When in 1985 the International Tin Council was unable to meet its financial obligations, various legal questions arose. It appears that the question of liability of international organizations has, up till now, not been adequately addressed. The article written by Professor Henry G. Schemers is a first attempt in legal literature to examine the liability of international organizations from a theoretical point of view. The author concludes that the principle that everybody is liable for his debts does not apply to international governmental organizations. The liability of governments is, in the eyes of the author, not limited when they perform some of their tasks through an international organization, unless there is an express provision to this effect. However, in general international law is insufficiently developed with respect to the payment of debts of international organizations.

In this article the author elaborates upon the close relationship between the concepts of human rights and development, examined in relation to African legal practice. Development is considered as a comprehensive legal, economic, social, and cultural concept. According to the author the right to development may be claimed by individuals and peoples of developing nations. In this respect the African situation is carefully analyzed by the author. The African Charter for Human and Peoples Rights, which came into force in October, 1986, may be considered a first regional effort to promote human rights and development. So far, the Charter has already been ratified by 30 African States.

Nico Schrijver discusses the claim by the UN Council for Namibia against Ultra Centrifuge Nederland, Urenco, and The Netherlands in the case concerning the alleged illegal processing ofNamibian uranium. He analyzes the evolution of international law with respect to Namibia, the status of the UN Council for Namibia, the juridical value of Decree No.I, the contents of the writ of summons as well as the counter-arguments by The Netherlands government.

In this first issue of the LJIL, both Student Contributions focus on the theme of extradition. The editorial staff intends to present the readers of this category a special theme at least once a year. Future themes may include the interplay between development and environment, the concept of a common cultural heritage in international law, and recent developments concerning international crimes of states. Suggestions for themes are, of course, warmly welcomed.

In the international combat against terrorism, several legal instruments are considered. The author starts with a review of the various conventions and resolutions concerning terrorism. Despite all efforts, however, the international community has not been able to adopt a satisfactory definition of terrorism. Consequently, the extradition of terrorists still appears to be the most effective instrument available. The author discusses the conditions that must be fulfilled before extradition is granted, the grounds on which a state can assume jurisdiction over individuals, as well as specific reasons to refuse a request for extradition. Among these exceptions to extradition, the principle that political offenders will not be extradited plays an important role.

On the basis of four ‘irregular’ extradition cases, the author demonstrates that states sometimes violate generally accepted rules of extradition law. Legitimate grounds for the refusal of, as well as procedural impediments to extradition are evaded -for instance by simply kidnapping the individual involved. Also, the so-called ‘disguised extradition’ is used by states, when expelling a person in stead of extraditing him, but in fact accomplishing the same result. Despite such apparent failures in the procedure of obtaining an individual (‘male captus’), states maintain that the individuals can nevertheless be legitimately tried (‘bene judicatus’). According to the author, these practices are incompatible with certain general principles of international law.

The Treaty of Rome, establishing the European Economic Community (hereinafter: the Treaty), does not provide for a system of Community-wide merger control and authorization.The anti-trust provisions of the Treaty are only concerned with distortion of competition resulting from certain restrictive agreements (Article 85) and with abusive behavior of undertakings in a dominant position within the common market (Article 86);concentrations like mergers, which may as well affect the internal European market, are not explicitly mentioned. To a certain extent however, the European Commission has in fact won the power to control large-scale mergers as a result of the European Court's decision in Continental Can (1973).

In a matter of weeks or months, the United Nations will publish the Legal Guide on Drawing Up International Contracts for Construction of Industrial Works (‘Legal Guide’ or ‘Guide’). The preparation of the Guide had been formally decided upon by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (‘UNCITRAL’ or ‘Commission’) in 1981, and the completed Guide approved for publication by the Commission in August 1987 in Vienna.

Unfortunately, today's exploration of outer space is exposed to a rapidly expanding collection of what has come to be called space debris. Innumerous objects of variable size ranging from tiny paint chips to entire - defunct - satellites and produced by various causes, such as collisions, explosions, or simply exhaustion of fuel, are rotating around the Earth and create dangers to our space missions.

Editorial Note

The first Telders International Law Moot Court Competition was organized in 1977 on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the Telders International Law Students Debating Society. Students from the Universities of Bonn, Cologne, Leiden and Strasbourg participated. The competition took place in the Peace Palace at The Hague and was an overwhelming success. Since then the competition has been held annually. Participation has expanded from three teams in 1977 to thirteen teams now. The eleventh session has been held in the Peace Palace from 14–16 April 1988. The case for the Telders International Law Moot Court Competition was written by Prof. Dinah Shelton.