The Constitutional Status of Customary International Law

Abstract

This short piece suggests that if Customary International Law is at all, it is not so because the Constitution makes it so. While many individuals had a commitment to the law of their personal commitment was not made part of the Constitution. Neither the Supremacy Clause nor the Faithful Execution Clause are best read as covering Customary International Law. When people spoke of the of nations as for the United States, they were referring to an extraconstitutional, natural principle. Because the Constitution does not itself incorporate this particular view of the of nations, people can maintain their fidelity to the Constitution and still reject the notion that Customary International Law is (or shouldbe) for the United States.