CANADA AND MODERN INTERNATIONAL LAW

Abstract

In this article the author suggests that there is growing need for a new international legal order. He offers several reasons for concern including the tremendous economic, social, and political developments that have taken place in the last fifty years, as well as the emerging notion that the peace of the world depends on the establishment of an international Rule of Law. The author then examines Dicey’s interpretation of the Rule of Law and suggests that if recast generally, the three propositions underlying that interpretation may provide valuable goals for all freedom-loving states in developing a new international legal order. Through a brief discussion of the United Nations and of the growth of regional organizations, as well as a brief discussion of functional collaboration, he illustrates the current progress towards this end. The author concludes with a brief examination of the role of treaties in international law, as well as with a discussion of the importance of Canada’s role in the development of the new international legal order.