Book Reviews : Law and Civilization. By PALMER D. EDMUNDS. (Washington, D.C.: Public Affairs Press. Pp. xiii, 528. $6.00.)
| Date | 01 December 1961 |
| Published date | 01 December 1961 |
| DOI | 10.1177/106591296101400417 |
| Author | J.A.C. Grant |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
970
Nevertheless,
there
are
differences
within
the
group
as
well
as
without,
and
there
are
even
differences
within
the
several
editions
of
the
single
work
under
review.
The
following
topics
have
been
added
or
revised
from
the
second
edition
to
the
third:
(1)
The
evolution
of
international
organization;
(2)
the
codification
of
international
law
with
special
reference
to
the
1958
Conference
on
the
Law
of
the
Sea;
(3)
an
entire
new
section
on
effectivity;
and
(4)
the
institutionaliza-
tion
of
conciliation
and
arbitration.
These
additions
and
revisions
reflect
an
increased
concern
with
multilateral-
ism,
institutionalization
and
effectivity
of
the
international
legal
order,
and
thus
point
away
from
unconditional
sovereignty.
De
Visscher’s
treatment
of
sov-
ereignty
in
international
law
in
three
recent
editions
is
thus
somewhat
comparable
to
Morgenthau’s
treatment
of
power
in
international
politics
in
his
nearly
simul-
taneous
three
editions
of
1948,
1954,
and
1960.
Morgenthau’s
concept
of
power
also
shows
a
slight
but
consistent
shift
in
the
direction
from
unilateral
assertion
to
multilateral
persuasion.
And
in
both
cases,
De
Visscher’s
and
Morgenthau’s,
it
is
only
a
slight
shift
of
emphasis,
not
an
explicit
revision
of
doctrine.
De
Visscher’s
central
theme
continues
to
be
a
counsel
of
caution:
Legal
action
should
not
lose
touch
with
political
reality.
On
the
other
hand,
he
con-
cedes
that
political
reality
may
change
in
response
to
legal
imagination.
Hence,
imagination
becomes
one
of
the
many
interdependent
factors
of
reality.
The
principle
of
ex
factis
jus
oritur
cuts
both
ways.
Law
can
influence
fact.
Even
international
law
is
not
purely
descriptive
of
state
behavior,
but
also
normative.
So
far,
few
people
would
disagree.
The
only
possible
criticism
would
be
that
it
is
a
platitudinous
position.
De
Visscher
defends
his
position
by
making
a
point
of
degree.
Law
may
be
ahead
of
fact,
but
not
far
ahead.
How
far?
The
gap
between
law
and
fact
ought
to
be
small.
How
small?
Here
lies
perhaps
the
greatest
challenge
for
the
Young
Turks
of
the
profes-
sion
in
the
computer
age.
We
must
irreverently
inquire
into
undefined
adjectives.
Terms
like
&dquo;far&dquo;
and
&dquo;small&dquo;
must
be
quantified
or
discarded
as
meaningless.
If
we
can
quantify
the
difference
between
law
and
fact
as
here
understood,
there
might
be
a
point
on
the
scale
which
De
Visscher
would
recognize
as
his
own.
It
would
be
near,
but
not
at,
the
pole
of
fact.
And,
as
the
changes
in
the
third
edition
show,
this
point
would
not
have
to
be
static.
It
would
move
in
response
to
changes
(1)
in
the
world
of
fact;
(2)
in
the
world
of
law;
and
(3)
in
the
tacit
parameters
of
interpretation
in
the
theorist’s
mind.
Claremont
Men’s
College
PETER
H.
ROHN
Law
and
Civilization.
By
PALMER
D.
EDMUNDS.
(Washington,
D.C.:
Public
Affairs
Press.
Pp.
xiii,
528.
$6.00.)
This
is
an
ambitious
book.
It
attempts
to
combine
into
a
single
volume
the
essence
of
Wigmore’s
Panorama
of
the
World’s
Legal
Systems
(1928),
the
modern
systems
of
the
iron
and
bamboo
curtain
countries,
a
summary
of
the
principles
of
Anglo-American
law,
and
the
prospects
for
a
world
government
to
enforce
international
law.
Written
by
a
professor
of
law
who
regrets
the
&dquo;disap-
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