Expropriation of Foreign Property

Abstract

Strange as it may seem, a coherent theory of expropriation as a separate institution has not been developed in the literature of international law. For the most part only partial aspects of the subject have been treated, and under widely differing categories, e.g., under the general title of “ rights of foreigners,” or “ denial of justice,” or “ international responsibility of states.” But international practice, as embodied in diplomatic and judicial cases, yields sufficient material from which to develop a theory of expropriation as a coherent body of rules of positive international law.