Book Reviews
![handle is hein.journals/incolq14 and id is 323 raw text is: BOOK REVIEWS
The Changing Structure of International Law. By WOLFGANG
FRIEDMANN. [London: Stevens & Sons.' 1964. xvi and
410 pp. £2 17s. 6d. net.]
Paosxssoa FRXEDMANw needs no introduction as an authority on jurisprudence
and legal theory, and particularly on the problems confronting the law against
a changing social background. He has also contributed many monographs
and articles on questions of international law, particularly in the economic
and administrative fields. But, unless this reviewer is mistaken, this is
Professor Friedmann's first magnum opus on international law. Of the
significance of the work there can be no doubt whatever. It is a work of the
same genre as Professor de Visscher's Thdories et Rdalitds en Droit Inter-
national Public and Professor Ruling's International Law in an Expanded
World; whilst its broad, essentially sociological, approach has certain affinities
with the works of Professors Schwarzenberger and Stone.
There is also surely an echo of the works of Dr. Jenks in the following
passage (on the opening page of Professor Friedmann's book) :
In the last half-century, the nature and structure of international
society has undergone fundamental transformations which, though far
from completed, have already profoundly modified the substance and
structure of international law. The science of international law is,
however, still predominantly based on the system of international rela-
tions, as it developed from the time of Grotius and Gentili to the
beginning of the twentieth century. To the majority of the writers and
exponents of international law, contemporary changes appear as extensions
and modifications rather than as basic challenges to the structure of
international law and relations. '
This passage, which is representative of Professor Friedmann's whole
approach, is not, of course, original in itself. Indeed, it is not too difficult
to diagnose the changes which have recently come over international law.
It is, however, more difficult to persuade the majority of the writers and
exponents of international law to assimilate these changes realistically into
their system. International lawyers are notoriously suspicious of prophets.
Without in any way being didactic, Professor Friedmann discharges gently
but effectively a quasi-prophetic role. He begins by considering the main
changes that have taken place in international law-its vertical extension to
new fields such as economic collaboration and welfare; its horizontal expansion
so that it now takes in all the civilisations and cultures of the world; the
influence of ideologies; the impact of new weapons, and so on. He also insists
on the necessity of considering three main levels of international law-the
law of co-existence, where international law is limited to the traditional sphere
of diplomatic inter-State relations and where, for technical reasons, its
present role is extremely restricted; the law of co-operation on a universal
level, again rather restricted owing to ideological divisions; and the law of
co-operation on a regional level (e.g., the European Economic Community),
where Professor Friedmann sees considerably greater possibilities.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/incolq14&div=14&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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