Pamphlet Series of the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
DIVISION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW
No. 39
THE FUTURE OFINTERNATIONAL LAW
By L. OPPENHEIM, LL.D.
MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW
WHEWELL PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL LAW IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND
HON. MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF JURISPRUDENCE IN MADRID
OXFORD: AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
London, Edinburgh, New York, Toronto, Melbourne and Bombay
HUMPHREY MILFORD
1921
PRINTED IN ENGLAND
AT THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
In a note prepared in 1915 for the English edition,Professor Oppenheim stated the circumstances underwhich his tractate on The Future of International Lawwas undertaken and published.
'This little work,' he said, 'originally written inGerman, was first published in 1911, under the titleDie Zukunft des Völkerrechts (Leipzig: W. Engelmann),as a contribution to the Festschrift offered to ProfessorKarl Binding. Events which have since happenedmake it necessary to call the reader's attention to thedate of original publication.
'The translation into English has been made byDr. John Pawley Bate. In accordance with the wishof the author some slight modifications of the originaltext were made before translation. The numbers ofthe paragraphs and the marginal summaries do notappear in the original.'
As was his wont with all his publications, ProfessorOppenheim had sent the undersigned a copy of theGerman text. The value of 'this little work', as itsauthor called it, was at once apparent, and he yielded tothe suggestion that it be put into English, in order thatit might be available to English readers in the fourquarters of the globe. It was accordingly translated, setup in type, and was on the point of appearing, when onJuly 28, 1914, the then Austro-Hungarian Monarchydeclared war upon Serbia; on August 1 the then GermanEmpire declared war upon Russia, and two days lateragainst France, violated the neutrality of Luxemburg onthe same day, and the neutrality of Belgium on the nightof the 3rd and 4th of August—thus beginning the seriesof wars which, taken together, are commonly called theWorld War.
Professor Oppenheim subsequently came to the conclusionthat it would be better to withhold publicationuntil the end of the war. It was done, and the depositof ratifications of the Treaty of Versailles on January 10,1920, removed this obstacle.
It should be said, however, that Professor Oppenheimexpressed doubts on more than one occasion as to thedesirability of its publication, but he allowed himself tobe persuaded that an English version might be of serviceto the great and worthy cause of international law andof international organization. Modesty was not theleast of his virtues.
From time to time Professor Oppenheim has ve