The Legal Status of Agreements Concluded by Component Units of Federal States with Foreign Entities

Abstract

The canadian provinces, the länder of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Swiss cantons, and the states of the United States of America have all concluded numerous agreements with foreign entities. Although great attention has been paid to their capacity to do so, not much attention has been paid to the legal status of these agreements. In particular, authors have tended to ignore their binding character and the law applicable to them. These issues will, therefore, now be considered.