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The Law and Practice of the United Nations. By Benedetto Conforti. The Hague, London, Boston: Kluwer Law International, 1996. Pp. xvi, 294. Index. Fl 145; $97; 65.
As stated in the book's preface, it is "the upto-date version of the fifth Italian edition of a textbook on the United Nations which was first published in 1971" (p. v). The very fact that it has gone through five editions since the early seventies certainly attests to its success within the Italian academic community.
Professor Conforti's aim has been to produce a textbook that first and foremost is intended to serve students introduced for the first time to the history and workings of the United Nations. Thus, the book's chapters are devoted to the main constitutional and institutional problems that have confronted the Organization since its inception in 1945.
Following a short introduction (dealing with the genesis of the Charter and with questions such as its interpretation and the "rigidity" of its amendment procedures), the book proceeds to discuss problems of membership (admission, withdrawal, suspension and expulsion) and to provide a detailed...