The Calcutta Weekly Notes March 16 1953

There were again numerous problems of International Law raised by the unfortunate partition of India into two Dominions such as the problems raised by the intervention of Pakistan in Kashmir after her accession to India the problems of the Indus water dispute and the problems of evacuee property whicfi are still pending. [...] At the same time and only two years after the end of the second World War India entered into the turbit lent sea of general international relations with dozens of problems still unsolved and with new problems arising everyday Take for example the problems raised by the establishment of a Communist Govern-.__ ment in China by far the most important neighbour of India a GoVernment which was [...] There were again the prblems -raised by the outbreak of a war in Korea with the subsequent intervention of the United Nations involving problems of neutrality of blockade of rules of warfare of treatment of prisoners of armistice negtiations of repatriation of prisoners in all of which India was destined to play a leaing role as the one great neutral nation of the world to-day. [...] According to the Sttute of the International Court of Justice the sources of International Law are the following:- " (a) international conventions whether general or particular establishing rules epressly recognised by the contesting States; (b) international custom as evidence of a general practice accepted as law; (c) the general principles of law reconised by civilised nations; (d) [...] Article 59 judicial decisions and the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists of the various nations as subsidiary means for the determination of the rules of Law." It is obvious from this enumeration that in International' Law court decisions play a very subordinate role and that the matery of International Law requires an intmate knowledge of the International State practice