1994/01/01 by Oscar Schachter
Social Sciences · #Global Peace and Security Dynamics #International Law and Human Rights
paper · doi:10.2307/2204020
crossref issued 1994/01/01 · crossref published 1994/01/01 · crossref published-print 1994/01/01 · openalex publication_date 1994/01/01 · crossref created 2006/04/21 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · crossref published-online 2017/02/27 · crossref deposited 2020/08/12 · crossref indexed 2026/07/30 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
As the United Nations system approaches its fiftieth anniversary, there is good reason to take a fresh view of its contribution to legal order in the contemporary world. That contribution has rarely been assessed in its full generality. A half century of law creation and application by the United Nations and its specialized agencies has produced a corpus juris of impressive breadth and diversity. Not surprisingly, the greater part of this law is known only to those specially concerned with a particular area or subject. Indeed, no one can be expected to be knowledgeable in all, or even most, of the fields covered. Still, along with the diversity, common elements can be found to enable us to characterize the total product as a distinctive, multilayered legal order. This essay is an overview of its essential and interesting features. It aims particularly at informing the many nonspecialists in and outside the international law community who have reason to be interested in the process and substance of the legal contribution of the UN system.