Barry Gardiner Quotes
Treaties negotiated with foreign powers create binding obligations on future generations that cannot be repealed in the way that domestic law can. As a consequence, the most rigorous process should be in place to scrutinise such treaties before they ever come to be ratified.
Great Britain, Parliament, House of Commons. Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). UK Parliament, hansard.parliament.uk.
Prior to that the accepted phrase was “Law of Nations,” but soon after Bentham first used “International Law” it caught on and became widespread in the English Language. See Columbia Law Review, Vol. 5, No. 2, February 1905
Indian treaties had legal problems from the beginning of the nation. An agreement had been made at Fort Harmar with 6 Indian nations. One man signed for the United States and several of the sachems, for the Indians. President Washington reported this to the Senate and there was much confusion as to how to proceed. Typically, agents for nations negotiated a treaty but it would not be binding until each ratified it. To the Indians this was not a familiar practice. In this case, the treaty was approved for ratification by the Senate, but what kind of ratification was to be required of the Indians? The Iroquois Indian tribes had formal, methods of reaching consensus, but other nations did not. Whites sometimes reneged on later treaties on the grounds that they were not ratified by the Indian nations. In others, the Indians themselves made the same claim and challenged the right of the Indian treaty signers to speak for the tribe or nation. The problem has never been resolved.
Laws that do not work can be repealed by Congress with the President’s signature. However, if there is an international treaty, the United States may NOT change the laws to fix something that does not work. At best, the administration can try to re-negotiate the treaty, but has no power to assure the change unless, it withdraws from the treaty. However, most treaties are very complex and involve many elements and there is no way to withdraw from a single aspect of a treaty, even if it is a bad aspect.
Individual countries are bound only by the treaties and compacts that they have signed and ratified. So very often someone will allege that a country has violated international law, but that nation may not have signed the Treaty or Compact that binds them, so thy may not be in violation at all whereas some other country in similar circumstances would be. Also, many countries (including the United States) sign treaties but take exception to some of the provisions. Then there are not bound by that provision. This is what makes International Law so complicated and difficult to understand.
Arguing that executive agreements were being used to circumvent the Senate right to ratify treaties:
Lodge was particularly concerned that under the proposed treaty the United States would be obligated to support the League of Nations military efforts regardless of American public opinion or Congressional action.
Barry Strachan Gardiner is a British politician who served as Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change and Shadow Secretary of State for International Trade from 2016 to 2020. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Brent North since 1997.
