if the committees applied the customary legal rules of interpretation codified in Articles 31 and 32 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (Vienna Convention), which requires attention to the text, context, and object and purpose …

The Limits Of Administrative Guidance In The Interpretation Of Tax Treaties, Michael Kirsch

Journal Articles

This Article addresses the increasingly important role of administrative guidance in interpreting the United States' international treaty obligations. The relationship between administrative guidance and treaties raises important issues at the intersection of international law, constitutional law, and administrative law. These issues are explored in the context of the United States' extensive tax treaty network. Tax treaties play an important role in a global economy, attempting to reconcile the complex and ever-changing internal tax laws of different countries. The Treasury Department is considering the increased use of administrative guidance to interpret the meaning and application of tax treaties, particularly in response …

Federalism And International Law Through The Lens Of Legal Pluralism, Paul Schiff Berman

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Sovereignty has long been the dominant lens through which we view both federalism and international law. From the perspective of sovereignty, both federalism and international law are primarily about drawing clear boundaries and demarcations between separate, autonomous power centers. Recently, however, a group of scholars have embraced a more pluralist approach to both American federalism and international law. They have touted the important virtues of jurisdictional redundancy and inter-systemic governance models in which multiple legal and regulatory authorities weigh in regarding the same acts and actors. And they argue that such jurisdictional redundancies are not just a necessary accommodation to …

"Respectful Consideration" After Sanchez-Llamas V. Oregon: Why The Supreme Court Owes More To The International Court Of Justice, Steven Arrigg Koh

Faculty Scholarship

This Note argues that the doctrine of “respectful consideration” has emerged as little more than a hollow acknowledgement of the ICJ before the Court engages in its own independent interpretation of the Vienna Convention. It further argues that, while the ICJ has no actual legal authority to interpret the Vienna Convention from the U.S. domestic perspective, the Supreme Court should nonetheless treat ICJ decisions with greater deference. Specifically, Justice Stephen Breyer’s test from his Sanchez-Llamas dissent accords the proper level of deference by permitting, in limited circumstances, the remedies of suppression of the evidence and exceptions to state procedural default …

From The World Court To Oklahoma Court: The Significance Of Torres V. State For International Court Of Justice Authority, Individual Rights, And The Availability Of Remedy In Vienna Convention Disputes, Heather L. Finstuen

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.