The Court and the World: American Law and the New Global Realities

There is no Supreme Court of the World. This statement underpins the analysis of the intersection of international law and international legal practices with those of the United States in Stephen Breyer's well written book on the subject. Citing domestic and international cases, and focusing on treaties, treaty implementation, cross-border regulation, foreign citizens, norms and customs, the book provides a 30,000 foot view of some of the more critical elements of the issues facing the US Supreme Court. It reads like a law book, but is very readable. An interesting and thoughtful perspective.

This is a phenomenal work, quite readable for a legal treatise, which makes a thorough case for the need of our judiciary to take notice of foreign laws, customs, and practices in today's interconnected world. in addition, however, Justice Breyer illuminates the complex challenge of coming to supreme court decisions that, in addition to following the law, take cognizance of equality, consequences, and fairness. In addition, he convincingly demonstrates that decisions that affect other countries should, to the extent possible, allow our commercial, governmental, and regulatory systems work in concert with those of other countries to promote a common good.This book gave me a profound respect for the author as a thoughtful man of good will, committed the rule of law as essential to the existence of a fair, unbiased, and maintainable government.

I wanted to read Justice Breyer's book for several reasons. I had found his debate appearances with the late Justice Scalia, where they discussed the role of foreign law in construing the Constitution, most interesting. Moreover, talk radio is full of allegations about possible displacement of American law by Sharia law, and I thought Breyer might have some insights on this topic as well. Finally, I had found his two most recent books which I reviewed on Amazon to be full of insights and extremely cogent.This new and quite hefty volume (382 pp. including index) is somewhat different. I don't think this work is aimed so centrally at the general reader as the previous volumes. Breyer here is tackling some quite challenging legal issues which can be complex, especially for the general reader. I mention this because while Breyer's masterful prose is again in evidence, at points for those without legal training the book may prove daunting. So while it is not "light bedtime reading," it is cogent and skillfully written.For me the core of the volume is found in the Postscript (pp. 236-246), where Breyer gets into the key issues of the role of foreign law in the domestic legal system, including constitutional interpretation (the very area where he so challenged Scalia). The preceding several hundred pages are designed to prepare the reader to focus on these key issues. Basically, the general theme is as a result of international integration, American courts are facing an increasing amount of foreign legal issues and concepts as they discharge their responsibilities. This situation gives rise to all manner of issues: limits on presidential power; extent of the treaty power; rights of Guantanamo prisoners; application of American law abroad; the role of international legal comity; and laws such as the Alien Tort Statute which impose liability for foreign actions in American courts.American judges and legislators must be prepared to deal with these new issues. How are treaties, conventions, the UN Charter and international law to be applied? What role does the International Court of Justice play and are its decisions binding upon American courts? These are the very kinds of issues that in part led to the recent British departure from the European Community--and they can be extremely tough. Can judges participating in international law teaching or panels, as well as exchanges of lawyers and law students, use these opportunities to improve judicial understanding of the new complexities of the world's legal systems as they interact?As for the issue of the role and possible dominance of foreign law in American domestic law, Breyer's excellent analysis can be boiled down to a straightforward proposition: "don't fret,"some manner of Kantian universal law is not a likely prospect, and the American system can adjust to these new international developments. A very fine introduction to these vitally important issues by the author several of the key Supreme Court cases in this area. That Breyer alerts us to so many crucial aspects bears special commendation for a job well done. You will understand more of what is going on in the world for having read this book--and that is its greatest contribution.

this was a gift for my son in law, now in law school .. he loved it!

Justice Breyer is a scholarly and exceedingly decent man. He doesn't write books well - maybe because of those qualities. This book is more like a law school text for an international law class. A lawyer should have it in his/her library.

Very interesting - did take some time to read.

very interesting

I bought this for my son for Christmas and he loved it.