Law Commons^™

The "Constitutionalization" Of The Un Security System, Matthias J. Herdegen

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The considerable activism displayed by the Security Council over the last years and its dynamic application of the powers under Chapter VII of the UN Charter recently have inspired concern for the institutional balance within the United Nations and the quest for justiciable restraints upon the Council. Such concern underlines a "constitutional" approach to the United Nations framework: the Charter is conceived as a kind of constitution for the community of states with the International Court of Justice as the ultimate guardian of its legality vis-a-vis the Council. Such a "constitutional" approach should be viewed with caution. The scrutiny of …

Panel Discussion, Professor Jonathan Charney, Professor Thomas Franck, Professor Jordan Paust, Professor John Murphy, Geoffrey Levitt, Professor Kenneth Abbott, Professor Robert Friedlander, Professor Alberto Coll, Professor Jerome Reichman

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Kelsen, in his writings, took the position that in law, particularly international law, there are superior and inferior limits to the law; that is, when a norm is articulated and the society behaves in conformance with the norm, and it would do so even in the absence of the norm, the norm is not serving a legal function; it is not serving a normative function of encouraging behavior because the behavior would be in conformance with that norm in any event. There's also the inferior limit to the law; that is, a situation where a rule is articulated but the …

The Jurisprudence Of Judge Hardy Cross Dillard, Charles E.M. Kolb

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The purpose of this article is to provide a critical assessment of Judge Dillard's performance during his tenure on the International Court of Justice. Much of this article will be "jurisprudential" in scope, endeavoring to examine developments in international legal theory and international organizations during the past two decades and to assess recent decisions written by the Court. The approach will in part be an institutional one, taking into consideration the ability of an individual member of the Court to shape decisional outcomes of an international body which must resolve contentious litigation and render advisory opinions within the structure of …

The Development Of A United States Approach Toward The International Court Of Justice, Philip C. Jessup

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This article is not designed as a history of the International Court of Justice, nor as a legal analysis of the way in which the Court functions. Rather, the purpose is to describe the attitude of the United States, i.e., the Department of State, toward the actual use of the Court in a variety of situations, some of which involved important interests of the United States and others of which did not. The concentration in this article is on the jurisdiction of the Court to give advisory opinions, since it is in connection with proposals to request such opinions that …

The 1971 I.C.J. Advisory Opinion On South West Africa (Nambia), Preston Brown

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

South Africa has administered the adjoining territory of South West Africa (Namibia) for over fifty years. Initially, that administration was granted to South Africa when it was designated a mandatory by the League of Nations. Since the dissolution of the League 25 years ago, South Africa's administration of the territory and, more recently, its right to administer, have been the subject of continued and escalating controversy.

The most recent development in this confused situation is the advisory opinion that was rendered in June, 1971, by the International Court of Justice. That opinion was requested by the Security Council of the …

The Genocide Convention And The Constitution, Myres S. Mcdougal, Richard Arens

Vanderbilt Law Review

What is traditional for common crimes can scarcely be oppressive innovation for mass-murder. Even freedom of communication is not, furthermore, an absolute in democratic preference: security and human decency must likewise have their place.

It is no little irony that argument must be made in support of a convention to suppress genocide. "The spectacle," writes a contemporary journal of opinion, "of modern man explaining his right to existence is an odd one." The Genocide Convention is but one of many interrelated measures in a world-wide program to secure peace and respect for the dignity of the individual human being. Rational …