A Tragi-Comedy of Errors Erodes Self-Execution of Treaties: Medellin v. Texas and Beyond

Abstract

In Medellin v. Texas (2008), the U.S. Supreme Court further mystified the already ambiguous doctrine of self-execution of treaty provisions that create rights for individuals. Lower court self-execution decisions since Medellin suggest that, at least in certain classes of cases, the potentially broad language in Medellin that appears to restrict self-execution is being ignored.