Evening star., 1948-12-18
lnter-American Bar
Urges Hemisphere
Legal Studies Center

Qdy Dy Lle Executive COmmlLtee OF
the Inter-American Bar ASsocia-
ton. which completed a two-day
session at the Pan American Union
The center would translate legal
material from other countries and
publish quarterly periodical under
the program. This would contain
digests of important decisions and
laws. To facilitate research in COM
parative law, digests of the codes
and laws of the American countries
would be prepared by the center
in the four basic languages OF
the Western Hemisphere-English
Spanish, Portuguese and French.
Particular emphasis would be
placed on taxation and labor under
the plan The committee voted to
cooperate with the Committee OF
Latin American Law of the Amer
ican Bar Association and with the
Pan American Union in efforts
toward establishing and financing
the center.
Truman Invited.
The committee mapped plans for
the associations first convention in
the United States in Detroit, May
% to June l next year and invited
President Truman to address it. An
official invitation to Mr.. Truman
will be extended by Judge Joseph A.
Moynihan of Detroit, the associa-
tion's president. and Senator VAN
denberg, Republican, of Michigan.
The convention is expected to
bring 800 Latin American delegates,
500 from the United States and 100
from Canada, William Roy Valance,
State Department lawyer and secre-
tary general of the group said,
Delegates to the convention also
will be entertained in Washington,
Mr.. Valance said, and the program
will include VISITS to the Supreme
Court, the White House and Con-
gress. A reception and dance at the
Pan American Union is also planned.
Canada Program Planned.
Lorne Lavigne, attache at the Ca
madam Embassy. this morning laid
before the committee a report on
the entertainment program being
prepared for the delegates in his
country. This includes stops in
Windsor, Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal
Quebec. and steamer trips down the
st. Lawrence and Saugenay Rivers.
Sam B. Warner, register of copy
rights of the United States, dis
cussed copyright protection at this
mornings session. This will be one
of the subjects at the convention
Mr.. Warner discussed drafting of a
standard law for Societies of Au-
thors of the Americas to serve as q
model.
Nicaragua and Ell Salvador were
invited by the committee to send
observers to the Detroit meeting.
George M. Morris, Washington
lawyer and chairman of the COM
mittee, presided at the sessions. DR..
Charles G. Fenwick, director OF the
department of international law
and organization of the Pan Ameri-
can Union, in welcoming the COM
mittee, emphasized practical difi-
culties arising from the lack of gen.
eral agreement upon the principle
to be applied in recognizing de facto
governments.
Legal Dictionary Readied.
DR.. Lawrence D. Egbert, official
reporter of the German war crimes
trials, told the committee he ex-
poets to have ready for the press
in February a legal dictionary to
be published in Spanish, English,
German and French. He said that
a Portuguese translation would
follow later.
Miss Carolyn Royal Just, mem
ber Of the associations council, told
the committee that the Women's
Bar Association of the District and
the National Association of Women
Lawyers plan to present papers at
the convention.
Secretary General Valance re-
ported on a survey of Latin Ameri-
can law schools made by DR.. Claude
Horack, former dean of Duke Uni
yersity Law School. Dr. Horack is
studying the value of degrees and
work and credit to be given to Latin
American schools for those entering
schools in the United States. This
becomes important, he said. for CTS
studying abroad.
Prof. James Oliver Murdock, who
teaches international law at George
Washington University, reported on
the teaching of that subject IN
hr,aerican law schools