The Law of the United Nations: A Critical Analysis of its Fundamental Problems

by Hans Kelsen

First published under the auspices of The London Institute of World Affairs in 1950. With a supplement, Recent Trends in the Law of the United Nations [1951]. A critical, detailed, highly technical legal analysis of the United Nations charter and organization. Originally New Frederick A. Praeger, [1964].

1014 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1950

About the author

Hans Kelsen was an Austrian jurist, legal philosopher and political philosopher. He was the author of the 1920 Austrian Constitution, which to a very large degree is still valid today. Due to the rise of totalitarianism in Austria (and a 1929 constitutional change), Kelsen left for Germany in 1930 but was forced to leave this university post after Hitler's seizure of power in 1933 because of his Jewish ancestry. That year he left for Geneva and later moved to the United States in 1940. In 1934, Roscoe Pound lauded Kelsen as "undoubtedly the leading jurist of the time." While in Vienna, Kelsen met Sigmund Freud and his circle, and wrote on the subject of social psychology and sociology.

By the 1940s, Kelsen's reputation was already well established in the United States for his defense of democracy and for his Pure Theory of Law. Kelsen's academic stature exceeded legal theory alone and extended to political philosophy and social theory as well. His influence encompassed the fields of philosophy, legal science, sociology, the theory of democracy, and international relations.

Reviews

[Leonardo]

Fue adecuado, por lo tanto, que Kelsen pudiera tener luego el privilegio de participar de las reuniones en San Francisco que fundaron las Naciones Unidas, y viera realizadas sus hipótesis teóricas. Por él las Naciones Unidas organizaron una idea racional.6 Le dieron movimiento a una idea del espíritu; propusieron una base real efectiva para un esquema trascendental de validación del derecho, situado por sobre el Estado-nación. La validez y eficacia del derecho podían ahora unirse en la suprema fuente jurídica, y con estas condiciones la noción de Kelsen de una norma fundamental podría finalmente ser realizada.

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