Committee Mandate
The Committee studies and analyzes the domestic judicial invocation of international law, whether as the law of decision in individual cases or as a guide to the interpretation of national legal norms. It considers the means by which both treaties and customary law are incorporated into the work of municipal judges. Although its principal focus is the use of international law in the courts of the United States, the Committee also invites comparative study of other nations’ legal systems. The Committee intends to organize mini-conferences when there are judicial decisions of special importance – such as the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Nestle and Cargill v. Doe – as well as to sponsor panels during International Law Weekend, and to encourage research, teaching, and writing on this very challenging topic. Although the Committee invites all members of ABILA to participate in its work, its emphasis on litigation may make it of special interest to practitioners.
ILW 2024 Panel: The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) as ‘law for the powerless’ Children in America
ILW 2023 Panel: Pushback: The Increasing Opposition to the Domestic Relevance of International Law
ILW 2022 Panel: Is U.S. Ratification of Human Rights Treaties Obsolete?
ILW 2021 Panel: When Domestic Courts Evaluate Foreign Legal Systems: The Case of China