The Authority of Vattel

1913 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 395-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles G. Fenwick
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
The Political ◽  
Law Of Nations ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Law ◽  
History Of International Law ◽  
Political Philosopher

There is no more significant commentary on the growth of international law, both in precision and in comprehensiveness, than an estimate of the relative authority of the name of Vattel in the world of international relations a century ago and in that of today. A century ago not even the name of Grotius himself was more potent in its influence upon questions relating to international law than that of Vattel. Vattel's treatise on the law of nations was quoted by judicial tribunals, in speeches before legislative assemblies, and in the decrees and correspondence of executive officials. It was the manual of the student, the reference work of the statesman, and the text from which the political philosopher drew inspiration. Publicists considered it sufficient to cite the authority of Vattel to justify and give conclusiveness and force to statements as to the proper conduct of a state in its international relations.At the present day the name and treatise of Vattel have both passed into the remoter field of the history of international law. It is safe to say that in no modern controversy over the existence and force of an alleged rule of international law would publicists seek to strengthen the position taken by them by quoting the authority of Vattel. As an exposition of the law of nations at a given period of its growth, the work can, it is true, lose nothing of its value, but in saying that it has thus won its place irrevocably among the classics of international law, we are merely repeating that it has lost its value as a treatise on the law of the present day.

The Use of Vattel in the American Law of Nations

2012 ◽  
Vol 106 (3) ◽  
pp. 547-571 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Richardson
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Peace ◽  
Founding Fathers ◽  
Law Of Nations ◽  
American Law ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Law ◽  
History Of International Law

Although careful scholarly treatment of the history of international law is now thriving, within U.S. courts that history now begins with one eighteenth-century treatise published in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, in 1758 and published in translation for modern readers under the aegis of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in 1916. This treatise is Emer de Vattel’s Droit des gens ou principes de la loi naturelle, appliqués à la conduite et aux affaires des nations et des souverains. My aim in this article is to appraise the elevation of Vattel to vaunted originalist heights in U.S. law. The claim that Vattel’s theory of the law of nations completely represents how the Founding Fathers (Founders) understood the law of nations should be rejected as a matter of history.

Stages of the formation of treaty law in the history of international law

2021 ◽  
pp. 90-95
Author(s):  
Marina Okladnaya ◽  
Anastasia Pererodova
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Main Body ◽  
International Treaties ◽  
International Treaty ◽  
Treaty Law ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Law ◽  
History Of International Law ◽  
Historical Periods

Problem setting. An international treaty is an agreement between two or more subjects of international relations concerning the establishment, modification or termination of mutual rights and obligations. In modern time an international treaty is the universal and primary source of international law and, at the same time, the law of treaties as a branch of international law occupies a central place in this system. The role of the treaty is constantly increasing, so it is important to study how treaty law was formed in order to understand how it has changed over history, and what factors have influenced the formation of the main branch of international law. Analysis of recent researches and publications. The law of international treaties causes increased attention of lawyers to the study, research and analysis of its main aspects. Among the domestic and foreign scholars who have made a significant contribution to the study of the law of treaties can be distinguished such as V. Butkevich, Y. Brownlie, A. Talalaev, O. Merezhko, O. Nazarenko, F. Martens, V. Shurshalov, I. Lukashuk, O. Zadorozhniy and others. Target of research. Study of international treaty at different stages of formation of international law, analysis and comparison of forms, content, functions and significance of the treaty in different historical periods. Article’s main body. The article is devoted to the development and formation of the basic branch of international law – treaty law. It studies the stages of formation of the institute of treaty law during different periods of history, identifies the features of the treaty at each stage of formation. Conclusions and prospects for the development. The agreement is an important and necessary instrument of interaction and communication between people, it establishes ties between peoples and states, helps to resolve conflicts, that is why the signing of treaties is a significant mechanism for the regulation of human relations since ancient times. In this article we have traced how different historical periods influenced the formation of international treaty law, which events were of key importance for the development of international law in general. Throughout the history of international law, the treaty has undergone a number of transformations of its forms, types and procedures of conclusion. The treaty form of consolidation of international relations is the basis of stability and efficiency of the legal order in international law. At the present time, the law of international treaties is a self-sufficient, developed branch and system of international law. It is the key branch of international law with its institutions, low basic principles, and continues to develop rapidly and irreversibly.

Some Problems in the History of the Law of Nations in Asia (1963)

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. H. Alexandrowicz
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
State Sovereignty ◽  
Law Of Nations ◽  
The Family ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Law

This chapter considers problems in the study of the history of the law of nations in Asia. It argues that international lawyers have focused their attention on the legal aspects of contemporary problems of international relations and politics, and on the operation of tribunals and quasi-tribunals and the case law they produce. Writers of present day treatises of international law devote just a few introductory pages to the history of the subject and these short chapters are often based on similar introductions in nineteenth-century treatises. The chapter discusses some of the elements of legal change in which European–Asian relations played a significant role; the gradual elimination of the natural law outlook by growing European positivism; the principle of universality of the law of nations and the principle of identity of de facto and de jure State sovereignty; and the use of capitulations to delay the ‘entry’ of Asian States into the family of nations.

The Law of Nations in Global History

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. H. Alexandrowicz
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Global History ◽  
Law Of Nations ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Law ◽  
History Of International Law ◽  
Regional Histories ◽  
International Rule

In recent years there has been a growing awareness of the need to write a global history of law of nations that disengages from parochial national and regional histories. It is hoped that these developments will bring centre-stage the work of Charles Henry Alexandrowicz (1902–75), a scholar who was among the first to conceptualize the history of international law as that of intersecting histories of different regions of the world. Alexandrowicz was aware that, while the idea of writing a global history of law of nations is liberating, there is no guarantee that it will not become the handmaiden of contemporary and future imperial projects. What were needed were critical global histories that provincialize established Eurocentric historiographies and read them alongside other regional histories. This book aims to make Alexandrowicz’s writings more widely available and read. The Introduction to this book sums up the context, issues, problems, and questions that engaged Alexandrowicz, as well as some of his central theses. His writings are a gold mine waiting to be explored. Alexandrowicz contributed to the effort of promoting the idea of international rule of law by rejecting a Eurocentric history and theory of international law.

Albericus Gentilis

1911 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 665-679 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Willing Balch
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
State Law ◽  
Imperial Rome ◽  
Law Of Nations ◽  
The World ◽  
Pax Romana ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Law ◽  
Inter State

Modern international law is generally regarded as beginning with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. But it is necessary to go much further back in the history of the world for the beginnings of the law governing the intercourse of nations. The Greek states had a rudimentary inter-state law that regulated their relations. Thus they practiced arbitration in a way among themselves: they recognized the sanctity of the person of heralds, and they followed other recognized customs in their dealings one with another. When Rome and Carthage and other nations were struggling for the mastery of the world, the beginnings of a law of nations were recognized and practiced between them. Upon, however, practically all the known world coming under the sway of imperial Rome, all possibility as well as need of a law of nations was wanting, and as a result the faltering beginnings of an international law as recognized among the Greek states and then by the Powers surrounding the Mediterranean, were extinguished by the extension of the Pax Romana to all the known world.

A Short History of International Law

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen C Neff
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Natural Law ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
Ancient World ◽  
Classical Period ◽  
Law Of Nations ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Law ◽  
History Of International Law

This chapter presents a brief history of international law. It proceeds chronologically, beginning with an overview of the ancient world, followed by a more detailed discussion of the great era of natural law in the European Middle Ages. The classical period (1600–1815) witnessed the emergence of a dualistic view of international law, with the law of nature and the law of nations co-existing (more or less amicably). In the nineteenth century—the least-known part of international law—doctrinaire positivism was the prevailing viewpoint, though not the exclusive one. For the inter-war years, developments both inside and outside the League of Nations are considered. The chapter concludes with some historically oriented comments on international law during the post-1945 period.

The New Terrain of International Law

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen J. Alter
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
The Political ◽  
International Courts ◽  
Constitutional Review ◽  
Delegation Of Authority ◽  
The World ◽  
The Law

In 1989, when the Cold War ended, there were six permanent international courts. Today there are more than two dozen that have collectively issued over thirty-seven thousand binding legal rulings. This book charts the developments and trends in the creation and role of international courts, and explains how the delegation of authority to international judicial institutions influences global and domestic politics. The book presents an in-depth look at the scope and powers of international courts operating around the world. Focusing on dispute resolution, enforcement, administrative review, and constitutional review, the book argues that international courts alter politics by providing legal, symbolic, and leverage resources that shift the political balance in favor of domestic and international actors who prefer policies more consistent with international law objectives. International courts name violations of the law and perhaps specify remedies. The book explains how this limited power—the power to speak the law—translates into political influence, and it considers eighteen case studies, showing how international courts change state behavior. The case studies, spanning issue areas and regions of the world, collectively elucidate the political factors that often intervene to limit whether or not international courts are invoked and whether international judges dare to demand significant changes in state practices.

Hobbes among the Classic Jurists

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Boucher
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
The State ◽  
Law Of Nature ◽  
Law Of Nations ◽  
Complete Identification ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Hedley Bull ◽  
Hans Morgenthau

The classic foundational status that Hobbes has been afforded by contemporary international relations theorists is largely the work of Hans Morgenthau, Martin Wight, and Hedley Bull. They were not unaware that they were to some extent creating a convenient fiction, an emblematic realist, a shorthand for all of the features encapsulated in the term. The detachment of international law from the law of nature by nineteenth-century positivists opened Hobbes up, even among international jurists, to be portrayed as almost exclusively a mechanistic theorist of absolute state sovereignty. If we are to endow him with a foundational place at all it is not because he was an uncompromising realist equating might with right, on the analogy of the state of nature, but instead to his complete identification of natural law with the law of nations. It was simply a matter of subject that distinguished them, the individual and the state.

An issue of legal personality of Kyivan Rus’ in Ukraininan law science

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Okladnaya ◽  
Vadym Ptytsia
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
General Position ◽  
The State ◽  
Main Body ◽  
Complex Issue ◽  
Legal Personality ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of International Law ◽  
Problem Setting

Problem setting. Legal personality of Kyivan Rus’ is very complex issue, which contains elements such as contract law, law of war, ambassadorial law, general position of the state in the international relations sphere. The condition of Kyivan Rus’ in medieval history can be determined only after analyzing researches of well-known scientists, who had different opinions on this subject. In spite of the fact that a lot of researches were made on this topic, there is no clear and unambiguous answer to the question: “was Kyivan Rus’ independent and equal subject of international law?” In our opinion, this topic is actual even nowadays, because without an analysis of the issue it is impossible to form a modern understanding of Ukrainian statehood and its features in different periods. Analysis of recent researches and publications. Valuable contribution to the research of Kyivan Rus’ position in international relations sphere were made by lots of scientists in areas of Ukrainian history and history of international law such as O. Zadoroznyi, P. Tolochko, O. Butkevich, A. Dmitriev, Y. Dmitriev, M. Kotlyar, V. Pashuto, D. Feldman, V. Butkevich, I. Shekera, O. Pavlenko etc. Target of research is to analyze and compare opinions of different authors on the issue of determining Kyivan Rus’ as legal entity of international law. To achieve this target these tasks have to be solved: to research and analyze modern scientists’ studies about the position of Kyivan Rus’ in international law sphere in medieval period; to compare scientists’ views on legal personality of the state and come to a certain conclusion on this issue. Article’s main body. In this article author analyzes different periods of Kyivan Rus’ existence, general position of the state in international relations sphere and opinions of different scientists on this subject. Also, the article provides a comparison of scientists’ views on the topic of legal personality of international law of Kyivan Rus’. Conclusions. Kyivan state in different periods of its existence was in various international legal positions. Despite of the fact, that features of international law of Kyivan Rus’ is a topic for controversy, Ukrainian and foreign scientists came to the conclusion that Rus’ was full-fledged subject of international law and after its collapse it revived in the Principality of Galicia-Volhynia, Zaporozhian Sich and the Cossack Hetmanate, Ukrainian People’s Republic, UkSSR (as independent UN member) and modern independent Ukraine.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document