There has never been a Scottish school of international law. The concept of a “school” might, of course, be accorded a number of different meanings, but in any official sense the Scottish nation was never in a position to adopt a distinctive approach to international law. The union of the Scottish and English crowns (1603) and legislatures (1707) curtailed the opportunity for Scottish customs to be put forward as the evidence of national state practice. Moreover, it is difficult to show a critical mass of Scottish contributions to the subject, sufficient to form the basis for a national school of international legal theory. Indeed, in the 300 years up to World War I Scotland produced only a handful of significant contributions to the literature of international law: pre-eminently, William Welwood (1578-1622), William Scott (1674-1725), Sir James Mackintosh (1765-1832), James Reddie (1773-1852), James Lorimer (1818-90) , Viscount Finlay of Nairn (1842-1929) , Arthur Berriedale Keith (1879-1944), and Thomas W. Fulton ( 1855-1929).

Les droits de la personne, quelle que soit la forme dans laquelle ils trouvent expression, sont parmi les questions les plus difficiles à traiter. Il importe d’abord de leur donner un sens, en les définissant, et déjà certains d'entre eux, comme le droit à la vie privée, représentent, sous un concept parfois simple, des valeurs multiples et variables d'une groupe social à un autre. Dans d’autres cas, comme dans celui du droit à la vie, les droits expriment une valeur universelle et fondamentale, mais à l’égard desquels les civilisations ont souvent été incapables de donner leur pleine signification.

Since Mr. Carter became President of the United States, there bas been a revival in the use of human rights as a weapon in international politics. More and more western countries have stated that they are contemplating measuring the aid they give to members of the developing world in proportion to the extent to which the latter conform to basic humanitarian standards or improve their own record in relation to observance of human rights. In addition, there have been calls for the cancellation of visits by politicians, academics, and artistic performers; for non-participation in international athletic contests — a western adaptation of the African ban of the Montreal Olympic Games because of New Zealand’s participation while the latter’s athletes were not barred from competing in South Africa; for non-participation in technical and scientific conferences; and for the breaking of town-twinning arrangements. This attitude has been fed somewhat by reason of the activities of “Helsinki watchers,” who contend that this or that country, and particularly the Soviet Union, is not living up to its human rights obligations as embodied in the Helsinki Agreement.

Entre le 2 décembre 1975 et le 28 avril 1978, à la suite d’un défilé de négociations sans précédent dans le domaine des pêches internationales, dix accords bilatéraux ont été signés par le Canada avec les pays pratiquant la pêche dans les eaux canadiennes. Ces accords concrétisent sur le plan bilatéral le consensus qui s’est dégagé à la Troisième Conférence des Nations-Unies sur le droit de la mer au sujet des droits de pêche dans la zone économique exclusive. Au moment de la rédaction de ces lignes, ces accords sont les seuls à être greffés à ce consensus, un accord avec les Etats-Unis ayant été dénoncé par le Canada; un accord avec la Communauté économique européenne est en cours de négociation: un projet d’accord comportant certains éléments de réciprocité pour les eaux des pays de la CEE dans l’Atlantique nord-ouest a été soumis aux gouvernements pour leur approbation.

As international relations grow in their scope and intensity, it is not surprising to find the traditional modes of diplomatie intercourse, centred around the permanent mission, giving way in many spheres to new forms of contact among nations that are more adapted to the exigencies of modem statecraft. Rapid communications and transportation have rendered superfluous or obsolete many of the functions which historically have been the preserve of the sedentary diplomat. Summit meetings, high level talks, and “shuttle diplomacy” provide a more direct and immediate means of communication which is resorted to with increasing frequency in a time when the world seems confronted with a rapid succession of crises. Moreover, the permanent mission, which evolved at a time when diplomacy was concerned primarily with the maintenance of political representation in foreign capitals, is not always well suited as an agency for participation in international conferences and congresses or negotiations on highly technical or scientific questions. These are matters which in recent years have become of increasing importance in the conduct of international relations.

The canadian provinces, the länder of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Swiss cantons, and the states of the United States of America have all concluded numerous agreements with foreign entities. Although great attention has been paid to their capacity to do so, not much attention has been paid to the legal status of these agreements. In particular, authors have tended to ignore their binding character and the law applicable to them. These issues will, therefore, now be considered.

For anyone who is interested in the methodology of choice of law, no field is more rewarding than that of contracts. As domestic laws of contracts develop a progressively more intricate relationship between the principles of social regulation and private autonomy, private international law is led to develop choice of law techniques that will keep an appropriate balance between these principles in interjurisdictional cases. Choice of law rules that underemphasize the interests of the parties, and rely instead on the regulatory concerns of states that are affected by the transaction, may place too many obstacles in the way of persons who should be left to arrange their transaction in the way they think best. At the same time, choice of law rules that give too much weight to the parties’ wishes may interfere unduly with a state’s ability to regulate a transtaction with which it has a legitimate concern. In this respect, balance is more difficult to achieve in contracts than it is elsewhere.

The international joint commission bas historically possessed the characteristics of an international organization; by reason of the capacities that it exercises, it has a certain measure of international personality; and, consequently, on the municipal plane, it has the capacity to be sued. It is therefore necessary, on the principle of effectiveness, that the Commission and its employees be immune from suit. In the United States, the Commission and its employees were granted immunities in 1948. In Canada, the Commission alone was granted immunities in 1976. It will be argued here that immunities should now also be granted to all commissioners, staff, and experts in Canada, in view of the standing of the Commission as an international organization possessing international personality, with consequences for municipal law.

Lorsque le 6 juillet 1976 le Canada et les Communautés européennes signaient un accord-cadre de coopération commerciale et économique, le fait passait pratiquement inaperçu dans les annales juridiques canadiennes. Pourtant, cet instrument — en apparence anodin — représente un élément significatif dans le développement progressif du droit des relations extérieures de la CEE et sa mise en oeuvre au Canada pourrait bien ouvrir de nouvelles voies de coopération non seulement avec l’Europe mais également entre les gouvernements de la fédération. Après avoir rappelé les fondements du droit communautaire en matière de relations extérieures, en particulier ce qui a trait au “treaty-making power,” nous analyserons les dispositions de l’accord pour ensuite en dégager la portée juridique tant au plan communautaire qu’au plan canadien, l’accent étant mis sur l’obligation de consulter dans le cadre du Comité mixte (créé en vertu de l’Article 4).

The Hague Conference of 1899 was the first to address the need for a permanent body for the settlement of differences between states. The ensuing Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes entered into force in 1900. At the second Hague Conference in 1907 the provisions of the 1899 Convention were expanded in a new convention of the same title which entered into force in 1910. These conventions established the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which in reality is neither “permanent” nor a “court” but rather a panel of persons, up to four being named by each participating state, from which arbitrators can be selected.

Le comite juridique interaméricain (CJI) de l’Organisation des Etats américains a tenu son 5ième Séminaire de Droit international à Rio de Janeiro entre les 6 août et 1er septembre 1978. Le CJI a justement son siège à Rio.

Le CJI admet deux catégories de participants à son Séminaire annuel: des boursiers, dont la candidature doit être soumise à l’OEA par les gouvernements des états-membres, et des auditeurs libres, admis par le Directeur du cours sur demande formulée auprès du Secrétariat général de l’OEA à Washington. Il n’y a pas de frais d’inscription. Pour la session de 1978, 27 bourses avaient été accordées, à des représentants de 19 pays de l’hémisphère. De plus, 17 auditeurs en provenance de 5 pays (dont le Canada) avaient reçu autorisation de participer.

The Philip G. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition is now well established as an annual event on the calendar of Canadian legal education. It may seem trite, therefore, to assert that the competition is a worthy pursuit for law students, that it should be preserved, and that a greater number of law schools should be encouraged to participate in it. The Jessup has great potential both as a teaching tool and as a basis for meaningful interaction among students from across the country and an attempt should be made to realize this potential. In this note, some suggestions are made for doing so.

To the impressive list of Italian periodicals on international law led by the prestigious Rivista di Diritto Internazionale there has now been added The Italian Yearbook of International Law, published exclusively in English. Italian scholars have made a very significant contribution to doctrinal developments in international law; however, some of their work has gone unnoticed because Italian is not among the languages in widespread use in international law circles. In addition, Italian scholarship has suffered somewhat from what some consider to be an overly theoretical or abstract approach to the subject matter. While it is always a noteworthy occasion to welcome a new member into the family of international law yearbooks, the advent of the Italian yearbook is particularly noteworthy, contributing as it does to the accessibility of a broad range of material and learned comment. It is appropriate, therefore, that the first issues of The Italian Yearbook of International Law receive extended comment in the pages of this Yearbook.