The chief preoccupation with regard to the WorldCourt during the year 1946 was the reorganization required by the modifications introduced into its Statute in 1945.1 This involved chiefly the dissolution of the Permanent Court as it was constituted under the Statute of 1920, the election, of Judges to constitute the International Court of Justice, the organization of the newly-elected bench and the reestablishment of the Registry, and the adaptation ofthe Rules of Court to take account of the changes in the text of the Statute. Various administrative measures were adopted by the United Nations, in consequence of its replacing the League of Nations as the body responsible for the maintenance of the Court, and some progress was made during the year in extending the Court's jurisdiction. No contentious proceeding was instituted during 1946,2 no advisory opinion was requested, and hence no entry wasmade in the list of cases before the Court.

Retribution for the shocking crimes and atrocities committed by the enemy during World War II was made imperative by the overwhelming demands emanating from the public conscience throughout the civilized world. Statesmen and jurists realized that another failure to vindicate the law such as followed World War I would prove their incapacity to make progress in strengthening the international law of the future.1

On the afternoon of October 1, 1946, the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg sentenced twelve of the twenty-two Nazi defendants to death by hanging and seven to imprisonment for terms ranging from ten years to life. Three were acquitted. Three of the six accused organizations were found to be criminal. The reading of these sentences was preceded by the reading, through the whole of September 30, of the general opinion of the Tribunal on the four counts of the indictment and, on the morning of October 1, of the opinion on the charges against each defendant.1 The Control Council for Germany considered applications for clemency for most of those convicted but did not grant them and carried out the executions of those sentenced to death on October16 with the exception of Martin Bormann who had not been found and Hermann Goering who had succeeded in committing suicide a few hours earlier. Thus came to an end what President Truman described as “ the first international criminal assize in history.” “ I have no hesitancy in declaring,” continued the President, “ that the historic precedent set at Nuremberg abundantly justifies the expenditure of effort, prodigious though it was. This precedent becomes basic in the international law of the future. The principles established and the results achieved place International Law on the side of peace as against aggressive warfare.” 2

The Foreign Service of the United States has entered a new era in its development which is as significant as was the period following the Rogers Act of 1924. The signing of the Foreign Service Act of 1946 on August 13 of last year marked the culmination of a series of steps taken during World War II to enable the American Foreign Service to discharge more effectively its increasing responsibilities. Tremendous demands have been placed on the Foreign Service since 1939 as a result of the War and the decision of the United States to assume a leading role in world affairs and the preservation of international peace. Having turned its back on the relative isolation of the 1920's and early 1930's, the United States discovered that a Foreign Service which was adequate to carry out the policies of twenty years ago was far from adequate to carry out the policies of today.