Conventions/Treaties/Articles Flashcards
US-Canada Extradition Treaty
Art 2 - dual criminality
alleged crime needs to be a crime in both requested and requesting states
US-Canada Extradition Treaty
Article 4 - situations where countries will not extradite
political offenses unless it involves a violent crime like murder or kidnapping
US-Canada Extradition Treaty
Art 5 - Age req for extraditon
defendants under 18 will not be extradited
US-Canada Extradition Treaty
Art 6 - death penalty reqs
extradition can be refused if the requesting state is seeking the death penalty, but assurances are allowed
Kindler v. Canada
US-Canada Extradition Treaty
Art 13 - requested/requesting states
can only be one requested state, but multiple states can be requesting states
US-Canada Extradition Treaty
Article 17/17bis - extradition of defendant when crimes in both states
European Convention on Human Rights
Art 3
no one shall be subject to torture or inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment
Soering v. UK
International covenant on civil and political rights
article 7 - punishment
No one shall be subjected to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment
US issued reservation to ICCPR to keep death penalty
Vienna Convention on Law of Treaties
Art 26 - Pacts sunt servanda
duty of good faith for all parties that are bound by the treaty
Vienna Convention on Law of Treaties
Art 31 - interpreting treaties
interpret treaty language in good faith in accordance with ordinary meaning in light of treaty’s object and purpose
Abbott v Abbott
Vienna Convention on Law of Treaties
Art 32 - treaty interpretation, parol evidence
if interpretation causes unclear or absurd result, then bring in parol evidence to determine meaning - similar to legislative history
Vienna Convention on Law of Treaties
Art 41 - modifying multilateral treaties
allow amendments if it doesn’t affect party’s advantages of the treaty and does not derogate from the object and purpose of the treaty
Vienna Convention on Law of Treaties
Art 36 - foreign nationals arrested in foreign state
have the right to contact the consulate
Medellin v. Texas
Rome Statute
Art 6 - Genocide definition
acts committed with special intent to destroy/eliminate, in whole or in part a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group
Rome Statute
Art 7 - crimes against humanity definition
killing as part of a widespread and systematic attack against civilian population
Vienna Convention on Law of Treaties
Art 41 - amendment vs modification
Amendment alters for all parties, modification alters for some parties
Vienna Convention on Law of Treaties
Art 53 - treaty definition
International agreement concluded between states in written form and governed by international law
Vienna Convention on the Laws of Treaties
Art 46 - validity
- Agent must have proper authority
- Error and mistake – art 47
- Art 49 – Fraud
- Art 50 – corruption
- Art 51, 52 – duress and coercion
Vienna Convention
Art 53 - jus cogens
treaty invalid if it conflicts with jus cogens norm
Rome Statute
Art 8 - War crimes
must be committed in armed conflict - jus in bello
- discriminate between combatants and civillians
- proportional action to threat or violence
- prohibition on method and weapons that are inhumane
Hague convention on war crimes
What tactics can be used in armed conflicts - exploding bullets, chemical and bacterial weapons, radioactive weapons
Geneva convention on war crimes
Who can be targeted in armed conflict - shipwrecked, sick and wounded, POWs, civilians, children recruited into war
Rome Statute
art 8bis - crimes of aggression
when is it legal to wage war
legal if
- UN authorizes use of force in respond to breach and threats of legal aggression
- self defense
Rome Statute
Art 16 - deferral
how cases can be deferred to ICC from UNSC, can be from any path to the ICC
Cases can be deferred for one year
Rome Statute Art 12 - Jurisdiction of ICC
crimes committed by the national of a state party
crimes committed on the territory of a state party
Rome Statute Art 13 - Referral process
- state party referral - art 12 jurisdiction, often self-referral
- proprio motu - art 12 jurisdiction, chief prosecutor can refer case
- UNSC referral - from resolution, no art 12 jurisdiction
Rome Statute Art 17 - admissibility
ICC has jurisdiction if national jurisdiction is unable or unwilling to prosecute
- ability - capacity and structural ability
- willingness - genuine commitment to having a trial, does not include truth commissions
Alien Tort Statute
Gives federal courts original jurisdiction over claims brought by anyone, anywhere that arises out of a violation of customary international law
Today, war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture, & genocide are all clearly covered by the ATS
Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act
presumption of immunity for foreign sovereigns, must fit into exception - commercial activities, takings/expropriations, material support of terrorism, jus cogens norms
does not create a private right of action by itself
Statute of the International Court of Justice
Art 36 - jurisdiction
- both states agree that ICJ has jurisdiction on ad hoc basis
- treaty has clause to go to ICJ in case of dispute
- grant of general jurisdiction to ICJ
Hague Convention on the Enforcement of Foreign Judgements
any foreign judgment will be enforced in any other state party. no need for conclusiveness
NAFTA Ch 3 - tariff and non-tariff barriers
Tariff barrier - customs duty, tax, fine at border
Non-Tariff barriers - quoats, subsidies, process-based concerns
NAFTA Ch 7 - sanitary measures
public health measures, lower level of scrutiny under NAFTA
NAFTA Ch 9 - standards
safety, protection of environment/consumers/life
state needs to point to scientific, logical viability of standard
must apply equally to everyone
NAFTA Ch 20 - arbitral panels
state can command consultation, request meeting with NAFTA commission, arbitration
NAFTA Ch 21 - rights of action
no private right of action
NAFTA Ch 11 - rights of individual companies and 5 protections
individual companies can sue when state directly weakens or eliminates investment
five protections
- national treatment
- most favored nation
- minimum standard of treatment - no investor can be treated in a way that departs from fair trade and equitable treatment under customary international law
- Performance requirements
- ban on expropriation - bans on direct or de facto takings - unless public purpose, non-disc basis, due process, compensation
GATT Art 20 - tariff/nontariff
same as NAFTA ch 9
tariff in question has to not constitute arbitrary/unjustifiable discrimination and cannot be a disguised restriction on international trade
Environmental Side Agreement to NAFTA
does not say what the substantive law should look like, just that existing domestic law should be enforced
Environmental Side Agreement to NAFTA
Art 14 - procedural trigger measure
Any member of the public can file a submission to the NAFTA secretariat that a governmental agency in US, Canada, or Mexico is failing to enforce its domestic environmental law
Environmental Side agreement to NAFTA
Art 15 - factual record
Permits if NAFTA secretariat believes that the submission warrants the development of a factual record, the secretariat can make that factual record publicly available. It can do so upon a 2/3 vote
Environmental side agreement to NAFTA Art 45 - persistent pattern, effectively enforced
Persistent pattern: sustained or recurring action or inaction that begins after entry of force to the side agreement
Effectively enforced: not enforcing the law that is on the books. There is an exception when a state can show that its decision not to effectively enforce a specific environmental law is made because of good faith budgetary choices or good faith investigatory discretion.
Environmental Side agreement to NAFTA Art 22
consultation requirement
Environmental Side Agreement to NAFTA art 33 - arbitral panel
- Issue initial report
- State can reply to report
- After reply, panel can issue final report
- Specific enforcement
Environmental side agreement art 34 - noncompliance
State agrees what compliance would look like and fails to do it
The state says, “I don’t agree with what you’re saying is compliance.” “I won’t do it”
Remedies - fine, action plan, suspension of benefits under NAFTA
