Foreign Relations Law of the United States

Restatement of the Law Third, Foreign Relations Law of the United States (ALI)

Restatement of the Law Third, The Foreign Relations Law of the United States, constitutes a comprehensive revision of the earlier (1965) Restatement, covering many more subjects and reflecting important developments in the intervening decades.

This Restatement consists of international law as it applies to the United States, and domestic law that has substantial impact on the foreign relations of the United States or has other important international consequences. For the most part, the domestic component of the law restated in the book is federal law, deriving mainly from the Constitution, acts of Congress, and judicial decisions. The international law restated stems largely from customary international law and international agreements to which the United States is a party. Like its predecessor work, this Restatement reflects the opinion of the Institute as to the rules that an impartial tribunal would apply if charged with deciding a controversy in accordance with international law.

The international law aspect of foreign relations law has changed substantially since the prior Restatement. Scientific and technological developments; ideological alignments and realignments among countries; the burgeoning of populations and other strains on world resources; and the explosion of new states with common problems of underdevelopment and colonial history have changed old law and brought new law. Consequently, this Restatement devotes much attention to relatively new areas such as the law of the environment, the law of human rights, certain areas of international economic law, the law of the sea, of diplomatic relations, and of international dispute settlement and cooperation in law enforcement. The work also provides guidance in matters not likely to be familiar to the average lawyer, for example, the sources of international law and its place in United States jurisprudence. Discussed more fully, too, is the international law of remedies, which received only minimal coverage in the previous Restatement.

The domestic component of the foreign relations law of the United States has also changed appreciably over the years. In the decade following the Second World War, the courts continued in their pre-war disposition to accept large governmental, and particularly executive, authority under the Constitution in the conduct of foreign affairs. In recent years, mainly as a result of reinterpretation by the Supreme Court and adjustments by Congress, there has been some redistribution of power among the three branches of government, and some increased protection for the rights of the individual, in matters relating to foreign relations. New laws, such as the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976, new developments in international judicial assistance, and emerging new concepts of jurisdiction to prescribe for activities carried out in or affecting more than one state, have been brought about by new issues facing the United States. The new Restatement provides in-depth treatment of these subjects.

Where international law and United States domestic law run parallel, such as in sovereign immunity, judicial assistance, and international economic law, the international principle and the United States rule are stated in successive sections or subsections of the volume. Where United States law or practice differs significantly from international law with respect to a given subject, the difference is noted.

The Restatement is divided into nine main parts:

• International Law and Its Relation to United States Law;
• Persons in International Law;
• International Agreements;
• Jurisdiction and Judgments;
• The Law of the Sea;
• The Law of the Environment;
• Protection of Persons (Natural and Juridical);
• Selected Law of International Economic Relations;
• Remedies for Violations of International Law.

A cumulative annual soft-cover supplement contains all citations to this Restatement, as well as all citations to its predecessor.

Chief Reporter: Louis Henkin, Columbia University School of Law, New York, New York.

Associate Reporters: Andreas F. Lowenfeld, New York University School of Law, New York, New York; Louis B. Sohn, University of Georgia School of Law, Athens, Georgia; Detlev F. Vagts, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts.