Our panel was formed by Interest Group Chair R. St. J. Macdonald, Swedish Ambassador Hans Corell, Interest Group member Professor John King Gamble, and attorney Michael Scharf of the United States Department of State. Judge Macdonald is a member of the European Court of Human Rights and the Faculty at the University of Toronto. Ambassador Corell serves in Sweden's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Professor Gamble teaches International Law at the Behrend College Campus of Penn State University. Mr. Scharf is the Attorney Advisor for UN Affairs at the US Department of State. The Reporter was Tobi Dress, Special Adviser to the City of New York's Commission on Human Rights.

Due to the availability of taped sessions from the ASIL, the following paragraphs need only summarize the panel discussion. I will later highlight the details discussed at the two Interest Group meetings during the April Annual Meeting of the Society.

After introducing the speakers, Chair Macdonald opened the panel discussion with a chronology of the UN Decade Program. He also mentioned that the United Nations hopes for more definitive "UN" legislation from the US Congress in the next two years. There have been incremental advances toward the ideals of the Decade. A realistic assessment would preclude achievement of all of the UN Decade's ambitious objectives (see December 1992 Newsletter) before the close of the Decade.

Ambassador Corell, a member of the UN's Sixth Committee, addressed the background of the Decade, actions that might be taken by States toward implementation of its objectives, and the role of universities, NGOs, and the US. He addressed the issue of peaceful dispute settlement alternatives through enhanced recognition of the ICJ, Permanent Court of Arbitration, and other international tribunals. The Ambassador also suggested that States encourage international law studies in their social and political science departments. He discussed possible development of a booklet for educating students at earlier levels, as well as the general public. Ambassador Corell closed his presentation by expressing his hope that States would become parties to more multilateral treaties while simultaneously withdrawing existing reservations.

Professor Gamble expressed his concern that too few universities offer undergraduate international law courses. University courses do not focus directly on the legal aspects of international law. They are driven almost exclusively in terms of "International Relations" or "The History of Diplomacy." The media, and to some extent international law teachers, contribute to this problem - by insisting that international law is too complex to explain to lay audiences.

The final panel speaker was practitioner Michael Scharf. He was predictably unable to comment on the Department of State's official position on the Decade. In his private capacity, however, Mr. Scharf noted that the US had chosen not to establish a National Committee on the UN Decade. This decision was deemed appropriate, due to the viable work of US NGOs such as the ASIL. (The ASIL has also been granted observer status at the UN.)

The American Bar Association (US) is considering a draft statement that will encourage state bar examiners to include the subject of International Law in their testing processes. The ABA's International Law Committee will prepare its similar position paper this month, for potential consideration at the August 1993 ABA Convention. There has been a proliferation of international law reviews in the US. Mr. Scharf agreed with Ambassador Corell about the need for a booklet for high schools and the general public, defining the general contours of the subject. The US has the most to gain, and to lose, if its citizens do not recognize the need for the observance of international law.

The ensuing Question and Answer period was taped (as well as the panel presentations), and is available from the ASIL.