Liquor

§ 471e. The Convention relating to the Liquor Traffic Central in Africa,1 signed on September 10, 1919, provides for Office. the establishment of a central international office, under the control of the League of Nations, for collecting and preserving documents of all kinds exchanged by the parties with regard to the importation and manufacture of spirituous liquors, so far as regulated by the convention.

VI

THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF ARBITRATION

Lawrence, § 221-Bonfils, No. 970-Despagnet, Nos. 736-740-Hershey, Nos. 314-316-Tettenborn, Das Haagerschiedsgericht (1911)--Schücking, Der Staatenverband der Haager Conferenzen (1912), pp. 39-66-Kohler in Z. V., vii. (1913), pp. 113-122-Myers in A.J., viii. (1914), pp. 769-801, and x. (1916), pp. 270-311.

tion of

Court in

§ 472. In compliance with Articles 20 to 29 of the Organisafirst Hague Convention for the peaceful adjustment of international differences, the contracting Powers in general. 1900 organised the International Court of Arbitration at the Hague. This organisation 2 comprises three distinct bodies-namely, the Permanent Administrative Council of the Court, the International Bureau of the Court, and the Court of Arbitration itself. But a fourth body must also be distinguished-namely, the Tribunal to be constituted for the decision of each case. Articles 20 to 29 were replaced by Articles 41 to 50 of

1 See below, § 566.

The editor does not know what view the author would have taken as to the future prospects of the organisation set up at the Hague under the Hague Conventions to deal with international disputes in the light of the establishment of the League of Nations. He believes, however, that the author would have

hoped that the work begun at the
Hague would thereby receive new
impetus; and this is perhaps the in-
tention of the Covenant, which sets
up no new Court of Arbitration, but
provides (Article 13) that the court
to which disputes are referred 'shall
be the Court agreed on by the parties
to the dispute or stipulated in any
convention existing between them.'

The Permanent Council.

The International Bureau.

the corresponding convention produced by the second Hague Peace Conference of 1907.

§ 473. The Permanent Council (Article 49) consists of the diplomatic envoys of the contracting Powers accredited to Holland and the Dutch Secretary for Foreign Affairs, who acts as president of the Council. The task of the Council is to control the International Bureau of the Court, to appoint, suspend, and dismiss the employés of the bureau, to fix the payments and salaries, control general expenditure, and decide all questions of administration with regard to the business of the Court. The Council has, further, the task of furnishing the contracting Powers with a report of the proceedings of the Court, the working of the administration, and the expenses. At meetings duly summoned, the presence of nine members is sufficient to give the Council power to deliberate, and its decisions are taken by a majority of votes.

§ 474. The International Bureau (Article 43) serves as the registry for the Court. It is the intermediary for communications relating to the meetings of the Court. It has the custody of the archives, and the conduct of all the administrative business of the Court. The contracting Powers have to furnish the Bureau with a certified copy of every stipulation concerning arbitration arrived at between them, and of any award rendered by a special tribunal in which they are concerned. They likewise have to communicate to the Bureau the laws, regulations, and documents, if any, showing the execution of the awards given by the Court. The Bureau is (Article 47) authorised to place its premises and its staff at the disposal of the contracting Powers for the work of any special 1 tribunal of arbitration, not constituted within the International Court of Arbitration. The expense (Article 50) of the Bureau

1 See below, vol. ii. § 20.

is borne by the contracting Powers, in the proportion established for the international office of the International Postal Union.

of Arbi

§ 475. The Court of Arbitration (Article 44) consists The Court of a large number of individuals of recognised com- tration. petence in questions of International Law, enjoying the highest moral reputation,' selected and appointed by the contracting Powers. Each Power may appoint not more than four members; two or more Powers may unite in the appointment of one or more members; and the same individual may be appointed by different Powers. Every member is appointed for a term of six years, but his appointment may be renewed. The place of a resigned or deceased member is to be refilled by the respective Powers, and in this case the appointment is made for a fresh period of six years. The names of the members of the Court thus appointed are enrolled upon a general list, which is to be kept up to date and communicated to all the contracting Powers. The Court thus constituted has jurisdiction over all cases of arbitration, unless there shall be an agreement between the parties for a special tribunal of arbitrators not selected from the list of the members of the Court (Article 42).

ciding

§ 476. The Court of Arbitration does not as a body The Dedecide the cases brought before it; a Tribunal is created Tribunal. for every special case by selection of a number of arbitrators from the list of the members of the Court. This Tribunal (Article 45) may be created directly by agreement of the parties. If this is not done, the Tribunal is formed in the following manner: each party selects two arbitrators from the list, of whom one only can be its national or chosen from the persons appointed by it as members of the Permanent Court, and the four arbitrators so appointed choose a fifth as umpire and president. If the votes of the four are equal, the parties

entrust to a third Power the choice of the umpire. If the parties cannot agree in their choice of such third Power, each party nominates a different Power, and the umpire is chosen by the united action of the Powers thus nominated. If within two months' time these two Powers cannot come to an agreement, each of them presents two candidates from the list of members of the Permanent Court, exclusive of the members selected by the parties, and not being nationals of either of them. Which of the candidates thus presented shall be the umpire is determined by lot.

When the Tribunal is so constituted, the parties communicate to the International Bureau of the Court the names of its members and fix a time for its meeting. The members of the Tribunal must be granted the privileges of diplomatic envoys when discharging their duties outside their own country (Article 46). The Tribunal sits at the Hague (Article 43), and, except in case of force majeure, the place of session can only be altered by the Tribunal with the assent of the parties, but the parties can from the beginning designate another place than the Hague as the venue of the Tribunal (Article 60). The expenses of the Tribunal are paid by the parties in equal shares, and each party pays its own expenses (Article 85).1

The following awards 2 have hitherto been given by the Permanent Court of Arbitration :

(1) On October 14, 1902, in the case of The United States of America v. Mexico, concerning les Fonds pieux des Californies. (2) On February 22, 1904, in the case of Germany, Great Britain, and Italy v. Venezuela, concerning certain claims of their subjects.*

1 The procedure to be followed by, and before, the Tribunal is described below, vol. ii. § 21.

* See Wilson, The Hague Arbitration Cases (1915), and Scott, The

Hague Court Reports (1916).
3 Martens, N. R. G., 2nd Ser. xxxii.

p. 193.

• Martens, N. R. G., 3rd Ser. i.

p. 57.

(3) On May 22, 1905, in the case of Germany, France, and Great Britain v. Japan, concerning the interpretation of Article 18 of the treaty of April 4, 1896, and of other treaties.1

(4) On August 8, 1905, in the case of France v. Great Britain, concerning the Muscat Dhows.2

(5) On May 22, 1909, in the case of Germany v. France, concerning the Casa Blanca incident.3

(6) On October 23, 1909, in the case of Norway v. Sweden, concerning the question of their maritime frontier.4

(7) On September 7, 1910, in the case of The United States of America v. Great Britain, concerning the North Atlantic Fisheries." (8) On October 25, 1910, in the case of The United States of America v. Venezuela, concerning the claims of the Orinoco Steamship Co.

(9) On February 24, 1911, in the case of France v. Great Britain, concerning the British-Indian Savarkar."

(10) On May 3, 1912, in the case of Italy v. Peru, concerning the claim of the brothers Canevaro.8

(11) On November 11, 1912, in the case of Russia v. Turkey, concerning interest claimed on behalf of Russians for delay in payment of compensation for damages sustained during the Russo-Turkish War in 1877-1878.9

(12 and 13) On May 6, 1913, in the cases of France v. Italy, concerning the seizure of the French vessels, Carthage and Manouba, during the Turco-Italian War in 1911.10

(14) On June 25, 1914, in the case of The Netherlands v. Portugal, concerning a boundary in the Island of Timor.11