What’s the hot topic in U.S. foreign affairs law these days? (Hint: it's not Medellin, although I suppose that may change quickly). Rather, if tomorrow’s conference at Duke Law (co-sponsored by Harvard Law School) is any guide, it’s the issue of delegating authority under treaties to international organizations or other autonomous international bodies. Can the United States agree...
Some really quick unreflective thoughts on the latest Medellin decision: (1) The ICJ's interpretation in Avena is still wrong The Supreme Court's decision last summer in Sanchez-Llamas did not necessarily foreclose reliance on the ICJ's interpretation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations in this Texas proceeding. But the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals showed no inclination to reach...
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals just issued a decision on Ernesto Medellin's habeas petition, and it comes as little surprise that the Texas court dismissed the petition. In a lengthy decision, the Court concludes that neither Avena nor the President's memorandum is binding federal law that pre-empts state procedural bar rules. The Texas cout relies heavily on the Sanchez-Llamas...
The remanded Texas proceeding in Medellin v. Dretke, the original case invoking the ICJ's recent decision in Avena interpreting the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, has been decided by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. I am still reading it but the upshot: The renewed petition by Medellin seeking relief under President Bush's "memorandum" enforcing the ICJ's judgment has been...
International law sometimes happens, whether the President likes it or not and whether Congress likes it or not. When national actors make decisions intended to chart (or stymie) the course of international law, supra-state, sub-state and/or non-state actors may neutralize, or even contravene, the effect of their decisions. In this sense, Hari Osofsky’s final post, as well as...
A number of commentators have noticed that the new season of Battlestar Galactica, the best show on television, is a thinly disguised attack on the Bush administration's policies in the War on Terror. Here, for example, is a snippet from an essay in Slate entitled, appropriately enough, "Does Battlestar Galactica Support the Iraqi Insurgency?": It starts with a suicide...
The Military Commissions Act is now being litigated before the D.C. Circuit in the consolidated cases of Al Odah and Boumedienne. The Government and plaintiffs have recently filed briefs arguing for and against the dismissal of the lawsuits based on the MCA. The plaintiffs' brief is available here and the government's brief is available here. Continue below...
Despite earlier reports that President Bush would be able to go to Hanoi this week with congressional approval of Vietnam's permanent normal trading status in hand, House Republican leaders have reversed themselves and pulled the Vietnam bill completely today citing growing Democratic opposition. The bill, which is necessary for Vietnam's full accession to the WTO, may or may...
Whoops, that’s the Alliance of Civilizations, and here’s the final report of its “High-Level Group”. Who knew? Forgive me for being cynical, but if blue-ribbon commissions are having a tough time of it on the domestic front (that sound you’re about to hear is the crash and burn of the Baker study group), query whether they’re likely to have...
I was struck yesterday by how much of a special NY Times section on giving involved giving across borders. Where the Carnegies of the last gilded age focused their charity at home, this era’s new magnates are decidedly international in their scope. But it’s not just magnates that have shifted their focus - check out this piece on...
I’ve been busy over the last few weeks working on Temple’s Faculty Recruitment Committee. Along with our other hiring needs, we’re interested in bringing on another international law expert to bolster our recent hires in that area. As part of this process, I recently participated in the American Association of Law’s Schools Faculty Recruitment Conference (impolitely a.k.a. as...
The lame-duck Republican House failed to pass legislation today that would have granted Vietnam permanent normal trade relations with the U.S., a necessary pre-condition of Vietnam's full accession to the WTO. But the vote is by no means the end of the battle, because this vote needed an unusual two-thirds majority to bypass normal House procedures. The vote...
