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PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW
of acquiring the territory”). Moreover, in the author’s own words:
“Labelling can
never replace the analysis”
(page 137).
Throughout the publication the author draws attention to the theoretical and
practical complexity of the principles of public international law.
During the last few years not many publications that are at such a level have been
translated into the Czech and Slovak languages.
One of these was a translation of the famous Austrian
Professor Ignaz Seidl-
Hohenveldern’s
(1918 – 2001) textbook “
Völkerrecht
” (Public International Law –
“Mezinárodní právo veřejné”) by a team of translators under the leadership of
Professor
Monika Pauknerová
in 1999 (Plzeň 2001: ASPI Publishing, ISBN 80-7357-178-1,
417 pages). How useful and necessary for the Czech and Slovak public this textbook
was is proven by the fact that the first edition of the Czech translation in 1999 was
completely sold out within two years and, for this reason, was reissued in 2001 and
2006.
A second was the publication of
Professor Danilo Türk
from the Law Faculty
of the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia) in 2010 − “
Basis of the International Law
”
(Základy mezinárodního práva). The translation was carried out by David Blažek,
with professional expert revision by
Professor Pavel Šturma
and
Veronika Bílková.
As
is mentioned in its summary, “this book attempts to explain the main features of the
system of international law at the begining of the 21
st
Century”
4
. It is a university
textbook to primarily assist students of law and is organized into eleven chapters
covering the main areas of public international law. The structure of the book is typical
(different from Ian Brownie’s book), of most „Pan-European“ (or “continental”,
i.e. including Czech and Slovak) textbooks: 1) the sources of international law,
2) the subjects of international law, 3) human rights and the individual’s criminal
responsibility, 4) state organs in the field of international relations (diplomatic
and consular law), 5) international transactions, 6) international responsibility of
states, 7) international organizations, 8) the objects of international law, 9) peaceful
settlement of disputes, 10) collective security − prohibition of the use of force and
measures for the maintenance of international peace and security, and 11) the law of
armed conflicts.
Both of the above mentioned, translated books broadened the existing number
of textbooks and monographs focusing on Public International Law published by
Czech and Slovak authors. As it is not possible to list all of them, it is worth noting
in particular the books of such distinguished and recognized authors as:
Čepelka,
Potočný, Šturma, Malenovský, Azud, Klučka, Ondřej, David, Sladký, Zbořil, Balaš,
Pauknerová, Tomko, Mráz, Poredoš, Vršanský
and others.
And translation of Brownlie’s book brought by Slovak colleagues is an additional and
important contribution. It gives us knowledge of a detailed analytical, comprehensive,
4
Danilo Türk:
Základy mezinárodního práva
, [Basis of the International Law] Beroun: Eva Rozkotová,
2010, 556 p., p. 507.