The last decade has witnessed considerable evolution in the practice of recognition of new governments that have come to power by irregular means. Many of these changes appear to have gone almost unnoticed by many scholars in the field.

Of particular significance is the denial by Miss Marjorie Whiteman, Assistant Legal Adviser to the Department of State, in Volume II of her work, of a difference in the character of recognition, i.e., de facto or de jure recognition. Miss Whiteman lends her authority to this position when she states in Volume II of her Digest:

The yearly Congress of the International Association of Young Lawyers (A.I.J.A.) was held in London from July 24 to 27, 1967. 150 young lawyers attended from the United States, Argentina, Germany, France, Belgium, Spain, England, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Holland, and Switzerland. The Congress began with a solemn opening ceremony presided over by Attorney General Sir Blwyn Jones. The members of the A.I.J.A. were thereafter received by the Lord Mayor of London at a lunch given by the Corporation of London.

The Hague Academy of International Law will hold its 1968 session from July 8 to August 15, 1968. The first period of lectures from July 8 to 25 will consist of the following : general course on private international law, by Professor A. A. Ehrenzweig of the University of California; law of torts in private international law, by Professor O. Kahn-Freund of Brasenose College, Oxford; international contracts in Swiss private international law, by Dr. A. F. Schnitzer of the University of Geneva Faculty of Law; trade and finance in international law, by Professor J. E. Fawcett of All Souls College, Oxford; public international law influences on conflicts of law rules on corporations, by Professor I. Seidl-Hohenveldern of the University of Cologne; juridical aspects of intergovernmental cooperation in the field of foreign exchange and international payments, by Professor M. Giuliano of the University of Milan ; multinational corporate groups, by Mr. Homer G. Angelo, visiting Professor of Law, University of California; general features of the codification of private international law in Czechoslovakia, by Professor R. Bistricky of the Carolinum University, Prague.

It is ironic that Fidel Castro, who is currently ostracized from the inter-American system of states, has provided the impetus needed to overcome the obstacles that have for so long prevented agreement on the procedure for Hemispheric action regarding the recognition of de facto governments. Earlier attempts to formulate a common basis for the recognition of de facto governments have been very limited both in their scope and their success.

The American Society of International Law will hold its 62nd annual meeting at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D. C from April 25 to April 27, 1968.

The meeting will open on Thursday, April 25, 1968, at 2:15 p. m. Two simultaneous panel discussions will then consider the implementation and enforcement of international decisions, under the chairmanship of Oscar Sehachter, and the taking of property : evaluation of damages, under the chairmanship of James N. Hyde. Michael Eeisman and Blame Sloan will deliver addresses on the implementation and enforcement of international decisions. Commentators on those addresses will be Henry Darwin, Ambassador Shabtai Rosenne and John Lawrence Hargrove.

Legal development in the developing countries is at the same time one of the most urgent needs for modernization and one of the most delicate fields in which non-national organizations, private as well as public, can render assistance.

A comprehensive, unified, and depersonalized body of law, a welltrained and adequate legal profession, and an efficient system of judicial administration are necessary to the mobilization of human resources for national development, to the safeguarding of human rights, and to the orderly and impartial operation of government in the developing (and developed) countries. To participate fully in the international community and share in the benefits of international intercourse, economic and political, the developing countries require carefully developed bodies of law relating to commerce and banking, trade and investment, and the whole field of foreign relations.

The third Cumulative Analytical Index to the American Journal of International Law, Supplements and Proceedings, will be published in March, 1968. It covers the years 1941 to 1960 inclusive. As announced in the Society’s Letter to Members for November-December, 1967, the price of the volume is $10.00 to members and $15.00 to non-members. Orders may be sent to the Society together with checks payable to the Society and marked for the Cumulative Index.

The material for this section is compiled by Charles I. Bevans, Assistant Legal Adviser, Department of State.