The author traces the career of one of Canada’s leading international lawyers as a teacher of international law, as the founding editor and editor-in-chief of this Yearbook for thirty years, and as a scholar in the field of the international law of water resources. Bourne’s role in the development of the Helsinki Rules is recounted and hü fundamental difference with the work of the ILC over the competing principles of “equitable utilization” and “no appreciable harm” is analyzed.

The rapid globalization that marks our era has resulted in increasing demands for the legal resolution of disputes arising out of interstate activities. National courts throughout the world have been significantly affected by this development. This article describes the recent expansion of the work of the Supreme Court of Canada in relation to transnational legal issues, including issues of public and private international law, human rights, admiralty law, and issues of private law having international ramifications. It traces the Court's evolving approach to international law issues and its willingness to reformulate its principles to meet modern conditions and to foster compliance with its norms. The more cosmopolitan attitude thereby generated has worked in concert with the Court's increasing willingness to rely on comparative law techniques in assuting in the resolution of issues of a localized character.

The distinction between formal and essential validity in Anglo-Canadian choice of law regarding marriage is an illogical bifurcation that unnecessarily invalidates same-sex relationships contracted in foreign jurisdictions. The Supreme Court of Canada has recently reformulated certain rules of private international law, taking into account both the constitutional and sub-constitutional imperatives inherent in a federal setting and the need for order and fairness when co-ordinating diversity in the face of increasing globalization. Reform of the choice of law rules regarding the validity of foreign marriages should proceed accordingly with the result being that a marriage valid where celebrated is valid everywhere. No principled reason exists to deny recognition to same-sex relationships validly contracted in other jurisdictions, nor to differentiate between the rights and obligations arising from the legal status of same-sex and different-sex relationships.

The concept of “distortion” is at the heart of the legal criteria used to identify a countervailable subsidy. Legal construction of these criteria must rely on the different visions of the concept of “distortion,” which in a way are the “intentions” underlying the criteria. This article is an effort to provide the necessary links in this perspective.

The author argues that the Helms-Burton Act violates general principles of international law. The analysis begins with a brief discussion of the extraterritorial purposes, structure, and operation of the act, followed by a survey of international responses to Helms-Burton by the principal trading partners of the United States: diplomatic protest, formalized dispute settlement under international trade agreements, retaliatory blocking leghlation, and multi-hteral scrutiny in and by international institutions. The author then turns to principles of jurisdiction with a view to demonstrating that Helms-Burton does not meet the applicable thresholds to support either the private right to sue for trafficking in confiscated property under Title III of the act or the governmental exclusion of designated aliens from admission to the United States under Title IV. In this regard, substantive international law arguments in relation to extraterritoriality and nationality, remoteness, the effects doctrine, human rights, and the reasonable expectations of other nations are also considered.

Professor Cassese’s latest book is a major contribution to the study of the Law and the practice of self-determination of peoples. This work is particularly relevant for the jurist who is trying to analyze the cases of the Québécois and the Native peoples of Canada within the present debate on the evolution of the right of self-determination. Although the author’s views will not be shared by all, they will remain an indispensable reference for many years to come.

The progressive withdrawal of the state from the role of “economic agent” has had an impact upon its function of regulator. Therefore, norms production was transferred to international and national bodies favouring more non-binding normative settings (soft law) and self-regulation. This is clearly the case of the normative framework applying to technologies. As a result, the relationship between the international legal order and national legal order bears significant modifications, and fundamental rights of citizens may also be affected within democracies based on the rule of Law.

The Reformulated Gasoline case is the latest decision in a series of recent WTO/GATT disputes dealing with environment and trade issues. The author analyzes the panel’s treatment of Article XX(g) and the Appellate Body’s reasons for rejecting the panel’s interpretation of that provision and substituting its own approach. He aho examines the Appellate Body’s attempt to give new life to the preamble (or chapeau) of Article XX. The author concludes that the Appellate Body’s revised interpretation of Article XX(g) is a significant and constructive departure from previous panel interpretations, but that the Appellate Body’s analysis of the wording in the preamble creates a logically flawed and overly restrictive test that is likely to render illusory the broadened scope it had previously given to Article XX(g).

In November 1995, the execution of Nigerian writer Ken Saro-Wiwa led to Nigeria’s suspension from the Commonwealth and the possibility of its expuhion from membership. The absence of an expulsion clause for the Commonwealth led to the question whether the association has the inherent power to expel and whether any such power of expuhion is limited by international law. A review of treaties, customary international law, and commentary suggests that the Commonwealth can expel a member by use of implied power. Other factors, however, militate against Nigeria’s expuhion. Once expelled, Nigeria would be free to behave as it saw fit. Expuhion could aho divide the Commonwealth and make other members think twice about their membership obligations. The author concludes that expuhion from the Commonwealth must be a last resort.

A recent decision of the Ontario Court of Justice (Provincial Division) involving criminal charges of perjury and attempting to obstruct justice against a consular officer posted in Toronto was the occasion for a comprehensive review of the scope and application of consular immunity in Canada. Contrary to the arguments presented by the attorney general of Ontario and the evidence and opinion of the secretary of state for External Affairs, Canada, the court ruled that the consular officer was immune from the criminal jurisdiction of the Court. The Court concluded that the consular officer’s actions were performed in the exerdse of consularfunctions and that while the impugned acts occurred outside the geographical consular district, the immunity was not compromised. The authors conclude that relief through diplomatic channels, rather than criminal prosecution, is the appropriate mechanism for addressing consular misconduct.