THE EX-KAISER.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " 13.PEOTATOR."]
Sia,—At the present. time there seems to be no law, international or other, in existence which renders the action of a Sovereign in entering upon war against another State, under circumstances however little justifiable, punishable as a crime. The idea, of such criminal liability is new. There is no precedent. So that, if the ex-Kaiser is to be tried, the first thing, to be done is to make a law for the purpose. But it is a principle of -English law, founded upon a perception of natural justice, that an offence cannot be made criminal by ex post facto legislation (Nunguam crescit ex post facto praeteriti delicti aestimatio). In the face of this how can this country justify participation in the proposed proceedings F—I am, Sir,
GEORGE J. Noreen.
Park Road, Ipswich.
[The Kaiser ought to be tried, as supreme commander of the German armies, for breaches of the rules of war. A few of these rules are strictly only customs, but most have been definitely made laws by the Geneva and Hague Conventions.— En. Spectator.]
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