University of Virginia Library

8560. TREATIES, Repeal of.—

A treaty
made by the President, with the concurrence
of two-thirds of the Senate, is a law of the
land, and a law of superior order, because it
not only repeals past laws, but cannot itself
be repealed by future ones. [485]
Official Opinion. Washington ed. vii, 505. Ford ed., v, 216.
(1790)

 
[485]

Jefferson, at a later period, modified this opinion
in the following note: “Unless with the consent or
default of the other contracting party. It may well
be doubted, too, and perhaps denied, that the treaty
power can control a law. The question here proposed
was then of the first impression. Subsequent investigations
have proved that the contrary position is
the more general truth.”—Editor.