Is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Customary International Law? Evidence from an Empirical Study of US Case Law

Abstract

Paper presented at the 2019 Stanford International Junior Faculty Forum. This paper contributes to the conceptualization of the customary status of the UDHR by focusing on the use US federal courts have made of it (1949-2018). It provides one of the possible angles of inquiry, but it does not claim completeness. In performing an empirical study, it aims at supplementing, rather than replacing, legal theory on this issue.