Presidential constructive and deconstructive powers in foreign affairs: a study on unilateral withdrawal from international agreements in the Americas

Joao Victor Morales Sallani

Resumen


This article explores the regulation of foreign affairs powers under international and constitutional law, with a focus on withdrawal from international agreements in presidential systems in the American continent. It seeks to demonstrate the existence of an imbalance between constructive and deconstructive powers in foreign affairs and to point out domestic and international effects arising from such imbalance. This exploration leads to the identification of different constitutional approaches to presidential foreign affairs powers in the American continent, with attention to the outcomes and challenges identified in each model. As most American countries do not establish clear constitutional provisions for parliamentary participation in the withdrawal and termination of international agreements, this study takes the U.S. and Brazil as case studies on how supreme courts have dealt with the issue. Finally, this article explores the constitutional consequences of the imbalance upon domestic separation of powers and the stability of the international order.

Palabras clave


Presidentialism, foreign affairs, international law, international agreements, separation of powers

Texto completo:

PDF (English)

Referencias


ABEBE, Daniel. “Great Power Politica and the Structure of Foreign Relations Law”. Chicago Journal of International Law, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2009, pp. 125-141.

ABEBE, Daniel. “One Voice or Many: The Political Question Doctrine and Acoustic Dissonance in Foreign Affairs”. Supreme Court Review, Vol. 233, 2012, pp. 233-254.

American Law Institute. “Restatement (Third) of Foreign Law of the United States”. Philadelphia: American Law Institute, 1988.

AMERICAN LAW INSTITUTE. “Restatement of the Law Fourth: The Foreign Relations Law of the United States”. Philadelphia: American Law Institute, 2018.

ARGENTINA [Constitution (1853), Constitución de La Nación Argentina. Buenos Aires: Congreso de La Nación. Available at https://www.congreso.gob.ar/constitucionNacional.php

BOGDANDY, Armin von. “Ius Constitutionale Commune en America Latina: Observations on Transformative Constitutionalism”. AJIL Unbound, Vol. 109, 2017, pp. 109-114.

BOLIVIA [Constitution (2009)] Constitución Política Del Estado Plurinacional de Bolívia. La Paz: Tribunal Constitucional Plurinacional. Available at https://tcpbolivia.bo/tcp/sites/default/files/pdf/normas/cpe/Constitucion1826.pdf

BRADLEY, Curtis A. “Treaty Termination and Historical Gloss”. Texas Law Review, Vol. 92, Issue 4, 2014, pp. 778-835.

BRADLEY, Curtis A.; GOLDSMITH, Jack; HATHAWAY, Oona A. “The Rise of Nonbinding International Agreements: An Empirical, Comparative, and Normative Analysis”. University of Chicago Law Review, Vol. 90, 2023, 1281-1364.

BRASIL [Constitution (1988)], Constituição da República Federativa do Brasil. Brasília: Presidência da República. Available at https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/constituicao/constituicao.htm.

BRASIL. “Decreto Legislativo n. 68/1992”. Brasília: Brazilian National Congress, 1992. Available at https://www2.camara.leg.br/legin/fed/decleg/1992/decretolegislativo-68-16-setembro-1992-358557-publicacaooriginal-1-pl.html.

BRASIL. “Decreto n. 1855/1996”. Brasília: Secretaria-Geral da Presidência da República, 1996. Available at https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/decreto/1996/d1855.htm.

BRASIL. “Decreto n. 2.100/1996”. Brasília: Brazilian Presidential Office, 1996. Available at https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/decreto/1996/d2100.htm.

CANES-WRONE, Brandice; HOWELL, William G.; LEWIS, David E. “Toward a Broader Understanding of Presidential Power: A Reevaluation of the Two Presidencies Thesis”. The Journal of Politics, Vol. 70, No. 1, 2008, pp. 1-16.

CHILE [Constitution (1980)], Constitución Política de la República de Chile. Santiago: Cámara de Diputadas y Diputados. Available https://www.camara.cl/camara/doc/leyes_normas/constitucion_politica.pdf

CIAMPI, Annalisa. “Invalidity and Termination of Treaties and Rules of Procedure”. In CANNIZARO, Enzo. “The Law of Treaties Beyond the Vienna Convention”. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011, pp. 360-377.

COPE, Kevin L.; VERDIER, Pierre-Hughes; VERSTEEG, Milla. “The Global Evolution of Foreign Relations Law”. The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 116:1, 2022.

CORAO, Carlos Ayala. “Inconstitucionalidad de la denuncia de la Convención Americana sobre Derechos Humanos por Venezuela”. Anuario de Derecho Constitucional Latinoamericano, Año XIX, 2013, pp. 43-79.

CORTE INTERAMERICANA DE DIREITOS HUMANOS, “La denuncia de la Convención Americana sobre Derechos Humanos y de la Carta de La Organización de los Estados Americanos y sus efectos sobre las obligaciones estatales en matéria de derechos humanos”. Opinión Consultiva OC-26/20. Advisory Opinion issued on November 9th, 2020. Available at https://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/opiniones/seriea_26_esp.pdf.

CRAWFORD, James. “Brownlie’s Principles of Public International Law”. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

DÖRR et. al. “Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties: A Commentary”. Berlin: Springer, 2012.

ECUADOR [Constitution (2008)] Constitución de La República Del Ecuador. Quito: Asamblea Nacional. Available at http://www.asambleanacional.gob.ec/sites/default/files/documents/old/constitucion.pdf

FRANCK, Thomas M. “Political Questions/Judicial Answers: Does The Rule Of Law Apply To Foreign Affairs?”. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992.

GABSCH, Rodrigo D’Araújo. “Aprovação de tratados internacionais pelo Brasil: possíveis opções para acelerar o seu processo”. Brasília: FUNAG, 2010.

GALINDO, George R. B. “A Construção do Direito Internacional Público pelas Constituições Brasileiras”. Cadernos de Política Exterior do Instituto de Pesquisa de Relações Internacionais da FUNAG, Vol. 8, No. 11, 2022, pp. 101-126.

GUIMARÃES, Feliciano de Sá; SILVA, Irma Dutra Oliveira. “Far-right populism and foreign policy identity: Jair Bolsonaro’s ultra-conservatism and the new politics of alignment”. International Affairs, Vol. 97, Issue 2, 2021, pp. 345-363.

HATHAWAY, Oona A.; BRADLEY, Curtis A.; GOLDSMITH, Jack. “The Failed Transparency Regime for Executive Agreements: An Empirical and Normative Analysis”. Harvard Law Review, Vol. 134, No. 2, 2020, pp. 629-725.

HATHAWAY, Oona. “Presidential Power over International Law: Restoring the Balance”. The Yale Law Journal, Vol. 119, No. 2, 2009, pp. 140-168.

HATHAWAY, Oona. “Treaties’ End: The Past, Present, and Future of International Lawmaking in the United States”. The Yale Law Journal, Vol. 117, No. 8, 2008, pp. 1236-1372.

HELFER, Laurence R. “Treaty Exit and Intrabranch Conflict at the Interface of International and Domestic Law”. In BRADLEY, Curtis A. (ed.) “The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Foreign Relations Law”. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019, pp. 356-373.

IKENBERRY, Gilford John. The end of liberal international order? International Affairs, Vol. 94, 2018, pp. 7-23.

KOH, Harold Hongju. “Could the President Unilaterally Terminate All International Agreements? Questioning Section 313”. In STEPHAN, Paul; CLEVELAND, Sarah. The Restatement and Beyond: The Past, Present, and Future of U.S. Foreign Relations Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020, pp. 67-96.

KOH, Harold Hongju. “Presidential Power to Terminate International Agreements”. The Yale Law Journal, 2018, pp. 432-481.

LINZ, Juan J. “The Perils of Presidentialism”. Journal of Democracy, Vol. 1, No. 1, 1990.

LOPES, Dawisson Belém; CARVALHO, Thales; SANTOS, Vinicius. “Did the Far Right Breed a New Variety of Foreign Policy? The Case of Bolsonaro’s “More-Bar-Than-Bite” Brazil”. Global Studies Quarterly, Vol. 2, Issue 4, 2022, pp.1-14.

MARÍN, Daniela Salazar. “La Denuncia de Tratados Internacionales de Derechos Humanos”. Iuris Dictio, Vol. 15, 2017, pp. 75-118.

MAZZUOLI, Valerio de Oliveira. “Direito dos Tratados”. Rio de Janeiro: Forense, 2014.

MEDEIROS, Antônio Paulo Cachapuz. “Pareceres dos Consultores Jurídicos do Itamaraty: Vol. IX (1990-2000)”. Brasília: FUNAG, 2009.

MEJÍA-LEMOS, Diego Germán. “Venezuela’s Denunciation of the American Convention on Human Rights”. ASIL Insights, January 09th, 2013. Available at .

MEXICO [Constitution (1917)] Constitución Política de Los Estados Unidos Mexicanos. Ciudad de Mexico: Camara de Diputados. Available at https://www.diputados.gob.mx/pdf/CPEUM

PARAGUAY [Constitution (1992)], Constitución de La República de Paraguay. Assunción: Congresso Nacional. Available at https://www.bacn.gov.py/leyes-paraguayas/9580/constitucion-nacional-.

PERU [Constitution (1993)] Constitución Política Del Peru. Lima: Gobierno del Perú. Available at https://www.gob.pe/institucion/presidencia/informes-publicaciones/196158-constitucion-politica-del-peru

REZEK, Francisco. “Direito Internacional Público: Curso Elementar”. São Paulo: Saraiva Jur, 2022.

RICUPERO, Rubens. “A diplomacia na construção do Brasil”, São Paulo: Versal Editores, 2017.

VARELLA, Marcelo Dias. “Direito Internacional Público”. São Paulo: Saraiva Jur, 2019.

VENEZUELA [Constitution (1999)] Constitución de La República Bolivariana de Venezuela. Caracas: Tribunal Superior de Justicia. Available at http://historico.tsj.gob.ve/legislacion/crv.html

VIENNA Convention on the Law of Treaties. 22 May 1969. Available at https://legal.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/conventions/1_1_1969.pdf.

VIÑAS, Miriam Henrique. “Los tratados internacionales em la constitución reformada”. Revista de Derecho Público, Vol. 69, 2007, p. 313-324.

WOOLAVER, Hannah. “From Joining to Leaving: Domestic Law’s Role in the International Legal Validity of Treaty Withdrawal”. The European Journal of International Law, Vol. 30, No. 1, 2019, pp. 73-104.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.5102/rdi.v21i3.9359

ISSN 2236-997X (impresso) - ISSN 2237-1036 (on-line)

Desenvolvido por:

Logomarca da Lepidus Tecnologia