Summary

Description

The Office of the Legal Adviser publishes the annual Digest of United States Practice in International Law to provide the public with a historical record of the views and practice of the Government of the United States in public and private international law. The 2008 volume covers significant legal developments that occurred during 2008. In his introduction to the volume, Legal Adviser Harold Hongju Koh stated in part: "This volume provides a historical record of developments occurring during the period when my predecessor, John B. Bellinger, III, served as Legal Adviser. . . . "Significant legal developments occurred throughout 2008, including ones relating to international terrorism and piracy, conflict resolution, nonproliferation of nuclear weapons, and international human rights and humanitarian law. For example, the UN Security Council, with U.S. leadership, adopted resolutions authorizing the use of force to repress piracy off the Somali coast, a resolution maintaining and strengthening the Somali arms embargo, and a resolution reauthorizing the African Union peacekeeping mission to Somalia. The United States concluded a strategic framework agreement and a status of forces agreement with Iraq, an agreement for nuclear cooperation with India, and a comprehensive claims settlement agreement with Libya. In the area of human rights, the United States made its first appearance before the Committee on the Rights of the Child, which met to consider the initial U.S. reports on U.S. implementation of the two optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child . . . . "In 2008, by negotiating and concluding treaties, pursuing other diplomatic initiatives, and participating in arbitration and litigation, the United States also remained actively engaged in the development of international law. . . ."