Foreign Relations Law

This course will introduce the framework of constitutional, statutory, and international law that both authorizes and constrains the conduct of U.S. foreign affairs. After studying the constitutional allocation of foreign affairs powers among the branches of the federal government and basic foundations of the government's national security powers, we will turn to discrete topics of contemporary relevance, which may include most or all of the following: the power and limits of judicial authority in foreign affairs; treaties and other international agreements; customary international law's status in the U.S. legal system; foreign affairs powers retained by the several states; the application of the Constitution to persons and incidents abroad; war powers; covert action; the detention, interrogation, and trial of terrorists and other irregular combatants, before courts and military commissions; targeted killing; torture and other coercive interrogation; and the protection of individual liberties and civil rights in wartime. Current events will be woven into the curriculum as relevant. Grading will be based on a 3-hour final exam. RESTRICTION: Students who have previously enrolled in National Security Law (JD890) may not register for this course.