I. THE TYPES AND SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW
Statute of the International Court of Justice: (Article 38) The Court, whose function is to decide in accordance with international law such disputes as are submitted to it, shall apply:
(a) international conventions, whether general or particular, establishing rules expressly recognized by contesting states;
(b) international custom, as evidence of a general practice accepted as law;
Determining custom: The general practice of states (how the state behave historically).
Accepted as law: (Involves some element of mass psychology) “opinio juris”; the idea that there is come consensus as to what is accepted as law.
(c) the general principles of law recognized by civilized nations;
The domestic legal principles of nations generally accepted so that they may be applied on the international plane.
EX: due process, notice…
(d) … judicial decisions and the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists of the various nations, as subsidiary means for the determination of rules of law. (secondary sources)
Hints that there is some kind of priority among these sources.
Judicial decisions might be useful in determining content of international law.
Teachings of highly-qualified professors and research assistants.
A. RULES OF CONVENTIONAL INTERNATIONAL LAW
i. U.S. PRACTICES AND CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLES GOVERNING TREATIES
Three Elements of Treaties Becoming the Law of the Land:
1. Self-Executing v. Non-Self-Executing Treaties
2. Last-in-Time Rule
3. Terminating a Treaty
1. TREATIES AND THE CONSTITUTION
Relevant Constitutional Provisions:
Article II, section 2: Allows the president to make treaties with the advice and consent of the Senate.
Supremacy Clause (Art. VI): The Constitution, laws and treaties made under the authority of the U.S. shall be the supreme law of the land.
Guiding Principles on Role of Treaties in the Constitution:
The existence of a