ALI Names John B. Bellinger III as Counselor for The Restatement Fourth of the Foreign Relations Law of the United States
Arnold & Porter partner and former State Department Legal Adviser John B. Bellinger III has been named by the American Law Institute to a group of eight Counselors to oversee drafting of the ALI's Restatement Fourth of the Foreign Relations Law of the United States. The Restatement Fourth will be a leading reference work for judges, practitioners and scholars for the application of international law in U.S. courts and for cases that have substantial foreign relations or international law consequences.
The Fourth Restatement will replace the Third Restatement on Foreign Relations Law, which was issued in 1986. Since that time, decisions by international and domestic courts and state practice by the Executive branch have significantly reshaped the law, and the scholars who prepare the Restatement Fourth have been asked to synthesize these developments. The Restatement Fourth will also incorporate more contemporary concerns in foreign relations law, including laws related to terrorism and financial crisis.
Mr. Bellinger, a partner in the firm's national security and public international law practices, is one of only three attorneys in private practice named to the broader group of sixteen international law experts working on the Restatement Fourth. Before joining Arnold & Porter, Mr. Bellinger held several senior Presidential appointments in the U.S. government, including as The Legal Adviser to the Department of State from 2005 to 2009 under Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Senior Associate Counsel to the President and Legal Adviser to the National Security Council at the White House from 2001-2005.
Mr. Bellinger has extensive experience in U.S. foreign relations litigation involving the Alien Tort Statute, the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, the immunities of foreign governments and government officials, and the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. He also advises clients on other public international law matters, including international humanitarian law and human rights law and treaty law. In addition, he is recognized in the U.S. as being substantially experienced on the Law of the Sea Convention. Mr. Bellinger has also argued cases before the International Court of Justice (Mexico v. United States (Medellin)) and the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal in The Hague.
Mr. Bellinger is a member of the Secretary of State's Advisory Committee on International Law and the Department of Defense Legal Policy Board; one of four U.S. Members of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague; and a member of the U.S. "National Group", which nominates judges to the International Court of Justice. He is also an Adjunct Senior Fellow in International and National Security Law at the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the Executive Council of the American Society of International Law.
