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Editorial Committee of the Cambridge Law Journal
Workmen's Compensation by Arnold Wilson; Hermann LevyReview by: R. M. J.The Cambridge Law Journal, Vol. 7, No. 2 (1940), p. 294Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of Editorial Committee of the Cambridge LawJournalStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4503268 .
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294 294 The Cambridge Law Journal. The Cambridge Law Journal.
Evidence before International Tribunals. By DURWARD V. SANDIFER, M.A., LL.B., Ph.D., Assistant to the Legal Adviser of the Department of State. Chicago: The Founda- tion Press, Inc. 1939. xii and 433 pp. ($10.00)
THERE is, properly speaking, no international law of evidence, for each tribunal is a law unto itself governed by the terms of the compromis. However, the compromis often says little or nothing about evidence and the arbitrators are left to improvise, or to draw on previous arbitral practice or private law analogies. In this way there has grown up a mass of precedents which show a surprising degree of uniformity. This book appears to be the first systematic treatise on that very important body of practice. The author has had first-hand experience of the working of international tribunals and, indeed, it was the difficulty he then experienced in ascertaining international practice in the matter of evidence that persuaded him to undertake this study. The result is a very useful practitioners' guide to the sources: it should also be consulted by anyone interested in the contributions made by common and civil law doctrines to international law. There is an appendix of documents and a bibliography.
R. Y. J.
Workmen's Compensation. Vol. I. By Sir ARNOLD WILSON, M.P., and Professor HERMANN LEVY. Oxford University Press. 1939. xxi and 328 pp. (10s.)
THIS volume deals with the social and political development of workmen's compensation. It is a short history of the relevant parts of the common law and a detailed history of the Employers' Liability Act and the Workmen's Compensation Acts. The questions asked are essentially: Why was legislation needed? What form did it take and what concepts lie behind that form? What have been the results? Certain points stand out clearly. The judges failed to adapt the common law rules to modern needs. The policy of Parliament allowed insurers to build up vested interests, and these interests now stand in the way of reform. The workman's employer need not be insured. The insurance is costly and, as a public service, monstrous; in 1920 only 48 per cent. of premiums was available for claims, the rest being absorbed by expenses and profits. The expenses and profits have been reduced to 40 per cent., which compares unfavourably with American experience of State manage- ment that leaves over 90 per cent. of premiums free to meet claims. The present system keeps accident-prevention and compensation as two separate topics instead of uniting them. The authors have obviously produced this book at great speed; what is lost in form may be gained in utility, for the Royal Commission on Workmen's Compensation is still sitting and there is yet time for enlightened opinion to have some effect. It is to be hoped that the second volume, on the need for reform, will appear as soon as possible.
R. M. J.
Evidence before International Tribunals. By DURWARD V. SANDIFER, M.A., LL.B., Ph.D., Assistant to the Legal Adviser of the Department of State. Chicago: The Founda- tion Press, Inc. 1939. xii and 433 pp. ($10.00)
THERE is, properly speaking, no international law of evidence, for each tribunal is a law unto itself governed by the terms of the compromis. However, the compromis often says little or nothing about evidence and the arbitrators are left to improvise, or to draw on previous arbitral practice or private law analogies. In this way there has grown up a mass of precedents which show a surprising degree of uniformity. This book appears to be the first systematic treatise on that very important body of practice. The author has had first-hand experience of the working of international tribunals and, indeed, it was the difficulty he then experienced in ascertaining international practice in the matter of evidence that persuaded him to undertake this study. The result is a very useful practitioners' guide to the sources: it should also be consulted by anyone interested in the contributions made by common and civil law doctrines to international law. There is an appendix of documents and a bibliography.
R. Y. J.
Workmen's Compensation. Vol. I. By Sir ARNOLD WILSON, M.P., and Professor HERMANN LEVY. Oxford University Press. 1939. xxi and 328 pp. (10s.)
THIS volume deals with the social and political development of workmen's compensation. It is a short history of the relevant parts of the common law and a detailed history of the Employers' Liability Act and the Workmen's Compensation Acts. The questions asked are essentially: Why was legislation needed? What form did it take and what concepts lie behind that form? What have been the results? Certain points stand out clearly. The judges failed to adapt the common law rules to modern needs. The policy of Parliament allowed insurers to build up vested interests, and these interests now stand in the way of reform. The workman's employer need not be insured. The insurance is costly and, as a public service, monstrous; in 1920 only 48 per cent. of premiums was available for claims, the rest being absorbed by expenses and profits. The expenses and profits have been reduced to 40 per cent., which compares unfavourably with American experience of State manage- ment that leaves over 90 per cent. of premiums free to meet claims. The present system keeps accident-prevention and compensation as two separate topics instead of uniting them. The authors have obviously produced this book at great speed; what is lost in form may be gained in utility, for the Royal Commission on Workmen's Compensation is still sitting and there is yet time for enlightened opinion to have some effect. It is to be hoped that the second volume, on the need for reform, will appear as soon as possible.
R. M. J.
This content downloaded from 185.2.32.89 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 07:01:24 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
