TOWARD A LAW OF NATIONS

In London's ancient Westminster Hall last week U.S. Attorney General Herbert Brownell set down a modern-day challenge to lawyers of two continents in a speech to the American Bar Association. Excerpts:

HERE in Westminster Hall--this place of sacred traditions running back through the centuries and the precious heritage of all English speaking peoples--there crowd in upon us today memories of the historic events which have occurred in this great chamber, signalizing as they do the efforts of men to gain and preserve freedom. We recall the panoply of events during which the individual, by dint of hard and persistent struggles to obtain his cherished rights, gradually secured them from the forces of power and privilege.

We have returned to meet together here--returned to rededicate ourselves to the cause of justice at your historic shrine of freedom . . . The keystones of government by law--due process, freedom of speech, jury trial, freedom of the press, fair trial and freedom of worship--have for us all a ringing appeal. And we have a serene confidence that all mankind, when allowed the choice, will claim these invaluable rights. Just yesterday, for example, we observed the Hungarians confirm our faith in the insatiable appetite of all people for freedom--an urge that will brook impossible odds for its satisfaction, proving to the entire world that life without freedom becomes unbearable ... In many parts of this planet men of every color and background are awakening to the immeasurable worth of a free way of life. They are coming to know that through education and enterprise this free way of life can be possible for all. They are revolted by the brutal use of force to repress freedom under totalitarian dictatorships.

The current contest between ideologies for the minds of men has done us, too, a signal, if unexpected, service. It has cast in sharp relief what we have and support, against the backdrop of the terrible tyranny of totalitarian governments and their ruthless domination over the lives of human beings. In defending the ways of a free people we have been forced to compare our systems, so that all who are able to learn may make a choice.

As a result of this analysis of our way of life, we must inevitably conclude that our greatest deficiency is that we have not yet applied our knowledge of how men may govern themselves by law to the determination of all disputes between countries. The opportunity now presented for men and peoples skilled in the law is therefore the greatest of all time. What we need is the development of the law of nations in our age which will first bind the countries of the world into solemn voluntary pacts governing their great interests on the world scene, in contrast to unilateral exploitations by the mighty.

It has been well said that the emphasis in international life must shift from torts to contracts. And also we must perfect a machinery for a settlement of international disputes--not occasionally but on a total basis--under a tribunal or system of tribunals which will command general confidence as to the fairness of their judgments and whose procedures will be supported by a public opinion which will not tolerate a departure from them. We must establish an era where nations as well as individuals are subject to justice under law.

A civilization which has brought forth the methods of the common law and developed the bill of rights should not shrink from this new command from a sorely troubled humanity. Creating a system of law for the nations of the world should not be beyond its competence. That should not be more difficult than the development of the rights of man to justice under law. In addition, today, we have a new factor to help in the acceptance of such a plan--a compulsion to try to preserve life itself which is a force that will not be denied. Certainly the peoples of our host country who did not flinch or hesitate when one of their greatest leaders, Winston Churchill, offered them only blood, toil, tears and sweat, will respond to this new challenge.

We of the American Bar avidly look forward to laboring with your men of the law and to joining hand in hand in such a common effort--a work which we could do in behalf of the entire world. It would be a search for a means to apply what we have learned of justice between men to the affairs of nations.

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