Opinion ID: 767955
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Self-Execution of Treaties in the United States

Text: 73 In stating the general rule that treaties do not create individually enforceable rights, the majority completely ignores the well-established doctrine of self-execution. See, e.g., United States v. Green, 671 F.2d 46, 50 (1st Cir. 1982). I recognize that the interplay between the general rule and the doctrine of self-execution has been confused over the years, but that confusion stems from the failure to take into account the origins of the doctrine of self-execution as well as the reasoning that led to its creation. See generally Carlos Manuel Vazquez, The Four Doctrines of Self-Executing Treaties, 89 Am. J. Int'l 695, 699 (1995). 74 The general rule has its roots in English law. See J.G. Starke, Introduction to International Law 81-82 (10th ed. 1998); J.G. Collier, Is International Law Really Part of the Law of England?, 38 Int'l & Comp. L.Q. 924, 925-26 (1989) (citing The Parliament Belge, 4 P.D. 129 (1879)); see also Ware v. Hylton, 3 U.S. (3 Dall.) 256, 274-275, rev'd on other grounds, 3 U.S. (3 Dall.) 199 (1796). In the English system, treaties are entered into, and concluded, by the Crown without any intervention by Parliament. Consequently, treaties are ineffectual domestically without implementing legislation from Parliament. 75 Dissatisfaction with that system, and the anarchical consequence that binding treaties were often practically unenforceable, led our Founding Fathers to abandon the English system in favor of our Constitution's system of treaty negotiation by the Executive and ratification by the Senate. By its unambiguous text the Supremacy Clause declares treaties to be the supreme Law of the Land, and thus automatically incorporates these international agreements into the domestic law of the United States, without the need for further action once the treaty is ratified by the Senate. The effect is to render treaty provisions enforceable in the courts at the behest of affected individuals, in applicable cases. See United States v. Alvarez Machain, 504 U.S. 655, 667 (1992) (The Extradition Treaty has the force of law, and if... it is self-executing, it would appear that a court must enforce it on behalf of an individual regardless of the offensiveness of the practice of one nation to the other nation); United States v. Puentes, 50 F.3d 1567, 1575 (11th Cir. 1995) (same). Contra Tel-Oren v. Libyan Arab Republic, 726 F.2d 774, 808 (D.C. Cir. 1984) (Bork, J., concurring) (Treaties in the United States do not generally create rights that are privately enforceable in courts). 76 In one of the first cases to consider the applicability of the British rule under our constitutional system, the Supreme Court stated that: 77 In the United States a different principle is established. Our constitution declares a treaty to be the law of the land. It is consequently, to be regarded in courts of justice as equivalent to an act of the legislature, whenever it operates of itself without the aid of any legislative provision. 78 Foster v. Neilson, 27 U.S. (2 Pet.) 253, 314 (1829); cf. United States v. Perchman, 32 U.S. (7 Pet.) 51 (1833); see also Edye v. Robertson(Head Money Cases), 112 U.S. 580, 598-99 (1884) (A treaty, then is a law of the land as an act of Congress is, whenever its provisions prescribe a rule by which the rights of the private citizen or subject may be determined.) 79 Unfortunately, we are no longer in the same playing field that existed when the Court decided Foster and Perchman, whose holding has since been distorted beyond recognition with the tail end of the quoted language often wagging the principal rule established by those cases. Cf. Goldstar (Panama), S.A. v. United States, 67 F.2d 965, 968 (4th Cir. 1992); Frolova v. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, 761 F.2d 370, 373 (7th Cir.1985); Cardenas v. Smith, 733 F.2d 909, 918 (D.C. Cir. 1984); Tel-Oren v. Libyan Arab Republic, supra; British Caledonian Airways v. Bond, 665 F.2d 1153, 1160 (D.C. Cir. 1981); United States v. Postal, 589 F.2d 862, 874 (5th Cir. 1979). 3 The bottom line to these cases seems to be that we should look to the intent of the treaty to determine whether it is self-executing, or more in point, whether it creates rights that individuals can enforce in the courts. As the majority purports to recognize, however, we begin this inquiry with the terms of the treaty. See Alvarez-Machain, 504 U.S. at 366 (courts look first to a treaty's terms to determine its contents); Stuart, 489 U.S. at 365-66 (the clear import of treaty language controls unless 'application of the words of the treaty according to their obvious meaning effects a result inconsistent with the intent or expectations of its signatories'). If we look to this guideline as the starting point to our inquest in the present appeal, I fail to see why further analysis is required or is appropriate. 80 III. The Text of Articles 36 and 35 of the Vienna Convention and Bilateral Treaty 81 Contrary to the majority's characterization, the language of the Vienna Convention and the Bilateral Convention is anything but ambiguous. Section 36(1)(b) unequivocally states that: 82 The... authorities shall inform the person [detained]... without delay of his rights [to consular notification and assistance]. 83 (Emphasis supplied). This language, particularly that which I have emphasized, (1) mandates (shall) action, (2) without delay, (3) by the detaining authorities, which action is, (4) to inform the detained person, (5) of his, (6) rights to seek assistance from his consular representatives. This provision does not entail arcane or obscure parlance, or require the application of complex notions or of concepts that are difficult to understand or decipher. It simply requires a detaining authority in the United States, as soon as a foreign national is detained, to inform him or her of their right to request consular assistance with regards to the detention. 84 Were we dealing with such text in a statute originally enacted by Congress rather than this species of Law of the Land, is there any doubt as to how this provision would be interpreted? We might very well quarrel, for example, as to how much time could pass after detainment before the failure to notify the alien of his/her rights was unreasonable, or there might be an issue as to whether there was a detention such as triggered the notification obligations imposed upon the authorities, or such other scenarios as are commonly litigated under similar doctrines, such as Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966). But it is almost beyond cavil, were we faced with facts such as are presented by this appealed, with a statute reading as does Article 36, that the outcome would bepreordained. The authorities would be found to have violated appellants' rights in failing to inform them of their right to consular assistance while detained for approximately 50 days and shipped from one side of the globe to the other and back again. 85 In fact I have some difficulty envisioning how it is possible to frame language that more unequivocally establishes that the protections of Article 36(1)(b) belong to the individual national, and that the failure to promptly notify him/her of these rights constitutes a violation of these entitlements by the detaining authority. I must also confess to no small amount of bafflement, not to say disappointment, with the reluctance demonstrated by my colleagues in the majority, as well as other courts, in refusing to provide a forum for the vindication of what amounts to a confessed and flagrant violation of our national law by the Government. I would ask, what arena is more appropriate than the courts of the United States, for an individual to seek the validation of his/her rights against Governmental transgression of its own laws and regulations? See Fort Stewart Schs. v. FLRA, 495 U.S. 641, 654 (1990) (citing Vitarelli v. Seaton, 359 U.S. 535, 547 (1959), and Service v. Dulles, 354 U.S. 363, 388 (1957)). Indeed, given that a treaty should generally be 'construed]... liberally to give effect to the purpose which animates it' and that '[e]ven where a provision of a treaty fairly admits of two constructions, one restricting, the other enlarging, rights which may be claimed under it, the more liberal interpretation is to be preferred,' Stuart, 489 U.S. at 368, I am at a loss to find rhyme or reason in the majority's conclusions. 86 The majority makes much of the preamble to the Vienna Convention, which states, inter alia: 87 The State Parties to the present Convention, 88 Believing that an international convention on consular relations, privileges and immunities would also contribute to the development of friendly relations among nations,... Realizing that the purpose of such privileges and immunities is not to benefit individuals but to ensure the efficient performance of the functions of diplomatic missions as representing states, 89 .... 90 Have agreed as follows. 91 23 U.S.T. at 3230 (emphasis supplied). The majority argues that the underscored language specifically excludes the claim of individual rights made by appellants. I find this a specious contention. 92 It is clear that in the context in which this provision is framed (e.g., such privileges and immunities), it refers to the privileges and immunities of diplomatic agents qua diplomatic agents, and not with respect to the individual rights established in Article 36(1)(b) for the benefit of detained nationals. See United States v. Rodrgues, 68 F. Supp. 2d 178, 182 (E.D.N.Y. 1999); see also Mark Kadish, Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations: A Search for the Right to Consul, 18 Mich. J. Int'l L. 565, 594 (1997). 93 I would add that reliance on this language to attempt to defeat appellants' claim of individual rights has an additional downside for those espousing this dubious position. If the inclusion of this language in the preamble to the Vienna Convention has the significance attributed to it, then the exclusion of this same wording from the preamble or text of the Bilateral Treaty with China, a specific accord on a similar subject which postdates the multinational Vienna Convention by thirteen years, should lead to the opposite conclusion, that is, it should mean that individuals do have such rights under the Bilateral Treaty. However such mental gymnastics are unnecessary, because the Bilateral Treaty's language is even more precise than that of the Vienna Convention in establishing individual rights. 94 Not only does the preamble of the Bilateral Treaty explicitly state as one of the goals of this treaty, the protection of the rights and interests of their nationals..., (emphasis supplied), stated as a separate item from the goal of protecting the interests of the contracting nations, but Article 35(3) of this treaty precisely requires that: 95 The competent authorities of the receiving State shall immediately inform the national of the sending State of the rights accorded to him by this Article to communicate with a consular officer. 96 (Emphasis supplied). This explicit detailing of the obligation and concurrent right should require us to proceed no further in our recognition of appellants' claims. However, the majority's reliance on so-called nontextual sources and legislative history as support for its conclusions, forces us to reluctantly delve into that morass, notwithstanding the good advice that caution us to the contrary when statutory language is unambiguous. See Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421, 452 (1987) (Scalia, J. concurring) ([I]f the language of a statute is clear, that language must be given effect... at least in the absence of a patent absurdity.). In any event, the nontextual sources and legislative history cited by the majority in actuality fully support appellants' contentions. 97