Summary

Description

The 2009 Digest provides a historical record of key legal developments in 2009. Legal Adviser Harold Hongju Koh summarized the contents of the 2009 Digest, stating in part: In 2009, as this volume reflects, a new United States administration, under the Presidency of Barack Obama, took office and pursued important initiatives demonstrating its respect for the rule of law. For instance, the United States has sought to ensure its detention operations, detainee prosecutions, and uses of force are all consistent with the laws of war. In one of his first actions after taking office, President Barack Obama unequivocally banned the use of torture as an instrument of U.S. policy and instructed that all interrogations of detainees be conducted in accordance with Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions and with the revised Army Field Manual. The executive branch also articulated a revised, narrower legal basis for its authority to detain individuals, based on the 2001 statutory Authorization for the Use of Military Force ("AUMF"), and made clear that its interpretation of the AUMF would be informed by the law of war. The administration also worked with Congress to improve the legal framework governing military commissions. The United States also pursued initiatives to renew the rule of law by reviving our treaty and agreement making process. For example, in 2009, we deposited or exchanged instruments of ratification to bring into force more than 70 advice and consent treaties, which is an all-time annual record for the United States. Among these treaties were crucial law of war instruments, tax treaties, an environmental treaty, and law enforcement treaties, including landmark agreements with the European Union on extradition and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, which entered into force in early 2010. In addition, we negotiated a new treaty to replace the Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms ("START"),.