PROFESSOR WILLIAM BUTLER PUBLISHES TRANSLATION OF THE FIFTH EDITION OF THE MARTENS’ TREATISE ON PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW
November 2021 — Professor William E. Butler has edited and translated F.F Martens's Contemporary International Law of Civilized Peoples, General Part. Talbot Publishing, an imprint of The Lawbook Exchange, announced that the book is now available to order through their site.
First published in Russian in 1882-1883, Contemporary International Law of Civilized Peoples ranks among the greatest treatises on international law and relations written during the nineteenth century. In this work Martens develops his concept of the international community and the respective roles of "civilized" and "uncivilized" peoples, and promotes several concepts that would become important in the twentieth century, such as the importance of "international administrative law" and the central role of human rights. The work has two complementary parts: the General Part, which addresses the conceptual and historical foundations of international law, the status of the international community, states, and individuals and territory and law of treaties, and the Special Part, which addresses Martens's concept of international administration, diplomatic and consular law, human rights, private international law, international criminal law and the laws of war and neutrality.
Enriched by an extensive biographical introduction, Butler's is the first English translation of this important work and the only version in any language to address changes made by the author between editions, including sections omitted in later versions. At long last, the English reader has access to the leading Russian thinker and diplomatist of the Imperial Russian period, one who continues to influence the development of international law.
Professor William Butler is the John Edward Fowler Distinguished Professor of Law at Penn State Dickinson Law; Emeritus Professor of Comparative Law, University College London; and Foreign Member, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine; National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine; and the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences; Associate Member, International Academy of Comparative Law; member, American Law Institute. He recently published International Law in the Russian Legal System (Oxford University Press, 2020) and Chapter 11 in T. E. Carbonneau, W. E. Butler, and H. A. Blair, International Litigation: Cases and Materials (3d ed.; West, 2020).