Diggs v. Shultz
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
470 F.2d 461 (1972)
- Written by Tanya Munson, JD
Facts
In 1966, the United Nations (UN) Security Council adopted a resolution that directed all UN member states to impose an embargo on trade with Southern Rhodesia. Southern Rhodesia was an exporter of metallurgic chromite. In 1971, Congress adopted the Byrd Amendment, which disallowed the president the ability to prohibit or regulate the importation of strategic materials so long as the region it was being imported from was not designated as Communist-dominated. The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a General License to Union Carbide Corporation (defendant), authorizing Union Carbide Corporation to import various materials from Southern Rhodesia. Diggs (plaintiff) opposed the issuance of the license. Diggs claimed that the issuance of the license conflicted with the United States’ obligations under the UN Charter. The district court held that Congress may nullify a treaty commitment, and by passing the Byrd Amendment, Congress revoked an aspect of the United States’ treaty obligation under the UN Charter.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (McGowan, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 816,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
