U.S. Foreign Relations Law Posts

Central Bank Immunity, Sanctions, and Sovereign Wealth Funds

This symposium essay explores recent developments in central bank immunity focusing on sovereign wealth fund litigation in Sweden, U.S. sanctions on Afghan central bank assets, and the global response to sanctions imposed on Russian central banks following the invasion of Ukraine.

Why Can’t We Be FRANDs?: Anti-Suit Injunctions, International Comity, and International Commercial Arbitration in Standard-Essential Patent Litigation

This Note recommends federal courts grant anti-suit injunctions in SEP litigation only under a restrictive test, rather than maintaining the current variation by circuit, and further suggests that Congress should codify this test. In the event of an injunction spiral that might preclude litigation altogether, SSOs should require the parties arbitrate the dispute before experts at the World Intellectual Property Organization. Together, litigation and arbitration can help preserve the interconnected and technologically compatible system currently in place around the world.

The Political Question Doctrine and International Law

This essay documents how the political question doctrine, in part, has allowed the political branches, rather than the courts, to make determinations about this country’s – and other countries’ – rights and responsibilities under international law.

Institute in the Courts: Foreign Relations 4th Gains Attention

The Restatement of the Law Fourth, The Foreign Relations Law of the United States: Selected Topics in Treaties, Jurisdiction, and Sovereign Immunity, which was published in 2018, has been receiving significant attention in federal and state courts.

Foreign Relations Law Restatements Cited

Both the Third and Fourth Restatement of the Law, The Foreign Relations Law of the United States, were cited by the United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit in Lusik Usoyan v. Republic of Turkey.