Should judgments of the International Court of Justice be considered automatically self-executing and directly enforceable at the domestic level?

Upcoming International Judicial Academy Events
Intellectual Property Seminar in Washington, DC: From August 11 – 15, the International Judicial Academy conducted a seminar on intellectual property law for 17 judges and 12 lawyers from Argentina. (Read More »)

Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia: Decision on Civil Party Participation in Provisional Detention Appeals »

United States: Mora v. New York »

The High Court of South Africa: Mazibuko and The City of Johannesburg »

The Supreme Court of Israel: Anonymous v. The State of Israel »

International Criminal Court: Appeals Chamber Judgment on the appeal of Mr. Lubanga Dyilo against the oral decision of Trial Chamber 1 of 18 January 2008 »

(More Cases »)

CHILD RELOCATION TO A FOREIGN COUNTRY: SAYONARA FOREVER?
By James R. Zazzali

Litigation of custody cases occurs with predictable regularity when the residential parent intends to move with a child or children to another city or state. That is not a recent jurisprudential phenomenon. But courts are beginning to confront a new and more difficult problem -- removal to another country.
(Read More »)

Pacta Sunt Servanda
Are states really bound to fulfill the commitments they undertake pursuant to a bilateral or multilateral treaty once it has been ratified and then enters into force?  According to pacta sunt servanda, they are. This Latin phrase, which may be roughly translated as “treaties shall be complied with,” describes a significant general principle of international law—one that underlies the entire system of treaty-based relations between sovereign states. (Read More »)

Nicolas Michel
To be appointed as Under-Secretary General for Legal Affairs and Legal Counsel for the United Nations, one must be able to provide interpretation, analysis, and advice on questions of international law for 192 nations. This may seem like a daunting professional challenge to some, but not for Nicolas Michel, a leading international figure in international law.
(Read More »)

Judging East Timor
Hon. Phillip Rapoza, Chief Justice, Massachusetts Appeals Court
Between 2003 and 2005, I served as an international judge on the Special Panels for Serious Crimes in East Timor. (Read More »)

“A Decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind…” Selected Speeches by Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court on Foreign and International Law.
Edited by Christopher J. Borgen. The American Society of International Law. 2007

The United States Declaration of Independence recites the importance of “a decent respect to the opinions of mankind.” Throughout the history of the United States of America, concepts of foreign and international law have had a strong presence in the reasoning and decisions of the American judiciary. (Read More »)