Book Reviews and Notices : These Rights and Freedoms. By DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INFORMATION, UNITED NATIONS. (New York: United Nations Publications, Columbia University Press, Distribution Agent. 1950. Pp. iii, 214. $1.50.)

• DOI: 10.1177/106591295100400120
• Date: 01 March 1951
• Published date: 01 March 1951
• Author: J. William Robinson
• Subject Matter: Articles

137

V61kerrecht.

By

ALFRED

VERDROSS.

(Wien:

Springer

Verlag.

1950.

Second

Edition.

Pp.

xviii,

508.

$9.30.)

The

treatise

by

Dr.

Verdross

contains

in

one

volume

the

international

law

in

peace

and

in

war.

It

is

clear,

therefore,

that

the

book

cannot

claim

to

be

exhaustive.

The

author

is

more

interested

in

the

theory

than

in

the

practical

details

of

law.

The

present

book

is,

consequently,

more

a

scholarly

and

philosophical

introduction

to

the

field

of

public

international

law

than

a

handbook,

although

it

contains

large

amounts

of

detailed

positive

knowl-

edge.

The

book

is

written

with

great

insight

and

profound

learning,

and

shows

throughout

a

keen

understanding

of

the

realities

of

the

international

community

and

a

great

pedagogical

talent.

Dr.

Verdross

is

not

a

strict

positivist,

but

builds

his

theory

of

law

on

the

ethical

basis

of

the

necessities

of

peaceful

cooperation

between

states

founded

on

good

faith.

This

ethical

basis

may

be

defined

as

a

tempered

restatement

of

his

previous

natural

law

tendencies.

A

good

example

of

his

approach

is

given

by

his

treatment

of

treaty-making

powers,

on

pages

125-128.

The

second

edition

is

so

much

changed

and

enlarged

that

it is

fair

to

treat

it

as

a

new

book.

One

may

say,

however,

that

it

has

been

im-

proved

by

the

deletion

of

some

of

the

more

politically-tainted

statements

of

the

first

edition.

The

book

is

written

in

the

best

traditions

of

Germanic

scholarship

and,

for

that

reason,

may

seem

somewhat

heavy

to

American

readers,

accustomed

to

an

easier

style,

a

more

pragmatic

approach,

and

emphasis

on

cases

rather

than

on

doctrine.

As

an

introduction

to

Continental

legal

theories,

it is

excellent.

International

Court

of

Justice,

The

Hague.

EDVARD

HAMBRO.

These

Rights

and

Freedoms.

By

DEPARTMENT

OF

PUBLIC

INFORMATION,

UNITED

NATIONS.

(New

York:

United

Nations

Publications,

Columbia

University

Press,

Distribution

Agent.

1950.

Pp.

iii,

214.

$1.50.)

This

volume

is

a

fair

example

of

the

well-compiled

and

worth-while

publications

produced

by

the

Department

of

Public

Information

of

the

United

Nations

(Secretariat).

The

book

is

a

progress

report

of

the

United

Nations’

activities

designed

or

tending

to

promote

respect

for

human

rights

and

fundamental

freedoms.

The

period

covered

is

the

first

four

years

of

the

United

Nations.

Also

dealt

with

are

goals

for

the

future

and

programs

designed

for

their

achievement.

Annexes

include

several

perti-

nent

texts

and

declarations

in

these

connections,

and

there

is

a

valuable

bibliography

of

principal

documents.