Book Reviews : Lehrbuch des Völkerrechts: Vol. II. By PAUL GUGGENHEIM. (Basel: Verlag für Recht und Gesellschaft. 1950. Pp. xxiii, 509-1044. Indexes.)

• Date: 01 September 1951
• DOI: 10.1177/106591295100400307
• Author: Josef L. Kunz
• Published date: 01 September 1951
• Subject Matter: Articles

BOOK REVIEWS
Lehrbuch des Völkerrechts: Vol. II. By PAUL GUGGENHEIM. (Basel: Verlag
für Recht und Gesellschaft. 1950. Pp. xxiii, 509-1044. Indexes.)
The first volume of Guggenheim’s treatise on international law was
reviewed in earlier issues of the Quarterly (Vol. I, No. 3, pp. 343-345;
Vol. II, No. 2, pp. 290-291 ) . The second volume brings this important
work to an end. Naturally, the approach in both volumes is the same:
Kelsen’s Pure Theory of Law as the theoretical basis; a highly realistic
and sober approach; and a selected but full use of recent literature of
national and international court decisions, and of the general practice,
particularly the Swiss.
This volume deals with the &dquo;procedural&dquo; aspects of international law:
international delinquency and its legal effects, methods of peaceful settle-
ment of international conflicts, international sanctions and attempts at
reduction of armaments, and the laws of war and neutrality.
This reviewer disagrees with the author on a number of points, and
even holds the author’s position to be untenable in law. Some of these
points of disagreement stem from the author’s orthodoxy in relation to
Kelsen. The reviewer cannot accept the author’s teachings on the legal
effects of &dquo;unconditional surrender.&dquo; Germany’s present legal position,
for example, is very different from that of all her allies, although these
allies had to surrender unconditionally, also. Neither can the reviewer
accept the author’s teaching of the natural law doctrine of bellum justum
as a norm of positive international law. The author himself ruins his
stand by teaching also the bellum justum ex utraque parte as positive
international law.
Untenable is the author’s statement that international law makes war
espionage a crime and directly applies to the individual charged with it.
Making use of spies is not unlawful under international law. International
law does not prescribe the punishment of the spy; it only authorizes a
...