Litigation Responsibility of the Attorney General in Cases in the International Court of Justice

Litigation Responsibility of the Attorney General in Cases in the International Court of Justice Under 28 U.S.C. §§ 516 and 519, the conduct of litigation in which the United States is a party is reserved to the Attorney General, except as otherwise authorized by law; under 5 U.S.C. §3106, other agencies shall not conduct litigation, but shall refer the matter to the Department of Justice. The Attorney General’s authority and responsibility to conduct litigation extends to litigation in foreign courts, including litigation affecting foreign relations of the United States, and litigated proceedings before the International Court of Justice are thus within his supervisory power. [The text of this opinion appears in the section of this volume dealing with the Iranian Hostage Crisis, at p. 233 infra.] 11