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The Eden Memoirs and International Law1)

The Eden Memoirs and International Law1) THE EDEN MEMOIRS AND INTERNATIONAL LAW1) By D.H.N.JOHNSON2) I GENERAL REMARKS International lawyers are often attacked from two different sides at once. According to one line of attack, they live in a sort of ivory tower, remote from the real world, where they dabble in idealistic abstractions. According to the other line of attack, they are just cynical hacks, always ready to find a legal justification for what their national political masters want to do. Aware of these dangers, many members of our profession try to steer a middle course. Whilst keep- ing abreast of the political controversies of the day, they hesitate to comment on them for fear of doing so when the facts are still obscure and ripe judgment is impossible. This is an honourable tendency, but it can be taken too far. The further it is taken, the less likely are international law and international lawyers ever to influence the course of events. This review by an international lawyer of the memoirs of a famous international statesman3) seems to me therefore a legitimate venture in itself, if a rather unusual one. Even from a narrow technical angle the venture can be justified. For if, as http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Nordic Journal of International Law Brill

The Eden Memoirs and International Law1)

Nordic Journal of International Law , Volume 31 (1-4): 181 – Jan 1, 1961

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 1961 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
0902-7351
eISSN
1571-8107
DOI
10.1163/187529361X00116
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

THE EDEN MEMOIRS AND INTERNATIONAL LAW1) By D.H.N.JOHNSON2) I GENERAL REMARKS International lawyers are often attacked from two different sides at once. According to one line of attack, they live in a sort of ivory tower, remote from the real world, where they dabble in idealistic abstractions. According to the other line of attack, they are just cynical hacks, always ready to find a legal justification for what their national political masters want to do. Aware of these dangers, many members of our profession try to steer a middle course. Whilst keep- ing abreast of the political controversies of the day, they hesitate to comment on them for fear of doing so when the facts are still obscure and ripe judgment is impossible. This is an honourable tendency, but it can be taken too far. The further it is taken, the less likely are international law and international lawyers ever to influence the course of events. This review by an international lawyer of the memoirs of a famous international statesman3) seems to me therefore a legitimate venture in itself, if a rather unusual one. Even from a narrow technical angle the venture can be justified. For if, as

Journal

Nordic Journal of International LawBrill

Published: Jan 1, 1961

There are no references for this article.