Radioactive waste is not at present, at least officially, dumped at sea or disposed of into the seabed. At the regional level, several treaties prohibit such disposal. At the global level, the dumping at sea of high-level radioactive waste and the disposal of all radioactive waste in Antarctica, including the ocean areas south of 60 degrees south latitude, are prohibited by international law. The dumping at sea of low-level radioactive waste and the sub-seabed disposal of all radioactive waste (hereinafter also referred to as the ocean disposal options), at the global level, are subject to legally non-binding and temporary suspensions or moratoria. It is thus that the ocean disposal options remain on the international agenda and that the permissibility of using these options remains an issue of debate.

Current trends in social relationships, strongly influenced by their increasingly international character, are resulting in a steadily growing interdependence of sovereign States. Political, economic, military and social problems have been re-examined. Organisations, economic unions, military alliances and defence agreements have been established. Free movement of persons and goods is everywhere considered to be desirable, while in the meantime the formalities to be completed on crossing frontiers have been reduced to a bare minimum. The development of tourism, which now plays an important role for three or four months in the year and which attracts all sections of the population, is equally a demonstration of a real desire for foreign contacts.

L'affaire de la Société néerlandaise pour l'exploitation de réclame (Reklame Exploitatie Maatschappij R.E.M.) laquelle, en érigeant une installation fixe en haute mer devant la côte néerlandaise à la limite de la mer territoriale, envisageait de réaliser des émissions de télévision destinées à être reçues sur le territoire néerlandais, a suscité l'intérêt dans les milieux néerlandais les plus divers. C'est notamment à l'intention de nos lecteurs à l'étranger que nous nous proposons de relater dans le présent article les faits tels qu'ils se sont produits. Nous allons faire suivre cet exposé d'un commentaire qui exposera quelques aspects du droit international relatifs à cette affaire. Nous avons fondé nos observations en grande partie sur le rapport de la Commission consultative néerlandaise en matière de droit international, rapport qui a reçu l'approbation unanime de ses membres et dont quelques extraits seront reproduits textuellement dans l'exposé qui va suivre. Le texte intégral de ce rapport est publié ci-après dans la section « Documents ».

The problem of defaulting maintenance debtors is not just an international phenomenon; it exists in purely domestic relationships as well. The difference is that in an international case, particularly where the parties do not reside in the same country, additional problems complicate the situation. Most of these problems relate to procedural questions, such as those of international jurisdiction and enforcement of foreign orders. Since maintenance creditors are usually needy parties, other problems in the field of procedural law relate to the obtaining of legal aid and exemption from security for costs. Apart from that, questions concerning the transfer of funds might also arise.

The first three paragraphs of article 13 of the Benelux Uniform Law on Conflicts of Law, as revised in 1969, read as follows.

1. In respect both of compulsory and not compulsory legal provisions, contracts shall be governed by the law as chosen by the parties.

2. As far as the contract is clearly localized in a given country, the choice of the parties cannot overrule such legal provisions of the said country as, in virtue of their particular character and purport, exclude the application of any different law.

3. Failing a choice by the parties, either explicit, or implicit but certain, the contract shall be governed by the law of the country with which it shows the narrowest points of contact.

The criticism to these paragraphs as offered in the foregoing paper, does not bear on the principles, as set out above, but on the wording thereof.

Since literature is not capable of providing a generally accepted answer to the question “What in fact is an international firm?” it is submitted that in this paper a definition should be given being operational in the context of this study.

Thus an international firm is defined as:

—a group of business bases subject to some degree of central managerial control;

—operating within geographically diversified markets subject to different political, legal and cultural spheres; and

—usually interdependent through some form of capital sharing.

First of all, I should like to thank you all, in particular the Director of your Institute, Dr. Voskuil, and the Head of its Public International Law Department, Dr. Ko Swan Sik, for your kind invitation to attend this meeting. In the fact that you have given me this opportunity to talk about some of the fundamental questions relating to the socialist views on international law I see not only a proof of your interest in the subject, but also a task and a duty for me to make a modest contribution, by exchanging our views, towards a better mutual understanding of our attitudes to fundamental political and legal problems that are the subject of international discussion to-day.

Seldom has the international community shown such a rapid and prompt reaction to an international wrongful act as in the case of hijacking of aircraft. States, international organizations—governmental or non-governmental—came together to advise and take strict and immediate measures to cope with this situation. The modern phenomenon of hijacking of aircraft, like abductions of statesmen, diplomats and other civil servants, and attacks on diplomatic and consular missions, which are intended to draw attention to a certain political cause, are only some of the forms of violence which international society witnesses today. Of all these instances of sheer violence, the abduction of aircraft and persons on board has made the greatest impact. At the same time it has brought about an immediate and strong reaction of world opinion against these unprecedented acts.

After a conceptual examination of global values and their role in international law, this article examines the role of the United Nations, especially the General Assembly, in the translation of globally shared values into legally binding international commitments. This process already commenced with the United Nations Conference on International Organization, held in 1945 in San Francisco, where the UN Charter was born. The way this process functions is illustrated by using the global value of social progress and development as an example. First, it is shown how this value ended up in the UN Charter in 1945. This is followed by a description of this value's evolution, especially the inclusion of a ‘sustainability element’, which took place at the General Assembly and various global conferences organized under the auspices of the United Nations.

This article is premised on my belief that the use of force and violence should not be unlimited, even in times of war. Despite countless examples of apparently lawless wartime behavior, the fact that international wars are subject to limits is fairly well-accepted. The Nuremberg and Tokyo war crimes trials evidence the consequences of having exceeded acceptable limits of violence and the Geneva Conventions of 1949 represent an extensive codification of those limits for international war. Most States are parties to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and many of the provisions of those treaties are recognized as customary international law.