H-4 Thinking About Treaties: Interpretation, in Force and Internet

In March 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court decided the case of Medellin v. Texas, 128 S.Ct. 1346, wherein the Court held that neither an ICJ decision nor a unilateral executive order could execute a non-self-executing treaty. The court further held that a treaty is non-self-executing unless it explicitly states that it is self-executing. Creative scholarship and treaty interpretation on both sides of the argument ensued and continues. Two scholars closely involved in treaty interpretation, one of them also part of a new ASIL-ABA Section on International Law Task Force on Treaties and U.S. Law, will offer and consider new paths to locating valid treaties. Because librarians may be forced to reconsider the meaning of “Treaties in Force” and have a better understanding of treaties generally, a librarian speaker will sort through treaty text databases and prepare a handout of what can be found where, through the most effective means of finding scholarship and other secondary sources related to treaty interpretation and international law.