Debating the Domestic Enforcement of ICJ Judgments

The Supreme Court is poised to consider the domestic legal effect of a decision of the International Court of Justice in Medellin v. Dretke (set for argument in March). The Columbia Law Federalist Society and the Columbia Journal on Transnational Law held a talk yesterday between Professors Curtis Bradley (of UVA and now Duke) and Lori Fisler Damrosch (of Columbia) which was live-blogged by a devoted (and unbelievably fast typing) law student. Prof. Bradley recently left the State Department’s Legal Adviser’s Office and Prof. Damrosch has filed an amicus brief in the case arguing that U.S. courts are required to enforce the ICJ’s judgment so both know as much about this topic as anyone.

This is a complicated issue and I have many, many thoughts on this topic, in fact way too many for this blog post. For now, let me point you to my work on this question here and here . Additionally, this brief summary by Prof. Bradley provides a good way of thinking about this question.