sions in the In Sanita tion. Commis- arrangements in connection with the navigation on the lower part of the Danube, the International Council terest of of Sanitation was instituted at Bucharest in 1881.1 A Conseil supérieur de santé at Constantinople had the task of supervising the arrangements concerning cholera and plague. A Conseil sanitaire maritime et quarantenaire at Alexandria had similar tasks and was subject to the control of the Conseil supérieur de santé at Constantinople.2 No information as to the position of these commissions since the World War seems to have been published. Commissions in the In § 461. Three international commissions have been established in the interest of foreign creditors-namely, terest of in Turkey since 1878, in Egypt since 1880, and in Greece Creditors. since 1897.3 Foreign Perma nent Com § 462. Article 7 of the Brussels Convention of 1902 mission concerning bounties on sugar, provided for a permanent concern commission at Brussels, which is believed to be in ing Sugar. abeyance. nent Com Perma- § 462a. Under the Covenant of the League of Nations, missions two permanent commissions are to be appointed to to advise advise the Council of the League, one on military, naval, League of and air questions, and the other on the observance of mandates.5 the Nations. nent Com Perma- § 4626. Under the Labour Convention which forms mission part of the Treaties of Peace, a governing body of twentyfour members is to be appointed to control the Interof Labour. national Labour Office.6 in the Interest Perma nent Inter. national Commission for Air Navigation. § 462c. The International Air Convention of October 13, 1919, establishes an international commission for air 1 See Article 6 of the 'Acte addi- 2 Details in Liszt, § 16, iii. 3 See nationale Staatsschuld (1891); Murat, Le Con- 4 See below, § 585 (3). • See below, § 5684. navigation to be under the direction of the League of Nations. Its chief duties have already been mentioned.1 V INTERNATIONAL OFFICES Rivier, i. pp. 564-566-Nys, ii. pp. 314-318-Ullmann, § 69-Liszt, § 17- of Inter Offices. § 463. During the second half of the nineteenth cen- Character tury and the early years of the twentieth century, a national great number of general treaties were entered into by a greater or lesser number of States for the purpose of settling in common certain non-political matters. These general treaties created so-called unions among the parties, and the business of these unions is in most cases transacted by international offices created specially for that purpose. The functionaries of these offices, however, ordinarily enjoy no privilege whatever. At the end of the World War many new international administrative offices were set up, as well as the Permanent Secretariat of the League of Nations, which is the office of the organised Family of Nations. Moreover, in order to avoid the drawbacks which result from the existence of a number of separate and disconnected international offices, it is provided by the Covenant of the League (Article 24) that all international offices already established by general treaties, if the parties to such treaties consent, and all international offices set up in future, are to be placed under the direction of the League. The most important international offices in existence before the World War are here enumerated,3 1 See above, § 197c. * See above, § 167g. Except the International Bureau VOL. I. 2 R of Arbitration, which, although an International Telegraph Office. Inter- International and together with those which are provided for by treaties made since the close of hostilities.1 § 464. In 1868 the International Telegraph Office of the International Telegraph Union was created at Berne. It is administered under the supervision of the Swiss Bundesrath. It edits Le Journal Télégraphique in French.2 This office also serves as the office of the International Union for Radiotelegraphy.3 § 465. The pendant of the International Telegraph Office is the International Post Office of the Universal Postal Union created at Berne in 1874. It is administered under the supervision of the Swiss Bundesrath, and edits a monthly paper, L'Union Postale, in French, German, and English.4 § 466. The States which have introduced the metric Office of system of weights and measures created in 1875 the Weights International Office of Weights and Measures in Paris. Measures. Its functionaries are a director and several assistants. Their task is the custody of the international prototypes of the metre and kilogramme, and the comparison of the national prototypes with the international.5 International tection of § 467. In 1883 an International Union for the ProOffice for tection of Industrial Property, and in 1886 an Interthe Pro- tional Union for the Protection of Works of Literature Works of and Art, were created, with an international office in ture and Berne. There are a secretary-general and assistants, Art and of who edit a monthly paper, Le Droit d'Auteur, in French. Property. § 467a. The first Pan-American Conference of 1889 Litera Industrial The juristic character of these are silent. Since they are consti- Fusinato, Avis sur les Questions 2 See below, § 582 (2). • See below, §§ 584 and 585 (2). American created The American International Bureau,' which, The Pansince the fourth conference of 1910, bears the name Union. 'The Pan-American Union.' There are a director, an assistant director, and several secretaries. This office 1 publishes a paper, The Monthly Bulletin. Maritime and § 468. In accordance with the General Act of the Former Anti-Slavery Conference of Brussels, 1890, the Inter- Office at national Maritime Office at Zanzibar and the Bureau Zanzibar, Spécial,' attached to the Belgian Foreign Office at Bureau Brussels, were established; 2 but the provisions of the Special at Brussels General Act which set up these offices do not reappear in the Convention of September 10, 1919, which revised and repealed the Brussels General Act; their work seems to have been completed. Brussels. national § 469. The International Union for the Publication Interof Customs Tariffs, concluded in 1890, created an inter- Office of national office 3 at Brussels. There are a director, a Customs secretary, and translators. The office edits Le Bulletin des Douanes in French, German, English, Italian, and Spanish. Tariffs. Inter § 470. Nine States - namely, Austria - Hungary, Central Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Luxemburg, Office of Russia, Switzerland-entered in 1890 into an inter- national national convention in regard to transports and freights ports. on railways and created the Office Central des Transports Internationaux' at Berne. Trans ent Office Conven § 471. The States which concluded on March 5, 1902, Permanat Brussels the Convention concerning Bounties on of the Sugar,5 in compliance with Article 7 of this convention, Sugar instituted a permanent office at Brussels. The task tion. of this office, which was attached to the permanent commission, also instituted by Article 7, was to collect, translate, and publish information of all kinds respecting sugar; but it appears to be in abeyance. 1 See below, § 595. See below, § 583 (1). See above, § 462. tural Agricul- § 471a. In 1905 the Agricultural Institute1 Institute, established at Rome. It consists of a General Assembly and a Permanent Committee with a general secretary. Inter- Health Inter national Labour Office. Central § 4716. In 1907 the International Health Office 2 was established at Paris. It consists of a director, a general secretary, and a number of clerks. It publishes at least once a month a bulletin in French. § 471c. The treaties which constitute the resettlement after the World War have instituted a number of new international offices, which, in accordance with the Covenant and the express terms of the treaties themselves, are to be under the direction of the League of Nations. The Labour Convention embodied in the Treaties of Peace 3 established an International Labour Office at the seat of the League of Nations as part of the organisation of the League. The office is to be under the general control of the governing body, but under the immediate supervision of a director. Its staff is to consist of both men and women. Its principal functions are to collect and distribute information relating to the conditions of industrial life and labour, to prepare the agenda for the labour conferences, to carry out certain duties in connection with international disputes regulated by the Labour Convention, and to publish a periodical paper on the problems of international industry and employment. § 471d. The Convention for the Control of the Trade in Arms and Ammunition, signed on September 10, 1919, provides for the establishment of a central international office, under the control of the League of Nations, to collect and preserve documents exchanged by the parties with regard to the trade in, and distribution of, the arms and ammunition specified in the convention. 1 See below, § 586 (1). * See below, § 568i. See below, § 568c. |