Description:This is the second volume of the Yearbook, edited by the directors of the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, in Heidelberg, Germany. The publication constitutes the first scholarly Yearbook to focus on activities of the United Nations in the field of international law. It recognises the recent increased impact of World Organization, its Specialized Agencies and other aspects of the United Nations system, as well as their effect on the shaping of international relations. By concentrating on the issues connected with the United Nations and its initiatives, the Yearbook aims to facilitate a better appreciation of the changes the United Nations has undergone during the constantly fluctuating conditions of its first half-century, and to create a forum in which the potential of international organisations to affect the future course of international relations can be examined and assessed.