Book Review: The Development of International Law by the International Court
| Date | 01 April 1959 |
| DOI | 10.1177/004711785900101110 |
| Published date | 01 April 1959 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
The Development
of
International Law
by
the International Court. Sir
Hersch
Lauterpacht. London, Stevens. 63/-. d
In the introduction to the revised and enlarged edition
of
this weighty
an
authoritative contribution to the literature
on
the International Court,
~e
author
says that it
is
intended as "
an
assessment
of
the work
of
the Court jJI
terms
of
the persistent problems
of
the judicial function in general,
and
of
int~·
national tribunals in
particular".
It
deals, therefore,
not
with substanU
ve
international law, but rather with the factors which have influenced the Court
in the discharge
of
its judicial functions, and it takes for granted that the reader
will possess
not
only
an
extensive knowledge
of
public international law, but
also
of
the jurisprudence
of
the Court.
The difficulties which face the Court in its functioning are clearly set forth
by Sir Hersch Lauterpacht ;how, in face
of
the existing facts
of
the international
situation to make its decisions respected without offending the
amour
pro
pre
of
sovereign
States;
how to reconcile caution with effectiveness in the
dis<:har>
of
its judicial office; and how to develop
an
imperfect system
of
law
wlthoU
appearing to arrogate
to
itself the powers
of
alegislature.
In
areview as short
as this it
is
quite impossible to
do
justice to the learned author's closely
reason~
arguments, but it might perhaps be remarked in passing that the latter aim
15
hardly served by the Court's persistent tendency to take refuge behind the
piC!',
always advanced by one
or
other
of
the Parties, that it is without jurisdiction
In
agiven case or,
if
forced to deal with the merits to avoid, whenever possible,
the
onus
of
giving
an
authoritative ruling on some
of
the more involved and contro-
versial issues
of
international law by concentrating its attention either on adefec·
tive form
of
wording
or
on some minor point in the case presented to it.
on
one famous occasion it even devoted itself exclusively to unravelling the
meani~g
of
its own former judgment
on
the question concerned. Incidentally, the
diS'
senting opinions attached to any ruling given by the Court are generally
at
least
as,
and
often far more, lengthily argued than
is
the judgment itself.
Judge Lauterpacht's meticulous analysis
of
the work
of
the International
Court
in its two guises falls into
five
parts for which he has retained the titles
he gave to his original
five
lectures, given
at
Geneva in 1933, on which the
prese~t
book
is
founded, The Law behind the
Cases;
Judicial
Caution;
Judicial Legl'
slation ;The Effectiveness
of
Law, and the
Court
and State Sovereignty. The
eminent author's erudition and immense grasp
of
the subject needs
no
bush.
It
is
to be hoped that his influence may be apparent in the future trend
of
develop"
ment
of
international law by the International Court, as it
is
perhaps
alreadY
apparent
in
the sphere
of
what may be
termed"
international
relations".
Aggression and World Order. ACritique
of
the United Nations Theories of
Aggression. Julius Stone. Stevens for the London Institute
of
World Affairs.
30/-.
Every effort to define aggression raises more problems than it solves and
anY
definition so far suggested has, on examination, proved to provide aperfect
alibi for any nation bent on using force in furtherance
of
its policy while, if
accepted as binding, it might
well
prevent any attempt to deal with the resulting
situation. Was the Israeli invasion
of
Egypt"
aggression
"'I
If
so what form,
and what amount,',of provocation must take place before "aggression
II
is
justified
'I
The Soviet Union in Hungary, as the British and French over Suez,
strenuously denied aggression. Yet its onslaught on Hungary
fell
.. squarely
within the very definition
of
aggression which it was
at
that moment pressing on
other nations as the greatest crime against mankind
II
as Professor Stone pointS
out.
In his Introduction Professor Stone considers the general situation in the
light
of
the Middle East crisis and finds that part
of
the difficulty
of
reaching any
consensus
of
opinion on aggression may
well
be rooted in "terms
of
the im-
possibility
of
containing the necessary struggle for aminimal justice in inter-
national relations within the strait-jacket
of
precise formulae for the definition
582
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