Territory v. Ho

41 Haw. 565, 1957 Haw. LEXIS 41
CourtHawaii Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 31, 1957
DocketNO. 3078
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 41 Haw. 565 (Territory v. Ho) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Hawaii Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Territory v. Ho, 41 Haw. 565, 1957 Haw. LEXIS 41 (haw 1957).

Opinions

OPINION OF THE COURT BY

MARUMOTO, J.

In this case, information was filed against defendant for offering or exposing for sale imported chicken shell eggs of Australian origin without complying with section 1308.02 of the Revised Laws of Hawaii 1945. The section is a new section added to chapter 20 of the Revised Laws, relating to sale of eggs, by section 5 of Act 167 of the Session Laws of 1955. It provides that it is unlawful for any person to sell, offer or expose for sale any imported chicken shell eggs of foreign origin unless a placard bearing the-words “WE SELL FOREIGN EGGS” printed in legible boldface letters of a size not less than three inches [566]*566in height is displayed in a conspicuous place where the customers entering can see it.

Act 167 also amended, by section 1 thereof, section 1307 of the Revised Laws, relating to grading standards and regulations. It authorized the board of commissioners of agriculture and forestry to make rules and regulations with respect to sale and transportation for sale of eggs for human consumption; grades or standards of quality and condition; size and weight classes; inspection and classification; assessment and collection of fees for requested certification; labeling of containers of imported and locally produced eggs; character of newspaper advertisements, posters or signs as to size, grade and geographic origin of eggs offered or exposed for sale; seller’s invoice for sale of eggs; records of imported shell eggs of foreign origin; and enforcement of the provisions of the subtitle of chapter 20 relating to eggs and the rules and regulations promulgated under the authority of such subtitle.

To the information, defendant filed a demurrer and set forth ten grounds in support thereof. The court below sustained the demurrer on three grounds, namely (a) that Act 167, and in particular section 5 thereof, is in contravention of the fifth and fourteenth amendments to the Constitution of the United States in that it deprives defendant of his property without due process of law by preventing the sale of his property without compliance with its provisions, which provisions are in excess of the lawful exercise of the police power of the Territory; (b) that the Act is void in that section 1 thereof authorizes the board to make rules and regulations without defining any standards therefor; and (e) that the Act is in contravention of clause 2 of Article VI of the Constitution of the United States in that its provisions are in conflict with the express provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs [567]*567and Trade to which the United States and Australia are signatories.

Defendant is charged with violation of section 5 of Act 167, not with violation* of any rule or regulation promulgated under section 1. Consequently, we deem it unnecessary to discuss the legality of section 1. We are of the opinion that the demurrer was properly sustained on the ground that section 5 contravenes the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade is a multilateral agreement originally entered into on October 30, 1947, by twenty-three nations, including the United States and Australia. (61 Stat. Part 5) It was modified by the Geneva Protocol of September 14, 1948. (62 Stat. 3679) It was executed on behalf of the United States by a plenipotentiary of the President. It is not a treaty made by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate under Article II, section 2, of the Constitution- of the United States. It is an executive agreement made in the exercise of the authority granted to the President “To enter into foreign trade agreements with foreign governments or instrumentalities thereof,” under section 350 (a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended. The constitutionality of the grant of such authority has been repeatedly questioned in and out of Congress. Névertheless, Congress has extended from time to time the period during which the President may exercise such authority. The latest extension is contained in Trade Agreements Extension Act of 1955, which extends the authority until the close of June 30, 1958. In the Act, Congress provided, “That the enactment of the Trade Agreements Extension Act of 1955 shall not be construed to determine or indicate the approval or disapproval by the Congress of the executive agreement known as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.’-’

• Article YI, clause 2, of the Constitution of the United [568]*568States provides that “all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land.” Under this constitutional provision, there is no question that a treaty made by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, is the supreme law of the land, overriding all state laws in conflict therewith. This case poses the question: Is an executive agreement, such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, a treaty within the meaning of this constitutional provision, so that it has the same efficacy as a treaty made by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate? We think that it is, under the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States in United States v. Belmont, 301 U. S. 324, and United States v. Pink, 315 U. S. 203. In both cases the court had under its consideration an executive agreement known as the Litvinov Assignment. In United States v. Belmont, the court stated at page 331: “Plainly, the external powers of the United States are to be exercised without regard to state laws or policies. The supremacy of a treaty in this respect has been recognized from the beginning. * * * And while this rule in respect of treaties is established by the express language of cl. 2, Art. VI, of the Constitution, the same rule would result in the case of all international compacts and agreements from the very fact that complete power over international affairs is in the national government and is not and cannot be subject to any curtailment or interference on the part of the several states.” In United States v. Pink, the court stated at page 230, “A treaty is a ‘Law of the Land’ under the supremacy clause (Art. VI, Cl. 2) of the Constitution. Such international compacts and agreements as the Litvinov Assignment have a similar dignity.”

The Territory is a fortiori bound by an international agreement having the dignity of a treaty because section [569]*56955 of the Organic Act specifically enjoins that its legislative power be exercised consistently with the Constitution and laws of the United States.

Then, in what respects does section 5 of Act 167 contravene the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade?

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade provides in Article III, paragraphs 1 and 4, as follows:.

“1. The contracting parties recognize that internal taxes and other internal charges, and laws, regulations and requirements affecting the internal sale, offering for sale, purchase, transportation, distribution or use of products, and internal quantitative regulations requiring the mixture, processing or use of products in specified amounts or proportions, should not be applied to imported or domestic products so as to afford protection to domestic production.”
“4.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Bethlehem Steel Corp. v. Board of Commissioners
276 Cal. App. 2d 221 (California Court of Appeal, 1969)
Pacific Meat Co., Ltd. v. Otagaki
394 P.2d 618 (Hawaii Supreme Court, 1964)
Territory v. Ho
41 Haw. 565 (Hawaii Supreme Court, 1957)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
41 Haw. 565, 1957 Haw. LEXIS 41, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/territory-v-ho-haw-1957.