The Legacy of F.F. Martens and the Shadow of Colonialism

Abstract

Abstract This article explores the colonialist legacy of the Russian international lawyer F.F. Martens (1845-1909) who is well known to contemporary international lawyers in particular thanks to the Martens Clause. The article highlights Martens’s activities legitimizing the Congo Free State, his publicist activity at the Revue de droit international et de legislation comparée and his quasi-legislative efforts at the Institut de Droit International, all emanating from his strong support to the distinction between civilized and uncivilized peoples in international law during the colonial era. The main argument in the article is that the colonialist part of the legacy of Martens has been downplayed for the purposes of celebratory myths of origin of international (humanitarian) law, but that this part of his legacy deserves to be remembered as well.