Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of plates
- Acknowledgments
- List of abbreviations
- Prologue and introduction
- 1 Background and early years, 1897–1919
- 2 Vienna: research, engagement and marriage, 1919–1923
- 3 England and the London School of Economics, 1923–1937
- 4 Cambridge, 1937–1939: the Whewell Chair
- 5 The war years, Part I: September 1939–January 1941
- 6 The war years, Part II: February 1941–March 1942
- 7 The war years, Part III: April 1942–December 1944
- 8 Human rights
- 9 The years of practice, 1945–1950
- 10 1950–1954
- 11 The International Court of Justice, 1955–1960
- Epilogue: the man
- Appendix 1 The published writings of Sir Hersch Lauterpacht
- Appendix 2 Biographical and academic writings on Sir Hersch Lauterpacht
- Appendix 3 Obituaries of Sir Hersch Lauterpacht
- Appendix 4 Chronology of significant events in the life of Sir Hersch Lauterpacht
- Index
10 - 1950–1954
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 June 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of plates
- Acknowledgments
- List of abbreviations
- Prologue and introduction
- 1 Background and early years, 1897–1919
- 2 Vienna: research, engagement and marriage, 1919–1923
- 3 England and the London School of Economics, 1923–1937
- 4 Cambridge, 1937–1939: the Whewell Chair
- 5 The war years, Part I: September 1939–January 1941
- 6 The war years, Part II: February 1941–March 1942
- 7 The war years, Part III: April 1942–December 1944
- 8 Human rights
- 9 The years of practice, 1945–1950
- 10 1950–1954
- 11 The International Court of Justice, 1955–1960
- Epilogue: the man
- Appendix 1 The published writings of Sir Hersch Lauterpacht
- Appendix 2 Biographical and academic writings on Sir Hersch Lauterpacht
- Appendix 3 Obituaries of Sir Hersch Lauterpacht
- Appendix 4 Chronology of significant events in the life of Sir Hersch Lauterpacht
- Index
Summary
1950
Recognition
The year 1950 began with a rare venture into letter-writing to a newspaper. This was in connection with the change in the British Government's attitude towards the position of the Nationalist Government of China and the associated recognition of the Communist People's Republic of China. The change was announced on 6 January 1950, and on that same day, at the instigation of the Foreign Office, Hersch published in The Times an extended restatement of the law relating to recognition:
It may be helpful, at a time when His Majesty's Government is faced [in China] with the necessity of taking a decision of great moment, to state the rule of international law in the matter of recognition of Governments. Such action as is about to be taken must be based on legal principles capable of general application and rooted in the practice of this and other States. It must not be open to the charge that it is being adopted exclusively for the sake of advantages which may be immediate and tangible but which are insignificant when weighed in the balance of the enduring interests of this country and of the peace of the world.
The problem of recognition of Governments is one of the crucial issues of international law. It touches the independence of States at one of its most vital points. To decline to recognise a Government is to withhold from the community which it governs most of the advantages of international law. It involves, among other things, a refusal to acknowledge the validity of its legislative and judicial acts; and the denial to it and its organs of the ordinary jurisdictional immunities. […]
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- Information
- The Life of Hersch Lauterpacht , pp. 332 - 372Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010