Sabbatino, Sosa, and Supernorms
Looking to the Future: Essays on International Law (Mahnoush H. Arsanjani, et al., ed. 2011)
11 Pages Posted: 15 Nov 2012
Date Written: 2011
Abstract
The U.S. Supreme Court’s foundational decisions in Banco Nacional de Cuba v. Sabbatino and, forty years later, Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain demonstrate the Court’s application of a consistent, overarching principle of restraint: a U.S. court should adjudicate only claims involving what we call “supernorms.” In short, a supernorm is an international legal prohibition that has become so crystallized and entrenched as to be effectively unquestionable and inviolable either by sovereign entities or by individuals, particularly those acting under color of state authority.
Keywords: international law, supernorms
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