Review Essay : Review Essay Symposium

Abstract

Thomas Franck's 1993 <it>General Course</it> at the Hague Academy of International Law, subsequently published in 1995 as <it>Fairness in International Law and Institutions</it>, is the subject of a series of critical evaluations by a group of British scholars, including Iain Scobbie, Holly Cullen, Stephen Tierney, Dino Kritsiotis and John Tasioulas, and introduced by Colin Warbrick. The publication of these essays marks the culmination of the first program of work of the Committee on Theory and International Law of the International Law Association (British Branch). Franck responds to his critics by rejecting claims of cultural relativism and calling for a celebration of the growing international consensus around decent aspirational values, such as the sanctity of life, right to democracy, participation in governance, freedom of religion and expression, the right to a decent standard of living, and the inherently equal worth of all persons.