Originally it was suggested that I write about ‘rusty’ treaties – by which was meant ‘old’ treaties that have not been terminated – and their continued relevance in view of the principle of rebus sic stantibus, now enshrined in Article 62 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969. I did not relish that. There would be problems of definition: when can a treaty be said to be ‘old’? Also, I remain sceptical about the usefulness of the fundamental change principle, being of the view that it is of little real importance. Although invoked many times, so far no international tribunal has applied it. The editors therefore kindly agreed that I could instead write about treaties of a universal character, in that they are open to universal participation, but which are ‘limping’.

The speaker expresses his indebtedness to the T.M.C. Asser Institute for the opportunity afforded for his return to The Hague, which he considers to be the natural habitat of many an international lawyer. The Hague has long been and still remains the centre for international adjudication, arbitration and other activities in the field of pacific settlement of disputes. The speaker is particularly gratified to be back at the birth place of the illustrious Hugo de Groot, whose four hundredth birthday anniversary is soon to be celebrated, not only in The Netherlands, but also the world over. Many great names have indeed followed that of Grotius. To name but one further, Cornelius van Bijnkershoek ranks among the celebrated classics of international law.

Existing literature on the developing countries' experience with the WTO dispute settlement system (DSS) has paid scant attention to the participation issue of the least developed countries (LDCs), which currently form one-fifth of the WTO membership but constitute less than one per cent of participation in DSS. This article fills this gap by examining several dimensions of LDCs' participation. Upholding the significance of LDCs' participation it explores the challenges faced by LDCs at the pre-litigation, litigation and implementation stage emanating from power asymmetries, resource constraints and flawed DSS remedies. The article particularly looks into the nature of LDCs' participation, which is mostly in the category of third parties. In doing so, it evaluates the third-party participation of Benin and Chad in US – Upland Cotton to ascertain whether third-party participation could be an alternative for LDCs to participate as co-complainants. It analyzes the special and differential treatment provisions of the DSU to further scrutinize whether these provisions and the way they are interpreted and applied in the WTO Panel Reports and the Appellate Body Reports are facilitative for LDCs' participation. Finally, the article makes recommendations to address the challenges on the part of LDCs and to reform DSS so as to make it effective for LDCs' participation.

In this contribution attention is paid to the development of private international law in the Netherlands. The establishment of the Hague Conference on Private International law in 1893 is taken as a starting point. The development of the Conference is roughly sketched. In 1910 the Netherlands Society of International Law was founded, the first national branch of the ILA. An overview is given of the Society's preliminary reports dealing with matters of private international law. The codification of PIL was the subject of the Society's annual meeting in 1990, where the importance of a step-by-step codification was emphasized. The development towards codification is discussed. Codification had already started in 1981 and would come to an end in 2009 with the introduction of the bill on Book 10 of the Dutch Civil Code. It may be expected that the bill will be adopted by Parliament in 2011. Attention is paid to this bill, which introduces the further codification and consolidation of the existing statutes on PIL and recombines them in Book 10 of the Civil Code.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and the pending International Criminal Court (ICC), have or will have competence to exercise their jurisdiction over individuals responsible for having committed crimes enumerated in the Statutes of the courts. From the viewpoint of the application of international law, this means that these Statutes can be applied directly to individuals without any intermediate provisions of domestic law. A person who commits crimes within the jurisdiction of the international criminal courts must account for those acts irrespective of whether the domestic law of his country or locus delicti so stipulates. Nor is it relevant to ask if the Statutes of these courts have domestic effect or are domestically enforceable whether by way of automatic incorporation or the adoption of implementing legislation.

The recent events in East Timor and Kosovo have demonstrated clearly that human brutality and wanton behaviour are not elements which are exclusive to the African continent, but rather they are manifestations of the human condition. However, it is fair to say that Africa has had more than its fair share. In particular, the African continent has recently had states which have experienced anarchy to levels where the state has either collapsed completely or has become dysfunctional.

After the UN General Assembly had, on 14 December 1960, officially rung out the colonial era by adopting the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (Resolution 1514 (XV)) with a convincing majority (89 to 0 with 9 abstentions), the new States of the third world rapidly succeeded in pitting their numerical superiority in the General Assembly against the political and economic power of the industrialised world. This made it possible for the UN system – which dates back to 1945 and the structure of which the new States had not, or had hardly, been able to influence – to be adjusted to their specific needs, particularly in the vital fields of trade and industry. Thus, they contributed by their majority in the UN Assembly to the setting up in 1964 of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and in 1966 of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) as organs of the General Assembly.

The Board of Editors of this review has asked us to write an essay on the recent developments in the relationship between the legislature and the judiciary in the Netherlands. We have gladly accepted this invitation because an analysis of these developments enables us to outline one of the most fundamental trends in the Dutch legal system during the last few years. We believe that this outline may be of interest to Dutch and foreign readers alike.

The great attraction of comparative law — whatever this term actually means — undoubtedly to some extent for legal scholars consists in the boundless freedom it offers. As shown in the many publications which have appeared since the 1900 Paris Congress, the most grandiose ideas have been developed, even when there is actually very little chance that they will ever be materialized and really only have a place in books of tall stories. Unattainable wishes have been expressed which are intimidating and discouraging. Views have been put forward with no other purpose than to create rather doubtful problem areas for future contemplation. Perfect methods of comparison have been recommended without any attempt at providing any illustrations of their application, while from the other side, views can even be heard which openly question whether comparative law even exists.

Of all the four Conventions the second Convention conforms most nearly with existing customary law and its contents are, at the same time, the most varied of them all. They comprise, in fact, all the traditional solutions to the various problems to which the regime of the high seas has, through the centuries, given rise. They almost form an extract from the many textbooks of public international law dealing with the high seas and there is hardly an element of surprise or novelty in them.

Le 28 septembre 1955 la Commission Permanente de Conciliation franco-suisse s'est réunie au Palais de la Paix. Elle a été convoquée pour examiner deux différends qui se sont élevés entre la Confédération suisse d'une part et la République française de l'autre, et pour s'efforcer de concilier les Parties.

The case study that follows appears to demonstrate the commonly-noted features of international law: a decentralized and imperfect legal system, one lacking real functional and jural equivalents to the institutions found in domestic law, and one with the dédoublement fonctionnel problem. Illustrated another way, the problem is that during major disputes or crises political considerations tend to be primary while legal ones are secondary. This appears to have been particularly true in the relations between the superpowers during the cold War.

According to the doctrine of optional choice of law, civil courts ignore the foreign elements of a multistate case and apply their own substantive law, if neither of the parties has asserted that foreign law is applicable. The courts do not apply the choice of law rules of their own motion. The principal argument normally raised in favour of this doctrine is that it would serve the quality of the adjudication. The application of foreign law is a difficult task since, usually, the courts (and the local lawyers) lack the necessary expertise in applying another country's laws. Under an optional choice of law the problematic application of foreign law can be omitted if neither of the parties has invoked that law. In most European countries the doctrine has not been adopted. This article examines the question whether or not the introduction of an optional choice of law would be desirable in the Netherlands. It is argued that a duty for the courts to raise the choice of law issue ex officio is more in tune with the present developments in Dutch law regarding the respective roles of the parties and the judge in civil litigation. Moreover, there are other solutions available and conceivable to deal with the problems concerning the application of foreign law.

La question de l'immunité des navires d'Etat se distingue essentiellement du problème plus vaste de l'immunité des Etats étrangers en général en cela qu'elle fait l'objet d'une série de conventions multilatérales, tandis que les autres aspects de l'immunité des Etats ne sont que sporadiquement réglés par des conventions internationales. Les deux conventions de Bruxelles, signées le 23 septembre 1910, l'une sur l'unification de certaines règles en matière d'abordage, l'autre sur l'unification de certaines règles en matière d'assistance et de sauvetage maritimes contiennent les premières règles qui touchent notre sujet. Ces conventions portent sur les responsabilités et les actions en réparation des dommages du chef d'abordage, respectivement la procédure de fixation d'une rémunération pour l'assistance ou le sauvetage.

1. As is evident from the way in which the question of the so-called extraterritorial effect of antitrust legislation is dealt with in the literature, in doctrinal discussions and in judicial decisions, it can be approached from various angles: from the standpoint of private international law, of international administrative law, of international criminal law, and of public international law.