An International Peace Court : Design for a Move from State Crime Toward World Law

The classical concept ofInternationalLa w, as developed by Gentilis, Gro­ tius and their successors, accepted as its starting point the sovereignty of states, from which it followed that (r) the rules of International Law were based upon the general consent of those states; and (2) that, since state sovereignty was not capable of limitation, otherwise than by the consent of the state itself, in the last resort, International Law must accept the fact of war. Two world wars within the space of thirty years, and the development of nuclear weapons of unlimited potential, have compelled statesmen and lawyers to take a fresh look at the foundations of international relations. The First World War was followed by the creation of the League of Nations, and by the establish­ ment of the Permanent Court of International Justice. The failure of both, insofar as the preservation of peace was concerned, was apparent in the continuance of international insecurity, culminating in World War II. This again was followed by the establishment of a new inter­ national organisation, the United Nations, with its auxiliary, the International Court of Justice. Nevertheless, international security seems further away than ever, and it may be suggested that it is the devastating potential of nuclear weapons, rather than the strength of international machinery, which has so far prevented a third general conflict far more disastrous than either of the two World Wars which have already taken place. "In this book, Professor Holton rightly ascribes the continuing international insecurity primarily to the attachment of the major powers to their distinctive, and at times, conflicting policies. Any international organisation which is based upon these differences contains in itself an inherent contradiction which cannot be resolved. Further, all lesser states develop a progressive feeling of frustration, on account of their inability to change, or even to modify appreciably, these basic attitudes of the super-powers. Coincidentally, the actions of the super-powers themselves in the Security Council of the United Nations often fail to produce any positive result towards the preservation of peace, for lack of the unanimity necessary before a Security Council resolution on a question of substance can become operative. One important difference between the United Nations and its predecessor, the League of Nations, is that in the United Nations the power-gap between the great powers and the rest is so very much larger. It is the particular merit of Professor Holton's book that he offers a way out by a proposal which, at one and the same time, meets the old criticism that the enforcement of a compulsory international jurisdiction would lead to wars, rather than to their avoidance; which also meets, to a considerable extent, the criticism, that international affairs, especially in the area of potential conflicts, are the province of the statesman, and not of the lawyer or judge; and which, finally, will do something to modify the feeling of frustration which nationals of small states feel, in watching from the side-lines, the conflicting policies of major powers."--Publisher's website Front Matter....Pages I-XV The Relevance of Law....Pages 1-6 International Violence: The Total Challenge and the Partial Response....Pages 7-13 Mission: A Move Toward Law....Pages 14-18 Medium: An International Peace Court....Pages 19-27 The Court in Design....Pages 28-38 The Court in Action....Pages 39-61 The Court in Impact....Pages 62-74 New Premises for a Legal Breakthrough....Pages 75-83 Making the Move....Pages 84-90 Toward World Law....Pages 91-96 Epilogue....Pages 97-97 Back Matter....Pages 98-112