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Many theories and propositions have been advanced on the tacit assumption that international law encompasses the protection of human rights. Very few, if any, question the validity of this position. Here is a book that does. Theory and Reality in the International Protection of Human Rights presents a defense of the traditional theory of international law-based on a decentralized nation-state system of international relation—as being more appropriate for the analysis of its subject than more recent variants that allow for supranational redress at an increasingly personal level. In particular, Professor Watson shows how the proponents of the international human rights regime persistently use a legislative mode of reasoning, and how international law cannot sustain this technique. He holds that violation of the right to life is best adjudicated within a customary system, and concludes that the validity of the norms of international human rights has yet to be demonstrated. Published under the Transnational Publishers imprint

With the failure of the United Nations to control the use of force by states to the degree that many had wished for, the attention of many commenators shifted to what was hoped would be more fertile ground—the protection of human rights, self-determination, and other areas in which the organization might play a supranational role. In discussing the development of the supranational aspect of the organization, attention is invariably directed to Article 2(7) of the Charter which is, of course, the current symbol of sovereignty. Since most visionaries are frustrated by the concept of sovereignty, it is not surprising that this article has received little sympathy on the part of many who are more concerned with ends than means. Yet it is doubtful whether the concept may be dismissed summarily and, since it plays such a key role in so many of the allegedly developing fields of international law, one would do well to consider how Article 2(7), properly interpreted, affects the legal assumption on which supranationalism is based.