Saturday, March 27, 2010

van Nifterik and Nijman on Grotius's Mare Liberum

Gustaff van Nifterik and Janne Elisabeth Nijman, University of Amsterdam, have posted their introduction to a special issue of Grotiana, "Mare Liberum Revisited (1609-2009)." The introduction is published as Grotiana 30 (2009): 3-19. Here is the abstract:
This introduction to the Grotiana Special Issue on Mare Liberum (1609-2009) gives a rough sketch of the context of Mare liberum’s publication and the main arguments Grotius made in this pamphlet. It touches briefly on some of the latest arguments on Mare liberum and provides a survey of the contributions to this Commemorative Issue. Moreover, it sets the stage for the contributions which elaborate on the fate of Grotian concepts - not so much by historically tracing these ideas over the past 400 years, but by offering an analysis of how similar concepts are used in international law today.
And, don't forget the Yale Law Library's exhibit, Freedom of the Seas, 1609: Grotius and the Emergence of International Law.