Digest of International Law
The Digest of International Law , since 1973 under the title Digest of United States Practice in International Law , is a series of publications of the United States Department of State that has been published since 1886 and is one of the most important publications in the field of international law .
The first editions, which contained comprehensive analyzes of selected topics from the field of international law, appeared as multi-volume works of an encyclopedic character. The first Digest , published in three volumes in 1886, was edited by Francis Wharton . John Bassett Moore (1906, eight volumes), Green Haywood Hackworth (1940 to 1944, eight volumes) and Marjorie Millace Whiteman (1963 to 1972, 15 volumes) were responsible for the other editions .
Beginning in 1973, the content orientation and the frequency of publication changed. The focus of the now annually published Digest has since been the yearbook-like documentary summary of the development of international law in the previous year, with a focus on the corresponding practice in the United States . The annual publication cycle was maintained until 1980. For the period from 1981 to 1988, a three-volume edition was published between 1993 and 1995. From 1989 to 1999 the regular publication of the Digest was suspended.
The work has been published annually since 2000. In addition, a volume for the years 1989/1990 and three years later a two-volume edition for the period 1991 to 1999 were published. From 1989 to 2010 Oxford University Press , the university publishing house of the University of Oxford , was responsible for the publication of the Digest . Starting with the 2011 edition, the work will only appear online.