In the 1939 edition of Meyers Lexikon the following item appears:

Kelsen, Hans, Staatsrechtlehrer, Jude, * 11.10.1881 Prag, 1919 Prof. in Wien, 1930 in Köln, 1933 in Genf, seit 1936 in Prag, schrieb u. a. ≫Allg. Rechtslehre≪ 1925, ≫Théorie générale du droit international≪ 1932, ≫The legal process and international order≪ 1934; radikaler Vertreter der ≫Reinen Rechtslehre≪, die typischer Ausdruck jüdisch zersetzenden Geistes in der Nachkriegszeit auf dem Gebiete der Rechts- und Staatslehre ist. In der völligen Entleerung seiner allg. Formalbegriffe von jedem Wirklichkeitsgehalt leugnet K. jede Substanz des Rechts und Staats. Seine gemeinschaftszerstörenden Auffassungen stehen als polit. Nihilismus im schärfsten Gegensatz zur nat.-soz. Anschauung. Heute noch in der rechtsphilos. Logistik nachwirkend.

The Italians have a word for what I want to say about modern constitutionalism: “gattopardesco,” that is “leopardesque”, not as in the animal but as in the novel The Leopard by Tomasi di Lampedusa. The novel is about a noble Sicilian family at the time of the unification of Italy in the mid-nineteenth century. Italian unification was mainly a matter of the northern Savoy monarchy of Piemonte conquering the peninsula and vanquishing the various other monarchs, princes, etc., including the Bourbon rulers of Sicily and Naples. But there were other elements about and stirring up trouble, anti-monarchist and even socialist elements. In a scene early in the novel, the Sicilian Prince of Salina, the main character, is shocked to learn that his favourite nephew, Tancredi Falconeri, is off to join the invading northerners. He remonstrates with the boy:

“Self-determination” is not a mere phrase. It is an imperative principle of action, which statesmen will henceforth ignore at their peril.

The phrase is simply loaded with dynamite. It will raise hopes which can never be realized. It will, I fear, cost thousands of lives. In the end it is bound to be discredited, to be called the dream of an idealist who failed to realize its danger until too late to check those who attempt to put the principle in force. What a calamity that the phrase was ever uttered. What misery it will cause!

For the last two years, a five-party mechanism consisting of delegations of Israel, the United States, France, Syria and Lebanon, charged with implementing an Israeli-Lebanese understanding concerning South Lebanon has been in operation. Away from the public eye, this forum has thus far held around fifty sessions, each of which concluded with the producing of an agreed Report. Despite its limited powers and narrowly defined mandate, the significance of this forum cannot be ignored; its existence and the mode of its operations also gives rise to several important legal questions.

This review will start by describing the historical and legal circumstances leading up to the April 1996 Understanding and the establishment of the Israel-Lebanon Monitoring Group. Thereafter, the operation of the Monitoring Group, its composition, functions, procedure and decision-making process will be presented. Then I will discuss the major legal questions arising from the existence and operation of the Monitoring Group. The documents relative to the work of the Monitoring Group are annexed to this review.