264 / 328
be an appeal from the regional courts to the inter
national court if required.
In the afternoon the working sessions dealt with
(e)
Increasing scope and effectiveness of arbi
tration, conciliation and other means of
resolving international disputes.
(/) Developing law rules and legal institutions
for disarmament programmes. Mr Carrigan
attended topic (/) and assisted Mr. J. C. White
of New Zealand to prepare and propose a
resolution asking for a special committee to
prepare a draft plan for an organisation to
direct and supervise a disarmament agreement.
This proposal was accepted unanimously by
the delegates at the final plenary sessions.
Wednesday July yd—
The working sessions for this
day were as follows :
(1) Creating
law for outer space and space
communications.
(2) The United Nations and regional political
organisations as a source of law rules and
legal institutions.
(3) International co-operation on legal education
and research.
(4) Encouraging
international
unification
of
private law.
Topic i (Space) was exceptionally well done. It is
fair to say that the majority of delegates attended
this working session in complete ignorance. They
left it remarkably well briefed and instructed. The
panel had previously been called together and it had
been decided what each member would say. No
speaker duplicated another and furthermore it had
been arranged that a scientist would sit on the panel
and explain exactly the scientific aspects of this
matter before any of the legal aspects were decided,
a step which, for the uninitiated, was of prime
importance.
The remaining topics may be taken together with
those of
Thursday July tfh :
(a)
organising lawyers internationally for effective
cooperative action and
(£) stating the general principles of international
law. Discussion was confined to seeking ways
and means for international organisations of
lawyers to give effect to the objects of this
conference and to encourage law schools and
law societies to place a greater emphasis on
the teaching of international law than they
do at present.
Considerable interest was taken by almost all the
delegates, in international cooperation on legal
education, and in international unification of laws
and particularly in organising lawyers internationally
and in international law generally. Among these
topics were some of the most successful held at the
conference, and while some of the suggestions were
for continuing and other education were nothing
less than startling, the topic dealing with the inter
national organising of lawyers was paramount. This
clearly was the key topic. Something may be done
if local and national law societies and bar associations
are prepared to organise and assist. If they do not
do so however then it will be almost impossible to
traverse
the
resulting
slough of apathy and
indifference.
Friday July ^th
was given over to a plenary session
in considering a lawyers' work programme and a
work programme for the future. Emphasis was
again placed on the fact that lawyers must be inter
nationally organised and that this should be carried
out through law societies and local bar associations.
After a good deal of discussion the work programme
was adopted with some amendments. It is a for
midable document and far too long to reproduce
in a short report. It is sufficient to say that it ranges
over all possible aspects of international law which
might arise under the topics discussed and it was
passed and referred to the executive committee to
decide on the action to be taken in the future.
Among the resolutions adopted before the con
ference ended was that a world centre be set up to
unite the members of the legal profession of the
world for the purpose of furthering the objectives
of the conference. The centre is to cooperate with
existing organisation and to encourage the teaching
and study of international law, recommend and
assist exchanges of students, scholars, jurists and
other leaders of the legal profession and disseminate
the results of such international studies and research.
It was also agreed, but not at all unanimously, to
establish up a "World Law Day" and a "World
Rule of Law Year" (the latter to be something on
the lines of the International Geophysical Year) a
proposal which left a large number of the Europeans
aghast.
One matter however became more and more clear
to the writer as the conference proceeded. It is of
prime importance now and for the future that
lawyers should have a reasonable grounding in
international law. Here in Ireland we are usually last
to involve ourselves in things international, removed
as we are from continental Europe by two seas.
.But we are improving. Air transport and the Com
mon Market have shaken us out of our complacency.
44