[1][2] The idea to form an organization that would codify international law was established at a meeting of the Third Committee of American Jurists in Rio de Janeiro on July 16, 1912.
[4] The institute was founded on October 12, 1912[5] by James Brown Scott and Alejandro Alvarez, and inaugurated December 29, 1915, at the Second Pan American Scientific Congress, held in Washington, D.C. On January 6, 1916, it adopted a Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Nations.
The Declaration differed from other projects of a like kind in that it was not based solely upon philosophic principles, but was based exclusively upon decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States.
[6] The organization met irregularly through at least 1938, churning out several international law papers on topics such as statehood, diplomatic and consular agents, and peaceful international dispute resolution.
[7] By 1957, due in part to a lack of financial resources, the Institute was no longer active.