Percy Corbett and John Humphrey were two leading figures in international law at McGill University and in Canada. The author traces the career of Corbett and Humphrey at McGill and illustrates the influence that Corbett had on Humphrey, who had been Corbett's student, both at McGill and later in life. The author not only provides insight into the relationship of these remarkable men but also provides a picture of the teaching of law and international law at McGill University during a particularly important period of that institution.

The author traces the historical evolution of the distinction between international humanitarian law and international human rights law. He demonstrates that the structures of the two regimes follow from the fact that while humanitarian law was designed to apply in periods of war, human rights law was to apply in periods of peace. The difference between the two are not matters of abstract logic. Rather, they have important consequences for the functioning of these important branches of international law.

Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) provides for suits by foreign investors from the NAFTA Parties against one of the other Parties. The author reviews this provision and discusses its possible ambit in light of the decisions so far rendered. The author considers that, properly interpreted, Chapter 11 will provide an extraordinary means of redress and will not open the floodgates to all kinds of claims that second-guess legitimate governmental legislative activity or policymaking.

This article addresses the responsibility of Canada for ensuring that Canadian transnational mining corporations do not cause environmental harm in other countries. The author discusses the liability of parent companies under Canadian law for the actions of their subsidiaries abroad and considers the jurisdictional and choice of law problems in bringing a tort action in Canadian courts. The author also considers the implications under international law of any extraterritorial application of Canadian law.

The author considers the application of relevant human rights provisions to the Balkans both historically and in terms of contemporary issues. In particular, he discusses the legality of the measures taken under the auspices of NATO in respect of Kosovo and queries whether such measures are able to remedy such a breakdown of civil administration and respect for human rights. In the author's view, in such circumstances, administration of a country by the United Nations itself provides the only viable alternative.

En novembre 1999, un tribunal arbitral rendait une décision dans l'affaire Desona, qui opposait des investisseurs américains au gouvernement du Mexique. Il s'agissait de la première décision rendue sur le fond dans une dispute entre un investisseur privé et un gouvernement sous le régime du chapitre 11 (investissement) de l'Accord de libre-échange nord-américain (ALÉNA). Dans cette affaire, les investisseurs prétendaient que le Mexique avait agi en violation de ses obligations en vertu du chapitre 11, principalement en matière d'expropriation. Confrontés aux contours imprécis de la notion d'expropriation comprise dans l'ALÉNA, et à des faits non équivoques, les arbitres n'ont dit que le minimum nécessaire pour régler ce différend. En revanche, ils ont énoncé certains principes de base d'interprétation du chapitre 11, portant sur le pouvoir de régulation de l'État et la souveraineté des tribunaux nationaux. Cet article examine tout d'abord le chapitre 11 de l'ALÉNA, avant d'analyser les faits et la sentence arbitrale dans l'affaire Desona. L'auteur se permet finalement quelques réflexions sur la signification et les conséquences potentielles de la décision.