Publications Received
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1944.tb00981.x |
| Published date | 01 July 1944 |
| Date | 01 July 1944 |
I76
MODERN
LAW
REVIEW
July,
1944
author explains that he had to write the book “within the limited time
available to him,” and he is conscious of the fact that he has been unable
to “achieve peace-time academic standards in
a
new research.” While it
is true that the documentation is not
so
complete and reliable and the
presentation is not always
so
clear and concise as could have been expected
in more leisured times, no lawyer, whether he
is
theoretically interested
in or practically concerned with the subject, will be able to dispense with
Dr. Feilchenfeld’s guidance.
The Hague Regulations expose in a particularly striking manner the
problematical character of international law. On the one hand they formu-
late such universally accepted rules of international law
as
are binding
upon, and enforced by, municipal tribunals, and
it
is in this connection that
their practical significance is greatest.
It
would indced have been desirable
if
Dr. Feilchenfeld had paid still closer attention to the type of problem
with which municipal courts will be faced, particularly in neutral countries,
and to the solutions which they should adopt.
On the other hand, in
so
far
as
the Regulations represent international
law binding the belligerent states, they are characterised by the fact that
they have been and are being freely disregarded. Such breaches of inter-
national duties will not always be open to condemnation. Dr. Feilchenfeld
asks the pertinent question (p.
24),
“Should an occupant, for instance, be
forced to respect in an invaded fascist region both racial discrimination
and the suppression
of
free speech?” “In view of the special emphasis
of this study on economic problems,” Dr. Feilchenfeld feels that he is not
required to give an answer (p.
89).
Although to
a
very large extent his
work is of a descriptive character, it would be wrong to think that he is
not fully aware of the fundamental problems involved in the Regulations.
In his “General Observations” he sets forth with courage and perspicuity
a great many truths which have to be faced. Dr. Feilchenfeld does not
seem to believe in the positivism which animated the authors of the
Regulations, and is conscious of the futility of applying positivism to the
subject with which they deal. Yet he has chosen to write on this subject.
He must have done
so
with mixed feelings.
It
is due not to the author
but to the subject that the reader, too, leaves the book with feelings which
are equally mixed.
F.
A.
MANN.
WAR
DAXACIE GUIDE.
By
JOHN
BURKE. Sweet
t
Maxwell, Ltd.,
1943.
pp.
x
and
148.
Price
10s.
6d.
This
is
a
very useful little book.
It
gives a succinct summary of the
War Damage Act,
1943,
and other legislation relating to war damage, and
reproduces practice notes issued by the War Damage Commission. The
practitioner on whom this type of legislation often imposes great burdens
will welcome a guide which provides rapid and reliable instruction while
not purporting to contain elaborate commentaries.
PUBLICATIONS
RECEIVED
G0VER”T
DICIEST,
VOL.
1,
NO.
1
(May
1,1944).
Published by the
Chamber of Commerce of the United States, Washington,
6,
D.C.
SYMPOSIUM
IN
HONOUR
OF
THE
6OTH
BIR!L’HDAY
OF
DR.
EDUARD
BENES.
Edited by DR.
EGON
SCHWELB, and published
in Czech by the Association of Czechoslovak Advocates Abroad,
43-4
Wamngton Crescent, London,
W.g.
111
pp.
4.
F.
A.
MA”.
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