2010 Digest of US Practice in International Law Available Soon

By Alan Gray, NewsBlaze  

Each year, the US Department of State publishes the "Digest of United States Practice in International Law."

The publication, available electronically on the State Department website, is a"Digest" that covers developments during 2010. The print version should be available in print, December 30, 2011.

The Department of State says the Digest can be traced back to an 1877 treatise by John Cadwalader, which was followed by multi-volume encyclopedias covering selected areas of international law."

The "Digest" had a somewhat checkered career. After 1963, some called it "Whiteman's," naming it after Marjorie Whiteman, the publication's editor from 1963-1971. After 1973, the Office of the Legal Adviser published the "Digest" annually, changing its focus to documentation current to the year.

Publication was temporarily suspended after 1988, resuming in 2000. Since then, volumes for 1989 through 2010 have been published. A cumulative index covering 1989-2006 was published in 2007, and in 2010, the index was updated to cover 1989-2008.

Edited by the Office of the Legal Adviser, the "Digest" is co-published by Oxford University Press and the International Law Institute. Annual volumes of the "Digest "for 2004-2010 and the updated cumulative index are available from Oxford University Press Order Department.

The International Law Institute in Washington, D.C. has volumes covering 1989 to 2003.