Faithin Omaha eBook Collection

Download or read book Foreign Precedents in the Federal Judiciary written by James Thuo Gathii and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Federal courts have increasingly cited to foreign precedent and Supreme Court Justices have debated the permissibility and effect of citing such opinions in interpreting the Constitution. However, the courts have also cited to the World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Body (DSB). The DSB has received attention from U.S. Congress members for its decisions which rule against U.S. trade laws or their application. This article addresses two questions related to this Congressional concern: first, are federal courts bound to follow such decisions when construing a provision of a U.S. trade statute, and, second, where a provision of a federal statute has been interpreted by the DSB to be in violation of the United States' World Trade Organization/GATT treaty obligations, is a federal court bound to follow this internationally binding decision? By examining the decision in the case Turtle Island Restoration Network v. Evans, it is clear that federal courts can craft a decision which consistent with the United States' international legal obligations when the U.S. law has been deemed inconsistent with a GATT/WTO obligation. Therefore, violating international law to act consistently with domestic law is not excusable.