On the law of war and peace

The title page of the second edition (1631).

De jure belli ac pacis libri tres (Three Books on the Law of War and Peace) is a treatise by Hugo Grotius on the legal foundations of war , which was published in Paris in 1625 with the dedication of Louis XIII and formed the basis of modern law of the New Age .

Grotius began to write a treatise in Latin in prison, inspired by the ideas of the Spaniards Francisco de Vitoria and Francisco Suarez . The work was completed in exile, in Senlis , in 1623.

The life period of Hugo Grotius came during the Eighty and Thirty Years Wars between Catholics and Protestants of Europe, so he was deeply concerned about the possibility of legal settlement of conflicts between states and religions. Grotius wrote:

I am fully convinced ... that there is a common law of peoples that applies to war and during war, I had many good reasons to undertake to write on this subject. Throughout the Christian world, I have observed a lack of restriction in the relationship of war, which even barbarian peoples should be ashamed of; I watched people clutching weapons for minor reasons, or for no reason at all, and when the weapon was raised, everyone forgot about any respect for law, God and man; it is as if, in accordance with the general decision, madness gives everyone the freedom to commit any crime.

The treatise Grotius consolidated the system of principles of the so-called. natural laws , which are binding on all people and all peoples, despite local custom. The work consists of three books:

• Book I develops his concept of war and natural justice, considering issues of just war.
• Book II defines three “justifiable reasons” for war: self-defense, redress, and punishment; and also analyzes in detail the main international legal institutions;
• Book III addresses the question of what standards to follow when the war broke out; and also outlines the path to an early end to all wars.

The treatise of Grotius was a huge success, by 1775 there were 77 editions of this work, mostly in Latin, but also in Dutch, French, German, English and Spanish. The treatise was first published in Russian in 1902 in a free presentation by Arkady Press (publisher P. Soikin ) ^[1] , and in full - in 1956, edited by S. B. Krylov .

This work laid the foundation for the development of modern international law. The ideas of Grotius were developed in the writings of representatives of the school of pure natural law ( Samuel Pufendorf , Christian Tomasius , Emer de Vatel and others).