The Role of Domestic Courts in Treaty Enforcement A Comparative Study

This book examines the application of treaties by domestic courts in twelve countries. The central question is whether domestic courts actually provide remedies to private parties who are harmed by a violation of their treaty-based rights. The analysis shows that domestic courts in eight of the twelve countries - Australia, Canada, Germany, India, the Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, and the United Kingdom - generally do enforce treaty-based rights on behalf of private parties. On the other hand, the evidence is mixed for the other four countries: China, Israel, Russia, and the United States. In China, Israel, and Russia, the trends are moving in the direction of greater judicial enforcement of treaties on behalf of private parties. The United States is the only country surveyed where the trend is moving in the opposite direction. US courts' reluctance to enforce treaty-based rights undermines efforts to develop a more cooperative global order.

1. Introduction David Sloss; 2. Does international law obligate states to open their national courts to persons for the invocation of treaty norms that protect or benefit persons? Sean D. Murphy; 3. Australia Donald R. Rothwell; 4. Canada Gib Van Ert; 5. China Xue Hanqin and Jin Qian; 6. Germany Andreas Paulus; 7. India Nihal Jayawickrama; 8. Israel David Kretzmer; 9. Netherlands Andre Nollkaemper; 10. Poland Lech Garlicki, Małgorzata Masternak-Kubiak and Krzysztof Wójtowicz; 11. Russia William E. Butler; 12. South Africa John Dugard; 13. United Kingdom Anthony Aust; 14. United States David Sloss; 15. The role of domestic courts in treaty enforcement: summary and conclusions Michael P. Van Alstine.

Professor Sloss joined the faculty of Santa Clara University in 2008. He was a faculty member at Saint Louis University School of Law from 1999 to 2008. During his academic career, Professor Sloss has published approximately two dozen law review articles. Before embarking on an academic career, Professor Sloss spent nine years as a civil servant in the US government. During that time, he participated in drafting and negotiating several important treaties and other international agreements. Professor Sloss earned his J.D. from Stanford Law School and his M.P.P. from Harvard University.