The International Law Profile of the ALI

Abstract

Abstract Though its focus, most notably in its Restatements, has traditionally been on domestic U.S. law, the American Law Institute (ALI) has conspicuously turned “international” in recognition of the fact that U.S. law does not, in the present world, operate in isolation from the law of foreign jurisdictions and international institutions. To be sure, the two most prominent Restatements in the field continue to bear the term “U.S.” in their title: “Restatement of the Foreign Relations Law of the United States” and “The U.S. Law of International Commercial and Investor-State Arbitration.” But both present bodies of law profoundly influenced by, and influencing, foreign and international legal regimes. By contrast, the ALI’s Principles of World Trade Law present the law of a genuine international organization (the World Trade Organization), while the ALI’s Principles of Aggregate Litigation addresses challenges common to jurisdictions around the world. This broader outlook is exemplified by the ALI’s joint projects with the European Law Institute, for which the ALI was very much a model.