Also known as: laws of nations · international law · jus gentium
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The body of rules and principles that governs the conduct of sovereign states and other international actors in their mutual relations. It supplies standards for defining and punishing certain offenses such as piracy on the high seas and serves as a source of federal jurisdiction over alien tort claims.
Congress enacts a statute punishing acts of robbery on the high seas. A federal prosecutor charges a foreign national with violating the statute after the defendant seizes cargo from a U.S. vessel. The court upholds the charge because the statute implements Congress's authority to define offenses against the law of nations.
Federal authorities indict several defendants for attacking a merchant ship on the high seas and taking its cargo by force. The defendants argue the indictment fails to state an offense. The court sustains the indictment because the charged conduct matches the definition of piracy supplied by the law of nations.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
During a declared war the executive seizes property belonging to enemy nationals located inside the United States. The owners challenge the seizure in court. The court holds that the law of nations permits such confiscation only when Congress has enacted supporting legislation.
A U.S. company and a foreign firm include a clause selecting a foreign court to resolve disputes arising from an offshore drilling contract. When a dispute arises the U.S. company sues in federal court. The court dismisses the action and enforces the clause because the law of nations supports respect for freely negotiated forum selection agreements.
A nonprofit group seeks to train members of a designated foreign terrorist organization in peaceful dispute resolution techniques. Federal prosecutors threaten charges under a material support statute. The court upholds the statute because Congress may criminalize conduct that violates norms embodied in the law of nations.
A citizen of South Carolina brings an action in federal court against the State of Georgia to recover a debt. Georgia moves to dismiss on sovereign immunity grounds. The court denies the motion because the law of nations permits suits against states by citizens of other states or foreign nations.
Article I Section 8 empowers Congress to define and punish piracies and felonies on the high seas and offenses against the law of nations. This authority allows Congress to enact statutes that incorporate international norms into federal criminal law.
The Alien Tort Statute grants district courts jurisdiction over civil actions by aliens for torts committed in violation of the law of nations. Courts therefore recognize claims when the alleged conduct breaches a norm that is specific, universal, and obligatory under international law.
No. The law of nations includes customary international law formed by the general assent of civilized nations as well as treaty obligations. Courts may apply either source when determining whether a violation has occurred.
…extent one's property and affairs then become subject to the laws of the nation of domicile of the corporation. As a matter of international law, that suggestion might be acceptable because a foreign investment is sufficiently unusual to make it appropriate to require the investor to study the ramifications of his decision. But a…