International Law in the U.S. Legal System

The war on terrorism has rapidly increased the importance of international law in the United States. U.S. courts have seen a substantial increase in cases raising issues of international law, and judges have expressed a growing interest in, and appreciation for the topic. This heightened internationalism in the U.S. judiciary has been extremely controversial because of the level of interpretation inherent in the application of international law in our domestic courts. International Law in the U.S. Legal System decodes the often complicated ways that international law operates within the United States legal system and sheds light on unresolved issues and areas of controversy. The book covers all of the principal forms of international law including treaties, decisions and orders of international institutions, customary international law, jus cogens norms, and general principles. It also explores a number of issues that are implicated by the intersection of U.S. law and international law, such as foreign sovereign immunity, international human rights litigation, extradition, and extraterritoriality.
"A nuanced and comprehensive account of how international law is interpreted and applied within the United States, this wonderful book will prove invaluable to both new-comers and experts in the fields of foreign relations law, international law, and U.S. constitutional law. The book is especially skillful at situating current debates about the domestic application of treaties and customary international law within a broader doctrinal and historical context. Professor Bradley draws on his extraordinarily wide-ranging and influential scholarship to create a rich and detailed, yet accessible book that will serve as an important resource for a generation or more of scholars, lawyers, and judges. A splendid and much-needed contribution to more than one field of law."
--Ingrid Wuerth, Professor of Law, Director International Legal Studies at Vanderbilt University Law School

"This scrupulously fair and fully researched treatise is destined to be the standard reference for all issues involving the application of international law by U.S. courts."
--Paul Stephan, University of Virginia School of Law

"This is an excellent primer on the application of international law in the United States, written by a leading U.S. scholar and former Counselor to the Legal Adviser of the State Department. Professor Bradley's objective discussions of the status of customary international law and the tensions between international law and U.S. constitutional law are especially illuminating."
--John B. Bellinger III, Partner, Arnold & Porter, and Former Legal Adviser to the State Department, 2005-2009

"Over the past twenty years, Professor Curt Bradley has generated some of the most perceptive - and at times provocative - commentary on the relationship of international law to U.S. law, often presenting serious challenges to conventional assumptions and orthodoxy. This book synthesizes, integrates, and develops that commentary in a highly-readable