treaty
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 301 U.S. 324 - United States v. Belmont · 1937Most cited · 675 citing opinions
A treaty signifies 'a compact made between two or more independent nations, with a view to the public welfare.
How the Supreme Court has restated “treaty”
Each Supreme Court definition of “treaty,” sized by how often later courts cited it. “Change” is measured by wording overlap with earlier definitions — a rough signal, not a semantic judgment.
How often courts cite the cases defining “treaty”
Court decisions citing the 6 opinions that defined “treaty” — 1,096 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining cases as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.
All 6 definitions, chronological · 1823–1937
- 1823·21 U.S. 464 - The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts v. The Town of New-Haven and William Wheeler[p27]· cited 101×ORIGINAL
the termination of a treaty cannot devest rights of property already vested under it. If real estate be purchased or secured under a treaty, it would be most mischievous to admit, that the extinguishment of the treaty extinguished the right to such estate. In truth, it no more affects such rights, than the repeal of a municipal law affects rights acquired under it.
survival of vested rights through war
In this country, a treaty is something more than a contract, for the Federal Constitution declares it to be the law of the land.
A treaty, within those limits, by the express words of the Constitution, is the supreme law of the land, binding alike national and state courts, and is capable of enforcement, and must be enforced by them in the litigation of private rights.
Treaties are contracts between nations, and by the Constitution are made the law of the land. But the Constitution does not declare that the law so established shall never be altered or repealed by Congress. Good faith toward the other contracting nation might require Congress to refrain from making any change, but if it does act, its enactment becomes the controlling law in this country. The other nation may have ground for complaint, but every person is bound to obey the law. And as a corollary it follows that no person acquires any vested right to the continued operation of a treaty.
as contract; relation to subsequent statute
As treaties are contracts between independent nations, their words are to be taken in their ordinary meaning 'as understood in the public law of nations.