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Universities should facilitate the comparative study of the two principal systems of jurisprudence in the Latin Group.1

In spite of the fact that the teaching of Law in England is notas is sometimes alleged-purely professional in character, it must be confessed that the study of Comparative Law has been sorely neglected in this country. It is left untouched by the older Universities and the provincial Universities. The University of London stands alone in recognising it as a subject which can be offered by a candidate for its law degrees, and in the possession of a Chair of Comparative Law. In addition to this the terms of appointment to the Cassel Chair of Commercial and Industrial Law impose on its occupant the duty of promoting the study of Comparative Commercial Law, which occupies a very modest position amongst the subjects to be taken by candidates for the Bachelor of Commerce degree (Trade Group). Spanish law and the Code Napoléon have also formed the subject-matter of instruction courses in the University from time to time. But it cannot be said that at the moment the subject occupies a similar position to that which is given to it in the University of Paris, though this is largely due to causes which affect the Faculty of Laws as a whole and need not be discussed here.

Comparative Law is not, of course, a part of the necessary equipment of the practising lawyer, but there can be no doubt as to its value from the point of view of international comity and the promotion of intercourse between nations. The barrier created by a difference of law is no less real and formidable than that arising from a difference of language. The unity of law throughout the civilised world may be a mere dream, but the importance of a knowledge of the laws of other countries is a practical question of considerable importance. Curiously enough, lawyers appear to be blind to this aspect of the matter, and the impulse towards a better understanding of foreign law has hitherto come from the commercial community. We are told by Professor Lambert that this is also the case in France, and it would seem that it is to this quarter that one must look for assistance in further developments. Men of business are keenly alive to the difficulties resulting from the application of conflicting rules of law to the transactions of everyday life. It is they, and not the lawyers, who have been the prime movers in such efforts as have already been made to do away with unnecessary discrepancies

1 In Italy Professor Sarfatti, single-handed and undaunted by opposition, has succeeded, in the face of apathy and discouragement, in obtaining the recognition of the study of Comparative Law at the University of Turin.

between the laws regulating commerce in different countries. It is sufficient to refer to the events which have given us the York

Antwerp Rules and the Hague Rules, 1921, as illustrating the weighty influence which men of business have been able to bring to bear on occasion. It must be admitted that commercial law provides a singularly favourable field for experiments of this nature. Business transactions are governed in the long-run by considerations of common sense and expediency, whilst in dealing with such matters as marriage and divorce and family relationships the claims of sentiment cannot be ignored, and allowance must also be made for differences in race, religion, and climate, and for those deep-rooted habits and customs which are inexplicable save on historical grounds.

But although movements towards unification may owe their inception to a lay source, they cannot be carried through without the assistance of the trained lawyer. The conflicting rules of law must be definitely ascertained, and it must be considered whether the conflict is due to differences in fundamental conceptions of rights and duties, or whether the varying rules are merely excrescences on the general body of the law which can be abolished without doing violence to firmly-established legal principles. It is this which is the function of the comparative lawyer, and too much stress cannot be laid on the fact that he cannot, and should not endeavour to, pursue his researches in splendid isolation. His work can only come to complete fruition, so far as he is in touch with other investigators in foreign countries who are engaged in research on the same lines. Otherwise he can never be sure of the accuracy of his conclusions. Technical legal terms which seem on the face of them to be identical are often used in varying senses in different countries, and, moreover, an investigator may sometimes also be led astray by an apparent similarity of legal doctrine which does not, in fact, exist. Further, there is the real difficulty in keeping abreast of changes in the law of a foreign country under existing conditions. The complaint is the same everywhere, namely, a scarcity of up-to-date foreign law books. This is certainly the case in this country. A search through the principal libraries of London will reveal the nakedness of the land. Such material as is available is scattered, and it is almost impossible to discover where any particular book is to be found. The books which do exist are insufficient, and if information is sought as to even an elementary point of foreign law, it may be necessary to obtain it from abroad with consequent delay and expense.

So far as London is concerned, a considerable step in advance would be made if a central catalogue could be compiled, and it is suggested that this is an enterprise which would very properly fall to the lot of the Society of Comparative Legislation. But the scarcity of material cannot be overcome without very considerable expenditure, such as no one institution could well undertake. The scheme which would seem to offer the best prospects of success would be some arrangement by which each institution would undertake the collection of foreign books dealing either with the law of some one country or group of countries or with some one branch of the law. This would spread the burden and would also do away with any unnecessary duplication such as is taking place at present. Much could also be achieved by a properly organised system of exchanging books with similar bodies in foreign countries, and as has already been pointed out, it is necessary that foreign jurists should co-operate in order to secure that each collection should be thoroughly up to date.

The secret of success must, in other words, be sought for in increased collaboration both at home and between English and foreign jurists. There would, in fact, seem to be great scope for some central body on the lines of the" Comité Internationale Maritime” which should have as its object the bringing together of comparative lawyers of all nations, and thus facilitate the interchange of ideas and the dissemination of accurate knowledge. This is a matter which might well be taken up by the existing societies of comparative law, and whether the result should prove to be a series of annual conferences or some other more ambitious scheme, there can be but little doubt that the consequences would be far-reaching both as regards the study of this important subject and the promotion of good feeling between lawyers of many nationalities.

THE COURT OF INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE.'

[Contributed by WILLIAM LATEY, ESQ.]

THE Permanent Court of International Justice elected at the September 1921 Assembly of the League of Nations met privately for the first time at the Peace Palace at The Hague on January 30. M. Loder was appointed President, and M. Weiss Vice-President. The public inauguration was arranged for February 15, though the actual sittings open on June 15.

This Court has been set up in pursuance of Article 14 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, which says:

The Council shall formulate and submit to the Members of the League for adoption plans for the establishment of a Permanent Court of International Justice. The Court shall be competent to hear and determine any dispute of an international character which the parties thereto submit to it. The Court may also give an advisory opinion upon any dispute or question referred to it by the Council or by the Assembly.

In the summer of 1920 a Committee of jurists was formed which produced the Draft Project which was, with one serious alteration, adopted by the League Assembly of that year. The Committee comprised M. Adatci (Japan), Señor Altamara (Spain), Baron Descamps (Belgium), Senhor Fernandes (Brazil), the late M. Hagerup (Norway), M. de Lapradelle (France), Judge Loder (Netherlands), Lord Phillimore (Great Britain), Signor RicciBusatti (Italy), and Mr. Elihu Root (United States), and unofficially, but by no means least, Mr. James Brown Scott, of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Of these, as will be seen from the following list of judges, only Señor Altamara and Judge Loder are on the International Court :

Judges. Señor Rafael Altamara (Spain): Senator, Professor of the History of American Political and Civil Institutions at Madrid University.

Signor Dionisio Anzilotti (Italy): Assistant Secretary-General of the

1 In connection with this article may be read an interesting contribution in the Harvard Law Review, vol. xxxv, No. 3, by Professor Manley Hudson.

League of Nations; member of the Institute of International Law; Professor of International Law at Rome University.

Senator Ruy Barbosa (Brazil): Ex-Minister of Finance: represented Brazil at the second Hague Conference.

Señor Antonio de Bustamente (Cuba): Professor of International Law at Havana University; Delegate at Paris Peace Conference, 1918–19. Viscount Finlay (Great Britain): Attorney-General, 1900-5; Lord Chancellor, 1915-18.

M. Max Huber (Switzerland) : Delegate at 1907 Hague Conference ; Law Professor at Zurich University.

M. B. C. J. Loder (Holland) : Judge of the Netherlands Supreme Court since 1909; Member of the Institute; with Lord Phillimore and Mr. Root the chief author of the Draft Project.

Mr. J. Bassett Moore (United States): Professor of International Law at Colombia University; several times Under-Secretary of State: member of the Institute.

M. Dedrik G. G. Nyholm (Denmark): Since 1896 member of Mixed Tribunal at Cairo.

Dr. Yorosu Oda (Japan): Professor of International Law at Kioto University.

M. Charles A. Weiss (France): Professor of International Law at Paris University; member of the Institut de France.

Deputy Judges.-M. Frederik V. N. Beichmann (Norway): President of Court of Appeal; Member of the Institute.

M. Michel Jovanovitch (Jugo-Slavia): President of Belgrade Supreme

Court.

M. Demetre Negulesco (Roumania) : Professor at Bucharest University since 1901.

Mr. Wang Chung Hui (China): Ex-Minister of Justice; Barrister of the Middle Temple.

Composition of Court. It was provided by Articles 2 and 9 of the Statute of the Court that the judges should be chosen from

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persons of high moral character, who possess the qualifications required in their respective countries for appointment to the highest judicial offices, or are jurisconsults of recognised competence in international law." The whole body should also represent the main forms of civilisation and the principal legal systems of the world." In fact only five of the fifteen members of the Court have had judicial experience according to English ideas.

Another feature of the Court is the apparent predominance, counting by heads, of the Spanish and Latin-American legal system. This is represented by three members, whereas the Anglo-Saxon

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