In light of the current efforts of the United States to ensure that even Syria, a nonparty to the treaty, strictly complies with the prohibitions of the Chemical Weapons Convention–and the broader questions of treaty interpretation and implementation that are so frequently discussed on Just Security–it is worth noting here that the Supreme Court yesterday heard argument in a case involving Congress’s constitutional authority to implement the CWC. U.S. v. Bond could turn out to be a landmark case in which the Court overrules or limits at least one of its holdings in Missouri v. Holland (1920) . . . or perhaps it will be much less momentous than that.
Over at Opinio Juris, I’ve posted some thoughts about the Bond oral argument yesterday.
[Disclosure: I filed an amicus brief in Bond on behalf of myself and Professors David Golove and John Mikhail.]