Osgoode Hall Law Journal
Article 16
Volume 1, Number 2 (April 1959)
Book Review: An Introduction to International
Law, by J. G. Starke
J. Y. Morin
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Book Review
Citation Information
Morin, J. Y.. "Book Review: An Introduction to International Law, by J. G. Starke." Osgoode Hall Law Journal 1.2 (1959) : 131-133.
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1959] Book Reviews
that the preparation of this companion piece to Ontario Succession
Duties is well advanced. It is to be hoped that it will appear at an
early date.
Perhaps one may be permitted, in reviewing a book for a law
school journal, to say something about the exorbitant price of legal
texts from the standpoint of the student. I appreciate fully that
Jameson on Ontario Succession Duties is intended primarily for the
legal practitioner and it may be that $15.00 is not an unreasonable
price to a practitioner. It certainly is not out of line with the price
the practitioners have grown accustomed to pay in recent years for
legal texts published in Canada. I hasten to add, too, that In this
instance the publisher was extremely generous in granting a discount
to students well in excess of the ten percent normally granted. It
may be that in a period of rising costs in every phase of book publi-
cation and an extremely limited market that we, in Canada, can hope
for no better than this. But I am appalled that a text of great value
as a reference book in at least two courses on the law school cur-
riculum should be beyond the reach of eighty percent of the students
who might be expected to buy it. I refuse to believe that the students
of this generation are any the less interested in book purchases than
they were in former times. The disappearance of the book buying
tradition in my opinion can be attributed directly to lack of sufficient
funds. The annual cost of legal education per student is in the neigh-
bourhood of $1,620.00 and second only to that of the medical schools,
and yet the financial assistance available to law students is strikingly
and deplorably lower than in any other disdipline.
And while we are at it let us not forget the bedevilled professional
law teacher whose annual expenditures on necessary acquisitions to
his library are or should be as high or higher than his brethern in the
practicing profession but whose tax relief in this matter is absolutely
nil. One wonders if it has ever occurred to the taxing authorities
that a greater command of one's field through wider reading may also
be reflected in higher salaries and consequently in higher taxes.
H. ALLAN LEAL, Q.C.
Dean, Osgoode Hall Law School
STARKE,J. G., An Introduction to InternationalLaw. Fourth edition.
London: Butterworth & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 1958. Pp. xxi, 467.
This book is of great value for the prospective international official
or the diplomatic recruit who may wish to obtain a clear and concise
picture of international law. One should not expect, however, to find
in it any consistent historical or philosophical approach to the law of
Nations. The practical standpoint prevails throughout and the author
himself takes pains, in his Preface, to make it clear that the book is
addressed to "those who will have to deal with the subject in actual
practice". This, of course, restricts its usefulness but it certainly
reflects, on the part of the author, a better apprediation of the actual
OSGOODE HALL LAW JOURNAL [VOL. I
value of his book than was the case when, in the Preface of his first
edition (1947), he addressed it to university students as well. As far
as the latter are concerned, the book might come in handy as a sup-
plement to the case method; however, there is no dearth of other
treatises and manuals that will provide the student with more stimulat-
ing thinking on the basic issues that confront us today. It would have
been useful, for instance, to have the author's thoughts on the fact
that "new States (in particular the Afro-Asian group which held a
Conference at Bandung . . .)have challenged certain of the basic
principles of international law" (p. 12); likewise, it would have been
of "practical" use, even in a book which purports to offer an Introduc-
tion to InternationalLaw, to discuss at some length the implications
of the Soviet approach to the State and the Law (although it must be
admitted that most recent treatises leave this subject aside). How-
ever, bearing in mind these limitations, it must be said that Mr.
Starke's Introduction justifies the description printed on the jacket,
commending his "attractive style and lucid exposition". He gives a
concise yet accurate statement of the Law, although his conciseness
may -attimes lead him to deal perfunctorily with major controversies,
e.g., the international as against the national standard as a basis for
State responsibility.
This fourth edition brings the previous one (1954) up to date by
dealing with questions that have arisen since that time. Among these,
the rights of user of the Suez Canal subsequent to Egypt's nationalisa-
tion in 1956 are discussed, along with the closure of areas of the high
seas for the purpose of thermonuclear experiments and the launching
of artificial earth satellites.
As to the nationalisation of the Suez Canal, the author puts for-
ward a brief but convincing argument to the effect that the rights to
use the Canal are not dependant on Egypt's discretion, but are vested
rights of an international character and he refers to a number of
documents to support this view (p. 172). One would have wished that
he had dealt in like manner with the problem of the closure of areas
of the high seas for purposes of thermonuclear experiments (p. 211).
Ten lines altogether are devoted to its presentation. The two opposing
views, namely that such closures are a direct invasion of the freedom
of the open sea or that, on the contrary, they are permissible as a
reasonable measure of self-defence, are mentioned without further
comment. The author might have given us his opinion or at least
referred to some of the better articles on both sides of the issue.1
The Anglo-Norwegian Fisheries Case2 is re-assessed, in the light
of the International Law Commission Report on the law of the sea
(1956). The decision is still termed "revolutionary" (as in the previous
edition), but we are told that, "since the Court pronounced judgment,
there has been evidence in Great Britain of a current of opinion that
I E.g., Margolis, The Hydrogen Bomb Experiments and InternationalLaw,
(1955), 64 Yale L. J. 629; McDougal and Schlel, The Hydrogen Bomb Tests in
Perspective: LawfuZ Measures for Security (1955), 64 Yale L. J. 648.
2 (1951), I.C.J. Reports, 116.
19591 Book Reviews
the principle of the three-mile limit should be dropped in favour of a
belt more in accordance with the modern economic requirements of
States". As the evidence for this current of opinion is said to be a
letter published in the London Times on January 9, 1952, it seems
that the decision of the Court should be considered quite conservative
rather than revolutionary!
All in all, Mr. Starke's book is a welcome addition to the English
literature on International Law. There exist many manuals or prdcis
in other languages but very few in English and the present book, apart
from a few lacunae already mentioned, fills this need very adequately.
J.-Y. MORIN
CHESHmRE, G. C. Modern Law of Real Property Eighth edition.
London: Butterworth and Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 1958.
The role of real property law as a training and discipline essential
in the education of a lawyer much as Latin and Greek are essential
background for the classical scholar has been fostered in the law
schools by treating the subject as a history course, included in the cur-
riculum more out of respect for the past and its institutions than for its
relevance to contemporary conditions. Particularly In a Torrens
system jurisdiction, the tendency has been to relegate real property
law to obsolete status. Students have graduated from western law
schools totally unaware of any relationship between their first year
course on real property law and their second or third year course on
the land titles acts, the dichotomy being so complete.
Professor Laskin's Cases and Notes on Land Law illustrates an
approach to the study of real property which treats it as a vital sub-
ject. The development of real property law is brought forward to the
present day, and the rules are re-examined in the light of modern
conditions. Viewing real property law as a vital subject developing
in a Canadian context, what place may be assigned an English text
book?
In this reviewer's opinion, historical background cannot profitably
be taught by the case method considering the demands of the subject
of land law and the time limited to its study. Able text books are in-
dispensable for this purpose. In the search for such a book, some de-
plore the reform legislation of 1925 which has burdened the modern
English text book -with material foreign to our system. However, this
reviewer considers that the legislation of 1925 has enhanced rather
than diminished the usefulness in a Canadian law school of a modern
English text book on real property law. The writer of an English
text is now required to treat pre-1925 law In reduced proportions.
When the historical law is thus reduced, and when the author is as
gifted as G. C. Cheshire in the art of concise and interesting exposition,
the result is a valuable introduction to land law in Canada Nor are
the post-1925 chapters a complete loss, for they offer the student a
* Assistant-Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Montreal.
