Lehman, David

English

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Louisiana Law ReviewVolume 18 | Number 3April 1958INTERNATIONAL LAW OPINIONS. 3 Vols.Selected and Annotated by Lord McNair.Cambridge and New York: Cambridge UniversityPress, 1956. Vol. i: Peace. pp. xxvi, 380; Vol. II:Peace. pp. vii, 415; Vol. III: War and Neutrality. pp.viii, 436. Index. $35.00.David LehmanThis Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Reviews and Journals at LSU Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted forinclusion in Louisiana Law Review by an authorized editor of LSU Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact kreed25@lsu.edu.Repository CitationDavid Lehman, INTERNATIONAL LAW OPINIONS. 3 Vols. Selected and Annotated by Lord McNair. Cambridge and New York:Cambridge University Press, 1956. Vol. i: Peace. pp. xxvi, 380; Vol. II: Peace. pp. vii, 415; Vol. III: War and Neutrality. pp. viii, 436. Index.$35.00., 18 La. L. Rev. (1958)Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/lalrev/vol18/iss3/12Book ReviewsINTERNATIONAL LAW OPINIONS. 3 Vols. Selected and Annotatedby Lord McNair. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge Uni-versity Press, 1956. Vol. i: Peace. pp. xxvi, 380; Vol. II:Peace. pp. vii, 415; Vol. III: War and Neutrality. pp. viii, 436.Index. $35.00.Lord McNair in these three volumes traces the British prac-tice of international law from the Seventeenth to the earlyTwentieth Centuries through the law reports or "opinions" ofCrown legal advisors. With the exception of the subject of"Treaties" -covered in the author's Law of Treaties: BritishPractice and Opinions (1938) -the author has presented a"representative selection" of reports which cover the entire fieldof public international law. For the student of international lawthese previously unpublished reports provide valuable back-ground for such well known and controversial cases as Morten-sen v. Peters,' Regina v. Anderson,2 The Araunah,8 The Creole,4the Trent affair,5 the Alabama,6 The Charkieh7 and others. Al-though many of the reports are only of historical interest, theyrepresent in their full scope the contemporary position of GreatBritain on questions of international law.Outside of multipartite treaties, the practice of governmentsis the main source of international law. In a majority of thecases, the advice of legal officers determines the action a nationtakes on international issues. The author is careful to point out,however, that the opinions of legal advisors are not the law butexpressions of beliefs as to what the law is. As a source of thelaw, therefore, reports of this kind offer a certain objectivitywith respect to the law which, as the author states, "resemblejudgements, not the arguments of the pleader."1. VIII Sess. Cas. 93 (High Court of Justiciary, Scotland, 1906).2. L.R. 1 C.C.R. 161, 38 L.J.M.C. 12, 19 L.T. 400, 17 W.R. 208 (1868).3. Treaty of Washington, Feb. 29, 1892).4. Sen. Ex. Doc. 103, 34th Cong., 1st Sess. 242-45 (Bates, Umpire, ConventionBetween the United States and Great Britain) ; 4 MOORE, INTERNATIONAL ARBI-TRATIONS 4375; 2 MOORE, INTERNATIONAL LAW DIGEST 358 (1906) ; FENWICK,CASES 302 (1853).5. 7 MOORE, INTERNATIONAL LAW DIGEST 768, § 1265 (1906).6. The Alabama Claims, Ex. Doc. 1, 42d Cong., 3d Sess. (1871) (UnitedStates and Great Britain Claims Arbitration, 1872, 4 Papers Relating to theTreaty of Washington of 1871).7. L.R. 4 A. & E. 59 (1873) ; FENWICK, CASES 38 (1873) ; 42 L.J." Ad. 70, 29L.T. 404, 22 W.R. 63, 2 Asp. M.C. 121 (1873).[5951LOUISIANA LAW REVIEWThis collection of reports illustrates particularly well twomisconceptions of the role of legal principles in international re-lations. To those who underestimate the importance of law inthe relations between states, it points out the reliance of foreignoffices on legal principles in their day to day conduct of interna-tional affairs. This is to say that in those matters that do notconflict with the vital interest of states, which constitute thegreat bulk of the business of foreign offices, legal principles canand do determine national action. To those who overemphasizethe role of law, the author is careful to warn that the advicegiven by legal officers is not heeded on all occasions. On thoseinternational issues where law conflicts with policy, legal prin-ciples may be shaped to fit policy or disregarded altogether. Ob-jectivity in defining the law in a decentralized international or-der is difficult at best, even for the dispassionate British legalofficer.Lord McNair has provided in this work an invaluable addi-tion to the printed sources of international law.David Lehman*SELECTED WRITINGS ON EVIDENCE AND TRIAL, by Association ofAmerican Law Schools (William T. Fryer, ed.). West Pub-lishing Co., St. Paul, 1957. Pp. 1232. $10.00.This work is a valuable addition to the series of readings inselected areas of the law which have been sponsored by the Asso-ciation of American Law Schools through the years.The busy trial lawyer, appellate counsel, judge, student andlaw professor, will find this work a convenient source book fortrial admissibility questions, and in the preparation of briefs oncritical evidentiary issues. It is no overstatement to say itsvalue to the practitioner will be unique.The objectives of the publication are manifold. Some of themhave been succinctly noted by Dean Mason Ladd:"'For the benefit of the legal profession, as well as toassist law students and teachers to make better use of peri-odical references, the Association of American Law Schoolsis making available Selected Writings on the Law of Evidence*Instructor in Government, Valparaiso University; Research Assistant at theCenter for the Study of American Foreign Policy, The University of Chicago.[Vol. XVIII

INTERNATIONAL LAW OPINIONS. 3 Vols. Selected and Annotated by Lord McNair. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1956. Vol. i: Peace. pp. xxvi, 380; Vol. II: Peace. pp. vii, 415; Vol. III: War and Neutrality. pp. viii, 436. Index. $35.00.

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INTERNATIONAL LAW OPINIONS. 3 Vols. Selected and Annotated by Lord McNair. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1956. Vol. i: Peace. pp. xxvi, 380; Vol. II: Peace. pp. vii, 415; Vol. III: War and Neutrality. pp. viii, 436. Index. $35.00.

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