Professor Rahmatullah Khan is currently Secretary General of the Indian Society of International Law and also the Editor-in-Chief of the Indian Journal of International Law. He is a former professor of International Law in the International Legal Studies Division and held the Jawaharlal Nehru Chair for International Environmental Law at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He also held the position of Rector at the University. He was the recipient of the Humboldt Research Award in recognition of achievements in teaching and research, the first Indian scholar in International Law to do so. This article was first published in the IDSA Journal, 8(2/3), October–December 1975/January–March 1976, pp. 252–265.
The new World Economic Order, advocated at the end of the Sixth Special Session of the UN General Assembly through a Declaration in Action Programme, and later by the regular session of the Assembly in the form of the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties, poses quite a few problems. Its legal validity, its political wisdom, its economic content and a host of other issues have been questioned. The two instruments contain provocative provisions, like the right to nationalise foreign property.