Post on 16-Apr-2017
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International LawProfessor Lisa Smith-ButlerAdvanced Legal Research
Fall 2016
What is International Law? According to the Restatement (Third) of Foreign Relations Law,
international law “consists of rules and principles of general application dealing
with the conduct of states and of international organizations and with their relations inter se, as well as with some of their relations with persons, whether natural or juridical.”
From the Restatement (Third) of Foreign Relations Law, §101, American Law Institute, 1987 - 2011.
Public v. Private? Following the Restatement’s definition, there is public international law
which involves the legal relations among sovereign states. Private international law, often referred to in the United States as
Conflicts of Law, describes the “legal relations between and among individuals where the law of more than one nation may be involved.”
An Example of Public International Law: GATT GATT, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, was signed in Geneva in
1947. GATT was signed to promote the lowering of trade barriers among member
countries. “Under GATT, member nations were obligated to give ‘most-favored
nation’ treatment to all goods originating in member countries.” See Encyclopedia of Business, 2d ed., International Law, available at
http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/encyclopedia/Int-Jun/International-Law.html (visited October 31, 2016.)
Public International Law: Where Can I Find It?
Since there isn’t a designated international executive, legislative, or judicial branch for international law, how do we locate sources of international law?
Sources of Public International Law According to 59 Stat. 1055 (1945), the
definitive statement regarding the source of international law is Article 38(a) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice.
Statute 38 According to the International Court of Justice, Statute 38, the
primary sources of international law, applicable to sovereign nations and international organizations, are as follows: international conventions and treaties; customary international usage; general principles of law of civilized nations; judicial decisions of international and national tribunals.
Secondary sources include scholarly writings such as textbooks and treatises.
International Conventions & Treaties The U.S. provides access via several resources to both bilateral and
multilateral treaties to which it is a party. Current U.S. treaties are initially published in the T.I.A.S. (Treaties and Other
International Agreements Series) as a pamphlet. They are then published, in chronological order, in a permanent series
(bound volume) known as U.S.T. (United States Treaties and Other International Agreements.) They can be searched via chronology, country name or subject heading.
Treaties Retrospective U.S. treaties can be found in:
Bevans, Treaties and Other International Agreements of the United States of America, 1776 – 1949;
Statutes at Large (limited.)
International Treaty collections Additional international treaty collections include:
United Nations Treaty Series League of Nations Treaty Series Consolidated Treaty Series Council of Europe Treaty Series OAS Treaty Series
Researching League of Nations & U.N. Treaties via United Nations
Determining the Status of Treaties
League of Nations Treaty Series
United Nations Treaty Series
Consolidated Treaty Series
Council of Europe Treaty Series
OAS Treaty Series
Customary International Law In order to demonstrate “customary” international law, custom, which is
unwritten by definition, must be established. Custom can be established by checking some of the following documents:
“diplomatic correspondence; advice of the legal advisor to the foreign ministry (i.e. the State Department in
the U.S.); or general statements of policy on international legal questions.”
Barkan, supra, p. 438
Principles of General Law This topic too, as does custom, presents difficulties. According to Barkan, it is actually easier to establish general principles of
law with leading treatises and authors of secondary sources rather than with primary sources.
Adjudications International Court of Justice
Created by the United Nations charter, this court is the major judicial organ of the U.N.
It is composed of 15 justices who are selected by the U.N. General Assembly and Security Council.
Headquarters are at the Peace Palace, The Hague, Netherlands. Jurisdiction is either:
voluntarily submitted to and agreed upon by parties; or compulsory as when parties have made a declaration under Article 36(2) of the Statute
of the International Court of Justice to be bound by the Court’s jurisdiction.
What Does The ICJ Produce?
Reports of Judgments, Advisory Opinions & Orders; Pleadings, Oral Arguments , Documents; Acts and Documents Concerning the Organization of the Court; Yearbook; & Bibliography.
Cases
Pending Cases
Judgments, Advisory Opinions & Orders
Secondary Sources Treatises Dictionaries & Encyclopedias (Max Planck) Journals Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals Yearbooks
CIAO
Foreign Law Guide
HeinOnline: Foreign Law Database & Foreign Relations
Oxford Constitutions of the World
Oxford Reports on International Law
Web Sites of Interest Web sites, pertaining to the public aspect of international law, include:
ASIL (American Society of International Law) Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations EISIL (Electronic Information System for International Law produced by ASIL) Europa (European Union) GlobaLex United Nations Yale Law School Lillian Goldman Law Library Research Guide to
Foreign & International Law Resources.
Looking for the law of a particular Country? Check Out Cornell’s Legal Information Institute
Researching Private International Law In the U.S., this topic is often referred to as Conflict of Laws. Conflicts involves locating and applying the laws of differing countries to
disputes between private individuals. This is one reason that a researcher may need to locate the laws of another country.
A person may be anticipating doing business in another country. If so, they may need to research the laws of that country.
Thus U.S. legal researchers may sometimes need to locate the law of foreign countries.
Several reputable web sites exist that provide access to the laws of other countries.
They include: Cornell’s Legal Information Institute Washlaw Yale Law School, Lillian Goldman Law Library
Cornell’s Legal Information Institute: World Law
Washlaw
Yale
Judicial Branch Remember that common law countries (Great Britain, the United States,
Canada, Australia, New Zealand) developed their laws from the bench over several centuries. Thus judicial decisions are very important in common law countries.
In civil law countries (Spain, France, Germany), legislation tends to be more more important than judicial decisions.
Common Law: Australia
Common Law: Canada
Common Law: New Zealand
Common Law: United Kingdom
Legislation/Civil Law/ France
Civil Law: Germany
Civil Law: Italy
Civil Law: Spain
Conclusion: Check Out Duke’s Tutorial