Articles 336, 337, 386; also in Part XIII., Articles 415-420, 423). The members of the committee unanimously approved of a scheme which was duly laid before the Council of the League. Its essential points are as follows:
As regards the organization of the court (Articles 1-30) it is to consist of II judges and four deputy judges, elected for nine-year terms and eligible for reelection, their salaries to be determined by the Assembly of the League, upon the proposal of the council. The president or presiding judge, to be chosen by the court itself for a term of three years, shall receive, while holding the office, a special grant to be determined in the same way. The assembly, upon pro- posal by the council, may increase the number of judges to 15, and of deputy judges to six.
Members of the Hague Court of Arbitration belonging to States that are members of the League shall be invited by the secretary- general of the League to form themselves into national groups for the purpose of nominating by each group not more than two persons, qualified to become judges in the Permanent Court. The nominees may be of any nationality. From the persons thus named the assem- bly and the council shall each elect judges and deputy judges. Those who receive an absolute majority of votes in each body are elected. Only one candidate may be chosen from any one national- ity. The whole body of judges " should represent the main forms of civilization and the principal legal systems of the world."
If, after three election sessions of the council and assembly, one or mpre seats on the bench remain unfilled, a joint conference com- mittee of those two bodies may name candidates for each vacant seat, and may, by unanimous agreement, present new names.
If all vacancies are not filled by this method, the members of the court itself shall complete their number by selection from among those who have received votes, either in the assembly or in the council. If there should be a tie vote among the judges the eldest judge shall have a casting vote.
During their terms of office the justices may not exercise any political functions, may not act as agent or advocate in any inter- national case, and may not sit in any case in which they have pre- viously taken an active part in any capacity. The members of the court, outside of their own country, shall enjoy the privileges and immunities of diplomatic representatives. They may not be dis- missed from office, except by unanimous decision of the other mem- bers, formally submitted to the secretary-general of the League.
The court shall appoint its own registrar, .who may, if the court please, be the same as the secretary-general of the Court of Arbitra- tion. The court shall hold at least one session a year, meeting at The Hague where the president and registrar shall reside. A quorum of nine judges shall suffice to constitute the court.
The court shall form annually a chamber of three judges who may, when contesting parties demand it, hear and determine cases by summary procedure.
If the court contains a judge of the same nationality as one of the parties to a suit, but not of the other, the latter party may choose one of the deputy judges, if there be one of its nationality, or, if not, one from among those who have been nominated for election to the bench, who may sit as a judge in that case. If the nationality of neither party to a suit is represented among the judges, each side may select a temporary judge, as herein provided.
The expenses of the court shall be met as the Assembly of the League shall provide, upon the proposal of the council.
As regards jurisdiction and competency (Articles 31-36), disputes arising between members of the League of Nations, which cannot be settled by diplomatic means, may be brought before the court by the complainant party, and the court has immediate jurisdiction to hear and determine questions of a legal nature concerning :
(a) The interpretation of a treaty.
(6) Any question of international law.
(c) The existence of any breach of an international obligation.
(d) The nature and extent of reparation for such a breach.
(e) The interpretation of a sentence passed by the court.
The court itself shall decide whether any case is included in one or more of these classifications.
The court may accept jurisdiction over disputes of any kind that the parties to the controversy agree to submit to it.
The court shall, in its decision, interpret:
(a) International conventions of any sort, establishing rules rec- ognized by the contestants.
(b) International custom, embodying general practice accepted as law.
(c) General principles of law recognized by civilized nations.
(d) Judicial decisions, and the doctrine of the best-qualified pub- licists among the various nations.
States not members of the League may bring suit in the court under conditions determined by the Council of the League, in accord- ance with Article 17 of the covenant. 1
1 This article provides that in such an event the non-member of the League shall be invited to accept the obligations of member- ship for the purposes for the dispute in question uponeuch conditions as the council deem to be just.
The council or assembly may refer any international question or dispute to the court for an advisory opinion. If the question so referred does not involve any existing dispute, the court shall con- sider the matter by means of a special commission of from three to five members; otherwise, the court shall sit as though hearing a case.
As regards procedure (Articles 37-62) the official language of the court is French, but the court may, if the contestants request it, authorize the use of another language.
A State which appeals to the court shall make its application to the registrar, who shall notify the members of the League through the secretary-general. The hearings in court shall be public, unless the court decides otherwise upon a written request of one of the parties, with reasons.
For service of notices upon persons and the procurement of evidence, the court shall apply to the Government of the State whose territory must be entered.
The court may give a decision, even though one party does not appear to defend his case. Decision shall be by majority vote of the judges present. In case of a tie, the president has a casting vote.
The decision shall give the reasons on which it is based and the names of the judges present. If there are dissenting judges, the de- cision shall record the fact of dissent, without giving the reasons for it. The judgment is final and without appeal. If its meaning or scope is uncertain the court shall construe it upon the request of any party.
The discovery of a new and important fact, if previous ignorance of it were not due to negligence, may be made the ground for an application for revision of judgment, but such application must be made within five years of the date of the first decision.
Before accepting an appeal for revision, the court may require compliance with the terms of the decision. The court may, if it wishes, grant the request of any State to appear in a pending suit as an interested third party.
If in any case the court is construing an international convention to which States, other than contestants, are parties, the registrar shall notify such States, and they have the right to appear in the proceedings. The judgment will then be binding upon them also.
Unless otherwise decided by the court, each party to a suit shall bear his own costs.
This report of the Committee of Jurists was presented to the Council of the League at its eighth session at San Sebastian. The council, Aug. 5, authorized the secretary-general to send a copy of the report to each Government in the League, in order that the project might be carefully studied before the council submitted the recommendations of the committee to the assem- bly at the meeting in November. The draft scheme worked out by this committee was adopted by the council with some slight modifications. It was subsequently passed, with further modifications, by the assembly at Geneva.
The election of the n judges of the court was to be carried out simultaneously by the council and by the assembly, which must agree upon a common list of names in accordance with the system proposed by the Committee of Jurists; the desires of the great Powers and the small Powers would thus be equally respected. On the other hand, the Statute of the Court, in the form in which it was adopted by the assembly at Geneva, does not establish compulsory jurisdiction. The delegates, however, adopted a kind of compromise between the supporters of com- pulsory jurisdiction and those of voluntary jurisdiction. One of the clauses of the statute enables the contracting States to adopt compulsory jurisdiction for certain classes of disputes.
13. Mandates. A new international institution has been introduced into the domain of law in the creation of " Mandates " under Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations. This article provides that colonies and territories which as a consequence of the war have ceased to be under the sovereignty of the States which formerly governed them, and are inhabited by people not yet able to stand by themselves under the stren- uous conditions of the modern world, should be regarded for their well-being and development " a sacred trust of civiliza- tion." The best method, says the article, of giving practical effect thereto is that the tutelage of such peoples be entrusted to advanced nations who, by reason of their resources, their experience or their geographical position, can best undertake the responsibility and that this tutelage should be exercised by them as mandatories on behalf of the League.
The character of the mandate, the article continues, must differ according to the stage of the development of the people, the geographical situation of the territory, its economic con- ditions and other similar circumstances. Thus, certain com-
