NCJ Number
129558
Editor(s)
M Gibney
Date Published
1991
Length
192 pages
Annotation
This book presents eight essays that address issues in U.S. courts' hearing of cases that involve violations of international law on human rights.
Abstract
The opening essay argues that courts in every country should be able to bring to justice those who have committed human rights abuses no matter where these violations occurred. A second essay challenges the orthodox doctrine that the judicial branch must defer to the executive and legislative branches in international matters bearing upon the Nation's foreign policy, including international human rights issues. Another essay argues that U.S. courts should refuse to hear cases in which defendants have been forcibly abducted from another country by U.S. agents. An essay advocates U.S. courts becoming more involved in cases brought by citizens of other countries that allege U.S. government violations of human rights in their country. Another essay advises that U.S. courts should rely primarily on domestic legal norms to comply with international human rights obligations, followed by a paper that explains how and why human rights public interest law groups developed, their litigation strategy, the preconditions for success or failure, and the possible consequences. Other essays pertain to U.S. courts' involvement in international economic human rights and the relation of the individual to the State in the era of human rights. Chapter notes