International Law and National Law

Every nationis expected to ___(1) obey ___ international law. Some nations make international law automatically part of the law of their land. The U.S.Constitution designates ratified _____ (2) _____, along with the Constitution itself and federal statutes, the ____ (3) ____ law of the land (Article VI) and empowers Congress “to define and punish… Offences against the Law of Nations” (Article I, Section 8). Customary international law is automatically incorporated into U.S. ____ (4) ___ system as federal common or unwritten law.

In cases involving international law, U.S. state and federal courts presume that U.S. law ____ (5) ____ to international law; such an attitude has been urged consistently by the Supreme Court of the United States. In some countries, such as the United Kingdom, treaties do not become ____ (6) ____ in national law until they are enacted by ____ (7) _____. In other countries, a treaty or customary international law is given constitutional status superior to ____ (8) ____ legislation. How a ___ (9) ____ state adopts and ____ (10) ____ international law is generally left to its discretion, so long as it conforms to the law in the end. Whatever the ____ (11) ___ or legal system of a nation, it cannot use its domestic law as an excuse to ____ (12) ___ an international agreement or violate an international rule. This was made clear during the war crimes ____ (13) ____ held in Nü rnberg, ___ (14) ____, following World War II. The Nü rnberg ____ (15) ___ rejected the defense that certain acts, such as the killing of ___ (16) ____ of war, were permitted under the domestic laws of Nazi Germany. The tribunals held that such laws were ___ (17) ___ and void because they ___ (18) ___ the generally valid rules of warfare. It also held that the ____ (19) ___ responsible for issuing and executing such laws were criminally responsible for ___ (20) ___ breaches of international law. Today, international human rights courts often declare national laws ___ (21) ___ with international rules and may award ___ (22) ___ to those whose ___ (23) ___ have been violated.