In recent years many countries have experienced acts of violence committed for political ends, which have been termed terrorist. Some such acts are committed entirely within one country with a view to affecting domestic policy in that country, as is the case with the much publicized activities of radical groups in Italy and West Germany; others have international implications. The country of commission may be a convenient stage for an act whose primary target is the government of another, as when Palestinians took Israeli athletes as hostages during the Munich Olympics in 1972. The action may be planned to involve other countries as well, perhaps with a view to influencing their relations with the country which is the terrorists primary target, as with the South Moluccans who have committed acts of violence in the Netherlands. Sometimes attacks are launched in one country from a base in another, as with the Palestinians' incursions into Israel. Whether the violence is national or international, the terrorists often seek and usually achieve dramatic publicity. Though the number of people physically affected may be small, the psychological impact may be considerable. Besides, these acts are seen as attempting to weaken the authority of a government, or a system of government. It is not surprising, then, that governments should wish to take, and to be seen to take, active steps to meet this challenge. The Council of Europe's Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism (hereafter the European Convention) is one of a number of recent attempts at international co-operation in fulfilment of this wish.

To enumerate the recognized manifestations of international law, several orders may be followed, depending on the criterion used. One criterion would be the distinction between written and unwritten manifestations. On this basis, the recognized manifestations of international law may be enumerated in the following order: (1) certain decisions of international organizations, (2) treaties, (3) certain judicial decisions – all being written manifestations – (4) custom, (5) the general principles of law recognized by civilized nations, (6) complementary natural law – all being unwritten. Another criterion, and a far more meaningful one, is that of hierarchy. Before setting forth the correct hierarchical order among the recognized manifestations of international law, hierarchy as such should briefly be discussed.

In the past year, the discussions concerning the theories of immunity have received a fair amount of attention both in the United States as well as in England. The general problem again became of interest in the USA at the time when the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act 1976 came into force on 10 January 1977, the enactment being the result of ten years of legislative work. This piece of legislation, which is important for international contract law, has adopted the principles of the relative immunity theory, after they had already been recognized in 1953 by the “Tate Letter” (see note 23) and were applied shortly thereafter by the Supreme Court. The purpose of the new legislation, which will also have important consequences in respect of the question concerning the immunity from execution, is to bring the problem of immunity, which has until now been governed by international law, within the scope of national law and practice.

Obstacles and uncertain points in the field of recognition and enforcement of judgments originating from other EEC countries constitute hidden barriers in the free trade area that the Common Market is intended to be. They may divert the trade flow from what it should be in such an area and affect the transparency of the Market. This fact explains why Article 220 of the Treaty of Rome 1957 obliges the Member Countries to start negotiations in order to bring about a convention to simplify the procedure of mutual recognition of judgments and arbitral awards.

The market impact of the Convention on civil litigation in the six original Member States was a matter of concern with several speakers. It was stressed in particular that the mere solution of jurisdictional problems may require extensive research of substantive issues, which possibly could lead to litigation at three national levels. If the possibility of submitting preliminary questions under the 1971 Protocol to the EC Court at Luxemburg is also taken into account, five judgments could even be required to settle the question which court in the Common Market is competent. Although perhaps inspiring lawyers' intellectual efforts, this situation would unfortunately increase the litigation costs to the parties. Moreover, the final text of the EC Draft on the law applicable to contractual and non-contractual obligations is progressing and the EC Court will be charged with ensuring the uniform interpretation of this convention as well. One can imagine questions being put to the European Court in each of the three stages of a dispute, viz., the jurisdiction phase, the applicable law, and the enforcement in another Member State.

In September, an international symposium was held at Nijmegen in commemoration of the Peace of Nijmegen (1678). The conference was organized by the “Instituut voor intellectuele betrekkingen tussen Westeuropese landen van de 17e eeuw” of Nijmegen University. The lectures delivered by Swedish, Spanish, Italian, French, English, Dutch, Belgian, American and Austrian historians and archivists, will be published by the “APA-Holland Universiteits Pers”. Their contents, in so far as they are relevant to students of International Law, particularly to those who are interested in its history, will briefly be indicated here.