Part II Legal Framework: Courts, Statutes and Treaties, D The Architecture of Arbitration, 6 Treaty Obligations and National Law: Emerging Conflicts in International Arbitration

Pacta sunt servanda1 In determining the effect of treaties, the adage pacta sunt servanda (“agreements are to be kept”)2 remains a foundation of international law.3 By contrast, when American courts consider international conventions, the principle barely rises to the rank of analytic starting point. In the United States, the application and interpretation of international treaty obligations implicate an intricate interplay with Constitutional mandates and federal statutes.4 As a matter of domestic law, the Constitution trumps treaties.5 However, the same may not...