Mr. Asamoah's book is concerned with an area of growing importance in the evolution of contemporary international law. The traditional division of the sources of International law into custom and treaties has already been supplemented in Article 38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice by the "general principles of law re cognized by civilized nations" and-as subsidiary sources, the judicial decisions and the teachings of highly qualified publicists. But in order to cope with the diversity of international law in our time, we have to look to a far greater variety of sources of international law, and we shall have to recognize that, in accordance with the many-sided character of international law, these sources may vary greatly in intensity. In recent years, Declaratory Resolutions of the General Assembly have been much concerned with the general princi ples of international law. Sometimes these Declarations are interpre tations of the Charter and other instruments; sometimes they are evi dence of state practice and a developing customary international law ; sometimes they formulate new principles which, in some cases will eventually lead to international treaties or new custom, or in other cases will be accepted as authorative statements of international legal principles, in circumstances where a formal treaty cannot be attained. There are many reasons--often of an internal character-which prevent the conclusion of a treaty but not the acceptance of the principles contained in it.

The Charter of the United Nations was signed in 1945 by 51 countries representing all continents, paving the way for the creation of the United Nations on 24 October 1945. The Statute of the International Court of Justice forms part of the Charter. The aim of the Charter is to save humanity from war; to reaffirm human rights and the dignity and worth of the human person; to proclaim the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small; and to promote the prosperity of all humankind. The Charter is the foundation of international peace and security.

A collection of United Nations documents associated with the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, these volumes facilitate research into the scope of, meaning of and intent behind the instrument's provisions. It permits an examination of the various drafts of what became the thirty articles of the Declaration, including one of the earliest documents – a compilation of human rights provisions from national constitutions, organised thematically. The documents are organised chronologically and thorough thematic indexing facilitates research into the origins of specific rights and norms. It is also annotated in order to provide information relating to names, places, events and concepts that might have been familiar in the late 1940s but are today more obscure.

Selected from the papers presented at the twenty-third International Social Philosophy Conference held in July of 2006 at University of Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia --Preface.

Differing interpretations of the history of the United Nations on the one hand conceive of it as an instrument to promote colonial interests while on the other emphasize its influence in facilitating self-determination for dependent territories. The authors in this book explore this dynamic in order to expand our understanding of both the achievements and the limits of international support for the independence of colonized peoples. This book will prove foundational for scholars and students of modern history, international history, and postcolonial history.