bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The International Responsibility of States for Injuries Sustained by Aliens on Account of Mob Violence, Insurrections and Civil Wars
Authors: Goebel Julius
Published: April 2006

It appears to be generally accepted that International Law as we know it today had its beginnings in the writings of the political theorists of the latter sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, more particularly in the memorable treatise of Grotius which appeared in the year 1625. The works of these writers were produced during the period of so-called rationalism when the true historical view had not yet been discovered, and the precedents and examples which were cited in support of the new rules of international law were taken exclusively from Biblical or classical antiquity. Moreover, in this same period Roman law was held in high esteem, a fact which further served to focus attention upon ancient law and custom. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that many principles which had regulated international conduct among European states, especially those of Teutonic character, during the Middle Ages, were either overlooked or rejected. If we remember that these principles had been enforced by an extensive system of municipal legislation, we shall understand why the founders of international law may have regarded them as res internæ rather than as matters of international import. Recently, however, the problems to which these very principles were applied have become of increasing international concern and vigorous attempts have been made on the one hand to preserve a sphere of municipal jurisdiction and on the other hand to inject into our international jurisprudence the principles upon which they were based. It shall be my purpose to show the early development of the rules which regulated the question of responsibility for aliens, how they were rejected by the early publicists and what effect they had upon later developments in our international law.
The Non-Liability of States For Damages Suffered by Foreigners in the Course of a Riot, an Insurrection, or a Civil War
Authors: Arias Harmodio
Published: April 2006

It is always advisable while laying down any rule whereby human actions are framed, to ascertain the basis on which such principle or rule rests. Such an inquiry is by no means useless in dealing with the science of international law, even though one may regard this branch of knowledge as being merely “positive”; for the conduct of states, just as that of individuals, is generally modelled according to some idea or principle. It will not be unprofitable, therefore, to begin this study with a note, short as it must necessarily be, on the grounds of the liability of states, so that in this manner it may become comparatively easy to ascertain what are the rights of states whose citizens or subjects have suffered damages in the course of riots or insurrections that have taken place in a foreign country.
Poinsett’s Mission to Mexico: A Discussion of his Interference in Internal Affairs
Authors: Manning William R.
Published: April 2006

The first United States minister to Mexico was Joel R. Poinsett. To the ordinary mind, however, his chief title to fame does not rest on his filling this or a number of other official posts; but on the fact that he made known to the world the beautiful Christmas flower which in honor of him was named “poinsettia.” But even this discovery was a result of his diplomatic appointment; for it was while on his mission to Mexico that he observed it and brought it to the attention of botanists. It is the purpose of this article to study only the minister’s personal conduct while in Mexico and his relations with the government and people, explaining the grounds for the charges made against him of meddling in the internal affairs of the country.
Bulgarian Independence
Authors: Scelle Georges
Published: April 2006

[Being the fourth part of a series of Studies on the Eastern Question. The preceding parts appeared in the January, April and July numbers of the Jouranl. for 1911.]

Since the publication of our last article, the political independence of Bulgaria has been juridically established from the constitutional point of view.

As we have already seen, the Bulgarian diplomatic and governmental situation had been developed in fact, without ever having been theoretically or diplomatically discussed. This is natural. The Bulgarian Government took great care not to raise that question, contenting itself from the internal point of view with Art. 17, of the Constitution of Tirnovo, which gave to the Prince, in general, the conduct of diplomatic negotiations. It might have been contended that Bulgaria, which was a vassal state, had no absolute right to make purely political treaties; and it is doubtful that King Ferdinand, before the establishment of Bulgarian independence, had ever entered into any written political treaties. Moreover, if he had, it would have raised an internal constitutional question; for, in such case, it would have been incumbent upon him to refer the matter to the Sobranjé.
Sovereignty of the Air
Authors: Lee Blewett
Published: April 2006

When Grotius was a young lawyer he served for a time as counsel for the Dutch East India Company. Out of his early labors as a corporation lawyer there grew later two wonderful books ― one the De Jure Belli et Pacis, the greatest gift that any lawyer ever gave to the world, and the other, published in 1608, the Mare Liberum. In 1868, came to light the brief which he had written in a celebrated case in which the company had captured a rich Portuguese galleon in the Straits of Malacca. It was found that one chapter of the Mare Liberum had been taken bodily from this brief. At the time the book was written, Portugal claimed dominion of the eastern and England of the northern seas. John Selden of the Inner Temple, most famous of English legal scholars, answered Grotius by a work entitled Mare Clausum; but the stars in their courses fought against Selden and today the world rejoices in the freedom of the seas.
The Neutrality of Chile During the European War
Authors: Mathieu Beltran
Published: April 2006

If the neutrality of Chile be considered with calm judgment in the light of historical reality, it offers no occasion for surprise during the period that extended from the breaking out of the European War until the date at which the United States entered it as a belligerent, that is, from August, 1914, until April, 1917. It is in no wise surprising, I say, since the unneutrality of Chile would be inconceivable at that stage of the war, owing to the circumstances that existed at the time in our hemisphere. Beginning with the latter date, the neutrality of Chile, if, indeed, much less onerous, stands out as a more significant fact, because several of the Latin-American countries “theoretically” adopted the attitude of the United States by declaring war upon the German Empire, while another group of these countries confined itself to breaking off diplomatic relations with that Power. Of the five republics that maintained their neutrality until the end, Chile was, without doubt, the one that had to show greater zeal to keep within the law and to retain the confidence that had always been reposed in her by the most powerful nations of the world.

I have said that the neutrality of Chile, up to April 6, 1917, does not constitute a strange historical phenomenon, because the entire American continent decided frankly in favor of neutrality from the breaking out of the war. No authority upon international law could condemn this attitude by germane arguments, nor would all the eloquence of sentiment possess weight against it.
Notes on the Recognition of De Facto Governments by European States
Authors: Hershey Amos S.
Published: April 2006

This is a topic that seems to have almost wholly escaped the attention of so-called authorities or publicists on international law. Bonfils, for example (7th ed., p. 135), calls attention to the difference between the recognition of a new state and a new government, but fails to show what the distinction is. Calvo (5th ed., 1, pp. 236 ff.) discusses rather fully recognition of belligerency and independence, but apparently has nothing to say of the recognition of new de facto governments in case of revolution. Even Pradier-Fodéré, the most voluminous of the authorities, seems to have nothing to impart on this subject.
The Power of Recognition
Authors: Berdahl Clarence A.
Published: April 2006

“Theoretically,” says Hall, “a politically organized community enters of right into the family of states and must be treated in accordance with law, as soon as it is able to show that it possesses the marks of a state.”
The Peace Conference of Paris, 1919
Authors: Finch Geo. A.
Published: April 2006

On January 18, 1919, the forty-eighth anniversary of the proclamation of the German Empire at Versailles after the invasion of France in 1870-1871, there assembled in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at Paris a meeting of the representatives of the Allied and Associated belligerent Powers, as well as the Powers which had broken off diplomatic relations, to decide upon the terms of peace to be offered to Germany and her allies.

Emulating Bismarck, who used the emasculated telegram of Ems as the pretext of waging a war of conquest upon France, William II and his General Staff seized upon the rupture between Austria-Hungary and Serbia growing out of the assassination of the Austrian Crown Prince at Serajevo in June, 1914, as the pretext for launching Germany upon a carefully prepared program of world domination. Fearful lest delay might result in the loss of the opportunity for which she had deliberately planned and anxiously awaited, within a week after Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28, 1914, Germany had declared war on Russia and France and had shamelessly violated the neutrality of Belgium which she had solemnly undertaken to respect. Great Britain, for self-protection and in response to treaty obligations, immediately entered the war against Germany, and was successively followed from time to time, as Germany evinced her disregard of international law, the laws of war and the dictates of humanity, by all the other large Powers and many of the smaller ones whose interests were jeopardized or rights infringed upon by Germany’s increasingly reckless and ruthless conduct.
The German Conception of the Freedom of the Seas
Authors: Hershey Amos S.
Published: April 2006

The World War has given rise to some of the most remarkable views or expressions of opinion, particularly in Germany, regarding the freedom of the seas that have ever been uttered. Indeed, it may be said to have revived this old controversy in an entirely new form, but with the ideas frequently stated in the most excessive manner. Though, along with many other products of German war psychology, the most extravagant of these views seem for the most part to be doomed to defeat, and perhaps to a deserved oblivion, yet there may be a nucleus of sense or residuum of wisdom in some of them that is worthy of consideration. In any case, it may be claimed that they possess a certain historical or academic interest which appears to justify this discussion and record, filled, as it is, with copious extracts.
Change of Sovereignty and Private Ownership of Land
Authors: Sayre Francis B.
Published: April 2006

Perhaps no part of international law gives rise to more uncertainty and disagreement than the law which determines the resulting rights and duties of states and individuals upon a change of sovereignty, — the so-called law of succession. One group of writers holds that the. new sovereign succeeds to all the rights and obligations of the former sovereign with respect to the territory ceded. The new sovereign, it is said, like the Roman heir, is “universal successor” to the obligations as well as to the rights of the former sovereign. Grotius suggests the analogy of the Roman heir when he says: “Heredis personam, quoad dominii tam publici quam privati continuationem, pro eadem censeri cum defuncti persona, certi est juris” (Book II, Chap. IX, sec. 12). Again, he says: “Potest imperium victoria acquiti, ut est in rege alio imperante, et tune in ejus jus succeditur” (Book III, Chap. VIII, sec. 2). This analogy, suggested by Grotius when international law was in the making, has had a remarkably strong influence upon the development of the rules of international law governing a change of sovereignty. Many writers of authority, following in the footsteps of Grotius, have laid it down that the new sovereign succeeds to all the obligations as well as to the rights of the former sovereign.
Some Reflections on the Problem of a Society of Nations
Authors: Kocourek Albert
Published: April 2006

A Thousand peace proposals doubtless could be accounted for in the last five hundred years. Some of them for one reason or another are famous. Dubois, Crucé, Podebrad, Henry IV, Rousseau, Kant, Bentham, Penn, Ladd, are names in this connection quickly recalled to memory.

Now why did all these proposals fail to be heeded by war-weary humanity? Two reasons may be given: first, for the most part they were paper proposals; there was not sufficient driving power behind them; they were written out, the ink dried, and the task was done. No more can a peace proposal organize itself on paper than can a corporation manufacture steel billets with a red-ribboned charter. There must be responsible and powerful initiative, and this initiative must come from a state. Of course, every paper proposal helps to fertilize the ground against the time when nature in its blind way is ready with a favorable wind to implant the germinal substance of a harvest, be it only of thistles or ragweed.

A romantic view of life has it that law grows, that it can not be created. Another similarly romantic allied notion is that man is a product of the earth like a plant. We would not deny the element of truth in these views which flourish or have flourished in the shadow of great names. But is not there something of one-sidedness in this; is not there some exaggeration? Does not destiny hold out some encouragement in the achievement of metaphysical purpose, of final ends, to the use of man’s creative intelligence as a part of the process? It is fortunate for these reflections that on this philosophical jousting-ground, the beliefs, the practices, habits, and experiences of most men are often — or seem to be — favorable to effort.
The Mavrommatis Concessions Cases
Authors: Borchard Edwin M.
Published: April 2006

The Permanent Court of International Justice, in two of the most exhaustive judgments it has thus far rendered, has recently decided, mainly against the claimant, the bitterly contested case of Mavrommatis (Greece) v. Great Britain (Judgments No. 2 and No. 5). It took two hearings and two decisions to dispose of the case, the first (August 30, 1924) on the question of the court's jurisdiction, asserted by a majority of seven judges to five, and the second (March 6, 1925) on the merits. The majority in favor of the jurisdiction were Judges Loder, Weiss, Nyholm, Altamira, Anzilotti, Huber, and the Greek national judge, Caloyanni. The dissenting judges, each of whom prepared a separate opinion, were Judges Finlay, Moore, de Bustamante, Oda and Pessoa. Under the court's practice, it is not possible to tell which judge or judges wrote the majority opinion; there is some evidence that several judges participated in drafting it. The second judgment practically dismissing the claim on the merits, was nearly unanimous, only Judge Altamira dissenting.
An Introduction to the History of International Law
Authors: Korff Baron S. A.
Published: April 2006

For a long time writers on international law took it for granted that the subject of their studies was a relatively recent product of modern civilization, and that the ancient world did not know any system of international law. If we go back to the literature of the nineteenth century, we can find a certain feeling of pride among internationalists that international law was one of the best fruits of our civilization and that it was a system which distinguished us from the ancient barbarians. Some of these writers paid special attention to this question of origins and endeavored to explain why the ancient world never could have had any international law.
The War Prevention Policy of the United States
Authors: Kellogg Frank B.
Published: April 2006

It has been my privilege during the past few months to conduct on behalfof the Government of the United States negotiations having for their object the promotion of the great ideal of world peace. Popular and governmental interest in the realization of this ideal has never been greater than at the present time. Ever since the World War, which spelled death to so many millions of men, spread desolation over so much of the Continent of Europe and shocked and imperiled neutral as well as belligerent nations, the minds of statesmen and of their peoples have been more and more concerned with plans for preventing the recurrence of such a calamity.
Unanimous Consent in International Organization
Authors: Hill Nobman L.
Published: April 2006

The decisions of international bodies may be based either on the rigid principle of unanimity or on the more convenient doctrine that the majority shall govern. In a world where national sovereignty is so widely stressed, the former method has a natural appeal. The rule of unanimity has, in fact, been treated by many persons as an inevitable corollary of the theory of sovereignty, which, as it is generally understood, would subject no state to any limitation against its will. Such an idea was very probably in the mind of former Secretary of State Hughes when he stated in the opening address of the Conference on Central American Affairs in December, 1922, “ Unanimity is a part of the consequence of the status of states in international law.” Writers on internationallaw have often so defined sovereignty and independence that the requirement of unanimity for any concerted action of a group of nations would follow.
The Settlement of Lausanne
Authors: Mah N. Wing
Published: April 2006

On August 6, 1924, nearly six years after the Armistice of Mudros, the state of war which had existed in the Near East since 1914 was terminated as between Turkey, on the one hand, and the British Empire, Italy and Japan, on the other hand, by the drawing up of the first procès-verbal of the deposit at Paris of the ratifications of the settlement concluded at Lausanne on July 24,1923. The state of war between Greece and Turkey had already been terminated a year ago, pursuant to the settlement of Lausanne, and under the terms of the same settlement the Allied forces of occupation had been withdrawn from Turkish territory; the prisoners of war and interned civilians detained by Greece and Turkey, respectively, had been mutually restored; the compulsory exchange of certain portions of the Greek and Turkish populations had been effected; and a general amnesty for political offenders had been declared. The portions of the settlement brought into force by the recent ratifications are the Treaty of Peace, the Straits Convention,the Commercial Convention and the Convention respecting Jurisdiction and the Conditions of Residence and Business. Certain instruments which did not require ratification, including the Declarations relating to Sanitary Matters and to the Administration of Justice and the Protocol and Declaration relating to Concessions, may now also be expected to be given practical effect.
The Bombardment of Damascus
Authors: Wright Quincy
Published: April 2006

The Syrian insurrection culminating in the bombardment of Damascus in October, 1925, is an incident of a kind which has frequently marred the relations of western Powers with less advanced peoples. Thus it may be of more than passing interest to examine the conduct of the parties concerned
from the standpoint of international law.
American Extraterritorial Jurisdiction in China
Authors: Bishop Crawford M.
Published: April 2006

In 1903 the United States, by treaty with China, agreed to give China every assistance in the reform of her judicial system, and stated that it would also be prepared “ to relinquish extraterritorial rights when satisfied that the state of the Chinese laws, the arrangements for their administration, and other considerations warrant it in so doing.”
How to Fight Savage Tribes
Authors: Colby Elbridge
Published: April 2006

In the April, 1926 number of this Journal, Professor Quincy Wright remarks, apropos of the Damascus bombardment:

Does international law require the application of laws of war to peopleof a different civilization? The ancient Israelites are said to have denied the usual war restrictions to certain tribes against which they were sworn enemies, the ancient Greeks considered the rules of war recognized among Hellenes inapplicable to barbarians, and medieval Christian civilization took a similar attitude toward war with the infidel. An English writer in1906 draws attention to “ the peculiarly barbarous type of warfare which civilized powers wage against tribes of inferior civilization. When I contemplate,” he adds, “ such modem heroes as Gordon, and Kitchener, and Roberts, I find them in alliance with slave dealers or Mandarins, orcutting down fruit trees, burning farms, concentrating women and children, protecting military trains with prisoners, bribing other prisoners to fight against their fellow countrymen. These are performances which seem to take us back to the bad old times. What a terrible tale will the recording angel have to note against England and Germany in South Africa, against France in Madagascar and Tonquin, against the United States in the Philippines,against Spain in Cuba, against the Dutch in the East Indies,against the Belgians in the Congo State.” Possibly the emphasis, in most accounts of the recent bombardment of Damascus, upon the fact that relatively slight damage was done to Europeans and Americans indicates the existence of this distinction in the moral sense of western communities.
Changing Concepts and the Doctrine of Incorporation
Authors: Dickinson Edwin D.
Published: April 2006

The student or practitioner whose interest is primarily in the interpretation and application of the law of nations is often prone to dismiss fundamental concepts as a matter of mere theoretical importance. This is a serious mistake. No one is capable of understanding the interpretations and applications of the law of nations which have been made in judicial decisions, national and international, in arbitrations, and in international incidents, unless he has some knowledge of the fundamental concepts of the science and of the conditions under which those concepts have developed. Concepts, in truth, are as much a part of the fabric of international jurisprudence as the intricate and confused records of international conduct. If they are no longer its warp and woof, they provide at least the necessary patterns.
The Treatment of Foreigners: In Relation to the Draft Convention and Conference of 1929
Authors: Cutler John Ward
Published: April 2006

As in the days of Rome and the barbarians, the activities of foreigners are still hampered in many ways. The purpose of this article is to examine certain phases of the modern practice in the law of the alien, and to discover, if possible, the present trend, especially in the light of the abortive Paris Conference of 1929 on the Treatment of Foreigners. 2
Procedure in Cases Involving Immunity of Foreign States in Courts of the United States
Authors: Feller A. H.
Published: April 2006

To the ever-increasing confusion of doctrine which makes up the law of sovereign immunity, the courts of the United States have added procedural complications which, though not as weighty, are nevertheless as puzzling as any of the substantive rules. Of recent years the United States Supreme Court and the lower Federal courts have often had occasion to consider the method whereby the question of immunity was raised. The result has been the evolution of a set of rules so vaguely defined in the decisions as to offer little guidance to the bench and bar, and withal of interest to the scholar who finds that these rules exist in no other judicial system.
Membership in the Universal Postal Union
Authors: Akzin Benjamin
Published: April 2006

The Universal Postal Union is one of the oldest of the existing interstate organizations. It has a continuous record of useful service to the international community, extending over a period of almost sixty years. It was first established as the Union Générale des Postes in 1874, and it has borne it present name since 1878. A study of its structure has raised many interesting points with reference to its membership, and has revealed innovations of which little account has been taken by writers on international law, but which may have significance for the theory and the practical development of international personality. On the other hand, certain ambiguities of the texts of the Postal Conventions may be pointed out, which might be conveniently avoided in future enactments.
The English Practice with Regard to Reprisals by Private Persons
Authors: Clark Groves
Published: April 2006

At Bayonne, on Tuesday before the Feast of St. Barnabas the Apostle, in the year 1295, John, lieutenant in Gascony of the King of England, signed a letter addressed to all the officers of the King. At Canterbury, on October 3 of the same year, John's uncle, Edward I, King of England and Duke of Acquitaine, put his seal on a document addressed to his officers, in which he included John's letter in full and ratified its provisions subject to two briefly-stated conditions.
The Interpretation of Multilateral Treaties
Authors: Wright Quincy
Published: April 2006

Numerous interpretative notes were exchanged by the Powers prior to signature of the General Pact for the Renunciation of War on August 27, 1928. Secretary Kellogg was reported to have said on August 8 that these interpretations “are in no way a part of the pact and can not be considered reservations. The interpretations will not be deposited with the text of the treaty.” It has, however, been asserted that “the interpretations and declarations, made in the diplomatic correspondence before the signature of the treaty, and either agreed to or not dissented from, are just as binding and just as much within the meaning of the treaty as if they were written into the treaty text.” This obviously denies any importance to the distinction between interpretative notes and reservations implied in Secretary Kellogg’s statement.
International Law in Treaties of the United States
Authors: Wilson Robert R.
Published: April 2006

Written agreements record much that has been accomplished toward setting up a specific law between states. If international law is still essentially a customary law, with the weaknesses characterizing any such law, it is also true that through a process of transmutation many customary rules have at length been given more or less precise form through their inclusion in conventions. The opinion has been expressed that only by such a process will this law escape from being “a junk heap of antiquated and perverted forms of justice that has been brought about by the supremacy of power.” It is of course possible to have treaty provisions which merely incorporate by reference, and perhaps emphasize without stating, the rules generally accepted by civilized states.

The reference may be to international law in terms, or to the established body of the law by plain implication. Even if an existing rule is referred to for the purpose of waiving rights under it as between the parties, there is ordinarily an implied recognition of what has become established through custom.
The Legal Status of Political Refugees, 1920–1938
Authors: Holborn Louise W.
Published: April 2006

The term “refugee” is generally held to refer to those who have left or been forced to leave their country for political reasons, who have been deprived of its diplomatic protection and have not acquired the nationality or diplomatic protection of any other state. This includes those from whom the state has taken away protection and assistance but without suppressing juridically their nationality, and those whom the state has deprived of their nationality, thus making them stateless. While in strict law the position of these different categories of refugees is not uniform, in practice it is identical.
The National Socialist Theory of International Law
Authors: Gott Virginia L.
Published: April 2006

Despite a rather wide range of disagreement among National Socialist writers, a general, characteristic National Socialist theory of international law is definitely discernible. Hans Helmut Dietze is perhaps the most representative and certainly among the most thoroughly National Socialist writers on this subject. Helmut Nicolai, Ernst Wolgast, Norbert Gürke, Herbert Kraus, and G. A. Walz may be considered as ranking next in importance from the point of view of expounding the most typical National Socialist doctrines in the field of international law. The words and deeds of the Fuhrer have formed, of course, the basis upon which these doctrines stand. Although the utterances as well as the actions of Hitler have not always been consistent (this is obvious in any comparison of Mein Kampf with his speeches as Reichskanzler), this fact does not seem greatly to have hindered the formulation of an international legal theory, but then this theory itself may appear to many, when viewed objectively, as likewise inconsistent. However, just as it is possible to dismiss certain statements of Hitler as embodying words coined more for tactical purposes and not sincerely in line with National Socialist ideology, so it is possible to see through many of the inconsistencies in the National Socialist theories on international law and obtain the real volklich-nationale point of view.
The Munich Settlement and International Law
Authors: Wright Quincy
Published: April 2006

In his world broadcast on September 27, 1938, immediately after his conversations at Godesberg with Chancellor Hitler, Prime Minister Chamberlain pointed out that he had gained the Czech Government’s consent to the Berchtesgaden proposals which “gave the substance of what Herr Hitler wanted,” and that he “was taken completely by surprise” when at Godesberg he “found that he [Hitler] insisted that the territory should be handed over to him immediately, and immediately occupied by German troops without previous arrangement for safeguarding the people within the territory who were not Germans or did not want to join the German Reich.” This attitude he found “unreasonable” but added that in spite of sympathy “with a small nation confronted by a big and powerful neighbor we can not in all circumstances undertake to involve the whole British Empire in war simply on her account. If we have to fight it must be on a larger issue than that. I am myself a man of peace . . . but if I were convinced that any nation had made up its mind to dominate the world by fear of its force, I should feel that it must be resisted.”
The Development of International Tax Law: Franco-American Treaty on Double Taxation—Draft Convention on Allocation of Business Income
Authors: Carroll Mitchell B.
Published: April 2006

The exchange of ratifications on April 9, 1935, of the Franco-American Convention on Double Taxation by Ambassador Straus and Foreign Minister Laval calls attention to the development of a new field of law in which the United States has been participating since the post-war depression. International double taxation had existed for some time before the World War as the result of countries taxing income whether derived by non-residents from local sources or by residents from foreign sources, but it did not become a serious problem until the budgetary exigencies of the World War had caused such an increase in rates that the payment of taxes to the foreign country, as well as to the home country, resulted in taking practically all of the income from carrying on business in the two. Likewise, serious double taxation existed in the field of property and estate or inheritance taxes as the result of countries taxing property having a local situs as well as property having a foreign situs but belonging to persons domiciled within their territory.
Conditions of Withdrawal from the League of Nations
Authors: Joan Burns Josephine
Published: April 2006

Notices of withdrawal from the League of Nations during the year 1933 on the part of two States permanently represented on the Council, Japan and Germany, have turned attention once more to the provision for withdrawal in the Covenant of the League and to the necessity for interpretation of the scope and meaning of that provision.
The Treaty Background of the Italo-Ethiopian Dispute
Authors: Stern W. B.
Published: April 2006

The nineteenth century was for Ethiopia a century of inner consolidation. During that time the Ethiopian rulers step by step restored the power accredited to their dynasty which they had lost in endless feuds during the eighteenth century. On the coast the Porte claimed suzerainty over the strip down to the Strait of Bab el Mandeb and even Zeila. Turkish occupation was actual only at Massawa; from there Turkey controlled the commerce with north Ethiopia; in most other places Turkish control was nominal. The chiefs of the Danakil coastal tribes were practically independent. When, however, about the year 1839, the French Compagnie Nanto-Bordelaise bought from the local Danakil chiefs the village of Edd, which today belongs to Italian Eritrea, with a district extending three leagues inland, the Porte protested, and the French Government repudiated the purchase. But the rights of the purchasers to the soil were not questioned, and a French company still claimed them in 1862.
Soviet Citizenship
Authors: Sandifer Durward V.
Published: April 2006

The law of citizenship did not escape the general chaos into which the existing laws of Russia fell upon the accession of the Bolsheviks to power on November 7, 1917. Consequently it has not been easy to determine thestatus of citizens of the former Russian régime under the new government, especially of those residing abroad, voluntarily or by compulsion. It has only been gradually that any degree of certainty has come into the law, the first decree purporting to cover the question of citizenship in a comprehensive fashion not having been enacted until October 29, 1924. Even today one who essays to state with certainty what the Soviet law of citizenship is with respect to any given case needs to tread warily. After a comprehensive study of that law and its application, one is impressed with the fact that not all its provisions can be taken literally in all cases.
Special Mexican Claims
Authors: McKernan Louis W.
Published: April 2006

The Special Mexican Claims Commission has just completed its task of deciding 2,833 claims of American citizens against Mexico arising out of the revolutionary disturbances in Mexico during the period from 1910 to 1920. The Commission commenced its work in September, 1935. The decision of this large number of claims marks an important chapter in the development of international reclamation, not only because of the disposition of such a large number of cases in a comparatively short period of time, but also because of new departures made in the case of this commission in procedure and rules of decision.
The Twentieth Year of the Permanent Court of International Justice
Authors: Hudson Manley O.
Published: April 2006

The Permanent Court of International Justice was not active during its twentieth year. The institutional framework of the Court was maintained, the personnel of its bench was kept intact, its officials were at their posts, and certain funds were available for current expenses; but no sessions were held during the year, and no progress was made with the two pending cases. Nor were there any significant developments during the year with reference to the international instruments relating to the Court, the attention of Governments being completely engrossed in other fields.
The Panama Canal in Time of Peace
Authors: Padelford Norman J.
Published: April 2006

The rights secured by the United States through the conclusion of the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty and the Hay-Varilla Convention afforded the United States legal bases upon which to embark upon the excavation, construction, operation and protection of an interoceanic canal in the Isthmus of Panama. They formed a foundation for the erection of a vast edifice of powers and jurisdiction over the Panama Canal, the Canal Zone, and over vessels and persons in and about the Canal.
Agency in International Law
Authors: Piero Sereni Angelo
Published: April 2006

I. In the field of international law every subject generally acts in person, through its own organs, without resorting to cooperation with other subjects. However, international practice shows that members of the community of nations sometimes act on behalf of other members, with the legal effect that the transactions performed by the acting subject in the name and for the account of the other have for the latter the same legal consequences as if it had acted in person. This happens, for example, when a state, duly authorized, concludes through its own organs a treaty for another state: the latter is thus bound by the treaty exactly in the same way as if it had concluded the treaty itself, through its own organs. This legal phenomenon implies a split between the immediately acting international person and the person to whom the legal effects of these acts are imputed.
Was the Soviet Union Expelled From the League of Nations?
Authors: Gross Leo
Published: April 2006

In the discussion of current problems of international organization frequent reference is being made to the action taken by the Council of the League of Nations in 1939 with reference to the membership of the Soviet Union. While the matter may be thought to have interest chiefly for historians, it might serve a useful purpose to reexamine the action taken in 1939 from a legal point of view. It is conceivable that a conclusion on the legal points involved might serve as a basis for removing some of the untoward features of the existing situation.
On the Foundations of International Law
Authors: Humphrey John P.
Published: April 2006

Since the collapse of the European system of the Middle Ages and the birth of modem international law most jurists have worked on the assumption that the principles underlying the international legal order are radically different from those that lie at the base of national law. With the disintegration of the authority of the Pope and the Emperor there had come into being a number of independent states that recognized no political superior and hence considered themselves as equals. In their relations with each other, at least, these states acted like the sovereign bodies which in fact they were. In so far as international relations were concerned the world had returned to a condition of complete anarchy. The states of the world lived in that condition of natural equality described by Hobbes where each was the potential enemy of every other. In the formulation of their policies and in their acts each state took into account its own interests only and when these interests came into conflict, as they inevitably did, the only arbiter was brute force.
War Criminals
Authors: Wright Quincy
Published: April 2006

The problem of war criminals has aroused controversy between those who insist that enemy persons guilty of acts which have shocked the conscience of mankind shall be punished and those who insist that the United Nations must observe principles of civilized justice. Those principles require that an individual shall not be punished for an act, however shocking, unless the act was a crime under the law applicable at the time and place where it was committed (nulla poena sine lege), and unless the guilt of the individual has been established by a competent court utilizing fair procedures (due process of law).
The Settlement of Mexican Claims Act of 1942
Authors: Briggs Herbert W.
Published: April 2006

With the enactment on December 19, 1942, of the misnamed “Settlement of Mexican Claims Act of 1942,” American nationals with claims based upon the international responsibility of Mexico for acts or omissions in contravention of international law appear likely to receive long-delayed satisfaction. Some of the claims are more than 60 years old. Awards were made by the United States-Mexican General Claims Commission in favor of some of the claimants more than 15 years ago, but to date no money has been paid to the beneficiaries of these awards. Various factors appear to have made this claims arbitration one of the most dilatory, inefficient, and unfortunate in our history. Claimants were notoriously lax in presenting evidence to the State Department, although in some cases they appear to have been hindered by the Mexican Government from obtaining necessary evidence in Mexico. The preambles to three conventions extending the life of the General Claims Commission allege that “it now appears” or “it has been found” that the Commission could not hear, examine, and decide the claims within the time limit fixed; but Judge Fred K. Nielsen, American Commissioner on that court, has pointed out with some vigor that it was not the Commission, so much as the failure of American counsel and the Department of State, to prepare cases for presentation to the Commission, which caused the delay and paucity of decisions. Resignations of Commissioners, protracted delays in replacing them, antagonisms between Commissioners, and lack of cooperation by the Mexican Government were other factors contributing to the 19-year delay in effecting a settlement.
International Law and American Policy During the Last Thirty-Five Years
Authors: Coudert Frederic R.
Published: April 2006

The American Society of International Law celebrated last April its thirty-fifth anniversary. It can, therefore, scarce claim the prestige of an ancient and time-honored institution. Notwithstanding this fact, however, in the thirty-five years of its existence theinternational law which it was founded to promote, to expound and to develop, has hadanextraordinarily dramatic existence. Let us look at some of the high lights on this lawduring its historic years from 1906 to the present time.
Sovereignty over Islands in the Pacific
Authors: Orent Beatrice , Reinsch Pauline
Published: April 2006

Recently, certain small uninhabited islands in the central Pacific Ocean have assumedsudden importance for the British Empire and the United States. Their value as landing places for commercial aviation and as strategic bases for air and naval forces is being increasingly recognized. Acquired during the past century by Great Britain and the UnitedStates, many of these islands have been the object of conflicting claims to sovereignty by the two nations. To clarify their status, it has been found desirable to review the past practice of these states and to examine those factors which were considered adequateto create sovereign rights over uninhabited islands in the Pacific.
Copyright in War and Peace
Authors: McClure Wallace
Published: April 2006

When citizens of the United States propose a discussion of any subject of public policy which is specifically mentioned in the national Constitution, the constitutional provision is likely to be the most appropriate point of departure. The statesmen who framed the great charter of 1787 were on the alert in the public interest when, after providing that "All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States,"1 they added that

The Congress shall have Power . . .

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries
Treatment of Civilian Alien Enemies
Authors: Wilson Robert R.
Published: April 2006

A large-scale problem for the principal belligerents in the present war is that of the treatment of civilians of enemy nationality in their respective jurisdictions. Measured in terms of the number of human beings involved, national safety considerations, and the possibly unfortunate effect at home of mishandling it, the problem assumes far-reaching importance. There is need for clear law as well as positive action. There is need for perspective. In relation to international law, the distinctiveness of the classification of “civilian alien enemy,” past effort looking to the construction of internationally binding rules prescribing treatment, and practice in the current war, merit attention.
The Place of Law and Courts in International Relations
Authors: Borchard Edwin
Published: April 2006

Few periods of history disclose less harmony, mutual respect and trust among nations than the present. It may therefore seem inappropriate in such an atmosphere to discuss the place of law and courts, since they can function effectively only in periods of relative stability. Yet the very fact that international law is in some respects passing through a depression may sharpen our perspective and emancipate us from the illusions of the recent past. We may get a better grasp on realities and more correctly gauge the prospects for an ordered international life.
Recent Innovations in Legal and Regulatory Concepts as to the Alien and his Property
Authors: Sommerich Otto C.
Published: April 2006

The present totalitarian war and the emergency situations which preceded it and which are following in its wake have caused the creation of many new concepts which perhaps owe their basis to the theory that in the conduct of foreign affairs and in the conduct of war the executive arm of the government must be unhampered. In several recent cases the United States Supreme Court has held that under the Constitution the conduct of foreign relations is committed to the political departments of the Federal Government, and that the propriety of the exercise of that power is not open to judicial inquiry. However, it is now equally well settled that where a conflict of property rights under statutes and treaties is presented, the determination of these rights by the executive department is subject to review by the courts. The doctrine excluding from judicial inquiry the conduct of foreign relations by the political departments of the government has encouraged the creation of concepts which permeate the entire field relating to the alien and his property.
The United States and International Copyright
Authors: Kampelman Max M.
Published: April 2006

The word “copyright” comes from the Latin copia, which is translated as “plenty” and which means, in general, the right to make plenty or to copy. In its specific application it means the right to multiply copies of those products of the human brain known as literature and art. It has also been defined as “the power to determine whether the work shall be published at all, the manner in which, if published, it shall be done, and to whom.”
The United Nations Convention on Genocide
Authors: Kunz Josef L.
Published: April 2006

On December 9, 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted at its Paris session a resolution approving the annexed Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and proposing it for signature and ratification.
The New World Health Organization
Authors: Sharp Walter R.
Published: April 2006

The signing of the Constitution for a World Health Organization, on 22 July 1946 in New York City, is likely to be a landmark in the history of international cooperation for public health and medicine. At this ceremony the representatives of sixty-one nations affirmed their intention of bringing all inter-governmental health action under the aegis of a single agency which, it is hoped, will soon embrace the entire family of states. The new “Magna Carta” of health envisages an organization far wider in scope and function than any previous undertaking in this sphere of international collaboration. Still more significant is the new approach to the problem of disease embodied in the WHO Constitution—an approach which takes full cognizance of the revolutionary advances of the past decade in preventive and curative medicine.