Book Reviews Reuter, Paul. Introduction au droit des traités. 3ème édition. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1995. Pp. xi, 251. FF 200. This book is the updated version of Paul Reuter's well-known Introduction au droit des traités, first published in 1972. The second edition of the book was translated into English by José Mico and Peter Haggenmacher (Kegan Paul, ed.). In his Preface to this third edition, Philippe Cahier acknowledges that his contribution to this edition, prepared after the death of Paul Reuter, is intentionally discrete and mainly limited to recent developments in relation to the 1986 Convention on the Law of Treaties between States and International Organizations or between International Organizations. The book therefore maintains the structure of the previous editions. An introductory chapter dedicated to the `phénomène conventionnel' is followed by three chapters, covering the conclusion and entry into force of treaties, their effects and the circumstances of their non-application (invalidity, suspension and termination). Each chapter is followed by interesting `complementary notes', providing ample bibliographical references and insightful remarks. The text of the Vienna Conventions of 1969 and 1986 are reproduced at the end of the volume, together with the various declarations. This rather conformist structure reflects a fine analysis of the law of treaties, very much in line with the tradition of French positivism. Of course, positivism is out of date, considered by many to be mistaken and of little interest. But positivism at its best is a difficult skill and Paul Reuter's Introduction is in this regard a masterpiece of clarity, precision and conciseness. Its primary pedagogical purpose could probably not have been better, nor otherwise, achieved. Besides, treaty law, like contract law or even plumbing, is a technique and the methods for learning it correctly are not so abundant. Written by a former member of the International Law Commission who took part in the negotiation of the Vienna Convention of 1969, the book is, however, obviously more than just an introduction to the technique of treaty law. It is more generally an essay on the question of the (contractual) creation of law in a decentralized community of states. No doubt the problem lies at the root of international law and is so intrinsically linked to it that perhaps no other field of study could so directly reveal the chief features of that legal order. But, as always, the idea that one has of the system influences the understanding of its most widely used expressions and vice versa. Behind the pure and impersonal account of what a treaty is and how it functions, one may therefore surprisingly discover in hints given a rather generous and hopeful representation of the ius gentium. For instance, Reuter underlines throughout his book the practical and conceptual changes brought about by the development of multilateral treaties. Even if consensualism remains at the heart of the law of treaties, he considers that trend to be a sure sign of a certain `socialization' of international relations since the strict reciprocity rule, so characteristic of bilateralism, is as such inapplicable to multilateral treaties (p. 120). The emergence of peremptory norms, which reflect, according to Reuter, the moral foundations of all law (p. 129), would reveal the same tendency; if reciprocity does not apply in the case of a breach of a ius cogens rule, it would be precisely because it is created by a much more powerful and deep-rooted opinio iuris than the one that helped craft the treaty embodying the rule (p. 176). Considering such opinions, one is only half-surprised to read that Reuter views the development of international law as a `federalism to be' (p. 55). One is, of course, free to disagree with such a backdrop. It is, however, difficult not to praise the distinguished manner with which Paul Reuter introduces his readers to the complex play of treaties. Pierre d'Argent Université catholique de Louvain
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