PAIL Institute Publications

PAIL Institute Monograph Series

International Claims: Postwar French Practice

Author(s): Weston, Burns H.

Hardcover - 237 pages (1971)
ISBN: 8156-2153-1; LC: 79-134507

Current Price: US $42.00

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About This Publication

International Claims: Postwar French Practice examines the practice of eight French claims commissions established since World War II to distribute lump sums transferred to France by Poland, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania and Egypt as compensation for French property interests affected by those countries' actions.

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About The Author(s)

Burns H. Weston is the Bessie Dutton Murray Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus at The University of Iowa and Director of the University's Center for Human Rights. An Honorary Editor of the American Journal of International Law, he is the author of many international law books and articles, editor of International Law and World Order: Basic Documents (1994-), and, most recently, co-editor and contributor to The Future of International Human Rights (1999). Dr. Weston is a member of the Board of Trustees of The PAIL Institute, and Editor of its Monograph Series.

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Reviews

Fatouros, Indiana Law Journal
"The individual studies and especially the entire series are of inestimable value to everybody concerned with the development of international law. . . . It cannot be denied that this book is a successful application of the New Haven method, through which it achieves exhaustiveness and an orderly arrangement of diffuse materials. . . . Burns Weston is without any doubt--and this is not meant as damning by faint praise--one of the best stylists of the 'New Haven School.' This is not a glamorous book; its strength lies in its detail, its coverage of technical matters its thoroughness . . . . This book is a major achievement."

Rosenblum, American Political Science Review
"It would be a distinct loss to the political science profession if Professor Weston's book were studied only by specialists in international law or comparative government and politics . . . . [His] volume is as rewarding for the general political scientist as it is for the international law or comparative politics specialist; for his analysis of claims practice eschews narrow or purely legalistic components in favor of a sophisticated examination of the multiple interrelated contexts in which claims are asserted. . . . [His] articulate faith and meticulous scholarship deserve a wide audience among political scientists."

Nanda, Denver Journal of International Law and Policy
"The study is unique, for this is the first serious attempt to inquire into this important subject. . . . The significance of the study is further enhanced by Professor Weston's technique in analyzing the French practice. He provides a policy-oriented framework to bring order to this otherwise unwieldly and highly confusing maze of commission's decisions. . . . Most appropriately, this study, as volume 9 of the PAIL series forms part of a broader project, which in the words of its able director, Professor Richard Lillich, 'involves a definitive examination of the lump sum compensation agreements settling claims for the taking of private property rights which have been included by Eastern and Western countries since World War II. . . .' The book is written in a clear style and given the tedious nature of the material, it is no mean achievement that the work is readable. This study. . . is a worthy addition to the growing literature of both the New Haven School and the Procedural Aspects of International Law Series."

Jain, Indian Journal of International Law
"R. B. Lillich's pioneering studies on international settlement claims are competently followed in the present study by Burns Weston. . . . The author's approach throughout the book is analytical and one finds frequent comparative references to the British and American practices. Otherwise inaccessible French materials have been made available to international lawyers. Those interested in the field of international property rights are indebted to him for his contribution."

White, International and Comparative Law Ouarterly
"[This book] . . . should be digested by scholars in administrative as well as international law for the insights which Professor Weston gives into the responses and internal practice of a State with a long history of refined administrative procedures, when faced with the plethora of claims arising from recent 'foreign wealth deprivations'."

Santa Clara Lawyer
"[International Claims: Postwar French Practice] provides key insight into the how's and why's of securing compensation for damaged or destroyed property in foreign countries."

Christenson, American Journal of International Law
"[H]e has clarified remarkably the process of international claims viewed through national experience. . . . The contextual analysis . . . stresses the realities of power and the global policies and strategies sought to be achieved through the settlement of various claims of deprivations of wealth. . . . The book is a solid contribution to scholarship in rethinking the problems of settling wealth deprivations among nations whose nationals have been injured. It is also a valuable study of the heretofore unknown processes of recent French settlement agreements. . . ."

Trooboff, Harvard International Law Journal
"This book . . . constitutes an important contribution to the ever growing literature on post-war claims practices . . . contains valuable material and continually demonstrates the author's profound understanding of his field. . . ."

de Vries, Columbia Law Review
"The topic is an important one. . . . The analytical skill displayed in the organization and presentation of the work furnishes rewarding insights."

Copithorne, The Canadian Yearbook of International Law
"Professor Weston is one of that small but hardy group of experts in post-war international claims practice. . . . Professor Weston deals effectively with his historical context. . . ."

Wallace, Catholic University Law Review
"This is a useful book for people concerned with the subject matter of international claims, not merely French ones."

Miller, The George Washington Law Review
"Professor Weston's book is important because it helps to illuminate how policy-science operates. For the specialist in international claims, it is highly recommended as an imaginative and readable . . . exposition of a bit of territory never before explored. From the footnotes, I gather that Professor Weston has other books in the making. If they (as do his other writings) live up to the high standards of this work, then one can predict with confidence that Weston will soon be widely recognized as one of the leading international law scholars."

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Availability

International Claims: Postwar French Practice is available from:

William S. Hein & Co., Inc.
1285 Main Street
Buffalo, NY 14209

(716) 882-2600
(800) 828-7571 (toll free)
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Hein Item #: 306570

International Claims: Postwar French Practice is also available from Amazon.com.

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Table of Contents

The Table of Contents is not available for this publication.