Textualism as a Touchstone for Privately-Focused Treaty Interpretation

Abstract:     
Curtis J. Mahoney argues in his Note, Treaties as Contracts: Textualism, Contract Theory, and the Interpretation of Treaties, that courts should apply interpretive techniques to treaties similar to relational contracts because of historical and normative reasons. I argue that the viewpoint on which he bases his argument is flawed; instead, cannons of treaty interpretation should be founded on the principle that most adjudications involving treaties treat them as another source of federal law instead of contracts between arms-length parties.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 6

Keywords: Treaty, Interpretation, Textualism, Construction, Contract, International, Law, Minelli

working papers series