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The IT Law Wiki

Treaties[]

Some, but not all, treaties are self-executing, and automatically have effect as domestic law.[1]

While treaties may comprise international commitments . . . they are not domestic law unless Congress has either enacted implementing statutes or the treaty itself conveys as intention that it be 'self-executing' and is ratified on these terms.[2]

"A treaty is equivalent to an act of the legislature, and hence self-executing, when it operates of itself without the aid of any legislative provision. When, in contrast, [treaty] stipulations are not self-executing they can only be enforced pursuant to legislation to carry them into effect."[3]

References[]

  1. See, e.g., Medellin v. Texas, 552 U.S. __, 128 S.Ct. 1346, 1356 (2008).
  2. Id. (internal quotation marks and citations omitted).
  3. Id. (internal quotation marks and citations omitted).