Law of Treaties - Readings

Next week we will continue to look at the Law of Treaties, picking up where we left off on the issue of reservations. Pay particular attention to the ICJ advisory opinion, and the Human Rights Committee comments on reservations to the ICCPR.

In Section 4, on "Observance, Application, and Interpretation," read all of pp. 163-177, but in the notes beginning at p. 177, you need only review notes 2, 3, 7, 10, and 11.

When we turn to Section 5 on "Invalidity of Treaties," you will need to read parts A, and skim parts B and C; we will pay more close attention to part D on conflict with jus cogens norms.

In Section 6, "Termination or Suspension of Treaties," we will look at parts A and B closely, and in part C, pay particular attention to the Report of the ILC (and following notes), and the Advisory Opinion on Namibia. In part D, again the Report of the ILC, and the Babcikovo-Nagymaros Project case (which will come up several times during the course).

Hate Crimes and Freedom of Expression - for those who were interested in exploring further a different perspective on the balance between freedom of expression and equality rights in crafting hate-speech laws, you might be interested in the R. v. Keegstra decision of the Supreme Court of Canada that was mentioned in class. The headnote is quite detailed and will give you a sense of the argument if you don't have time to read the entire opinion.

Law of Treaties - Conclusion, Capacity, Consent, and Reservations

The International Criminal Court

On Friday we will continue the discussion of the law of treaties, looking in particular at the issues of concluding a treaty, capacity to enter into treaty,  methods of expressing consent, and reservations. Some points to think about as you review the material:

- What was the significance of the Bush Administration famously "un-signing" the ICC Rome Statute? What explanation can you find in the VCLT for the US government having done so?

- What are the pros and cons of permitting reservations? Does the rationale differ if the treaty is a human rights treaty as opposed to, say, a regional trade treaty? If so, why?

- Consider, for purposes of discussion, the U.S. reservations to the ICCPR (reservation to Art. 20(2)), and the Genocide Convention (general reservation), and the ICJ's opinion on the matter of reservations, and the Human Rights Committee's views on reservations to the ICCPR.

Welcome to Public International Law, Fall 2011

As we get started on the somewhat mundane subject of the law of treaties, consider how it might be used in responding to the burning questions of the day. Here is a link to a post yesterday, on the international law blog Opinio Juris, discussing the question of whether the new Libyan government would be obliged to turn Col. Qaddafi over to the International Criminal Court.