Any dispute as to the interpretation of the Covenant shall be submitted to the Permanent Court of International Justice.
Article 15.
[Sidenote: The first three paragraphs of Article 15 of the Covenant, unchanged.]
If there should arise between Members of the League any dispute likely to lead to a rupture which is not submitted to arbitration or judicial settlement in accordance with Article 13, the Members of the League agree that they will submit the matter to the Council. Any party to the dispute may effect such submission by giving notice of the existence of the dispute to the Secretary-General, who will make all necessary arrangements for a full investigation and consideration thereof.
For this purpose the parties to the dispute will communicate to the Secretary-General, as promptly as possible, statements of their case with all the relevant facts and papers, and the Council may forthwith direct the publication thereof.
The Council shall endeavour to effect a settlement of the dispute, and, if such efforts are successful, a statement shall be made public giving such facts and explanations regarding the dispute and the terms of settlement thereof as the Council may deem appropriate.
[Sidenote: Numbers 1 and 2 of Article 4 of the Protocol, very slightly changed.]
If the dispute is not thus settled, the Council shall endeavour to persuade the parties to submit the dispute to judicial settlement or arbitration.
If the parties cannot agree to do so, there shall, at the request of at least one of the parties, be const.i.tuted a Committee of Arbitrators.
The Committee shall so far as possible be const.i.tuted by agreement between the parties.
If within the period fixed by the Council the parties have failed to agree, in whole or in part, upon the number, the names and the powers of the arbitrators and upon the procedure, the Council shall settle the points remaining in suspense. The Council shall with the utmost possible dispatch select in consultation with the parties the arbitrators and their President from among persons who by their nationality, their personal character and their experience, appear to furnish the highest guarantees of competence and impartiality.
After the claims of the parties have been formulated, the Committee of Arbitrators, on the request of any party, shall through the medium of the Council, request an advisory opinion upon any points of law in dispute from the Permanent Court of International Justice, which in such case shall meet with the utmost possible dispatch.
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[Sidenote: 3 of Article 4 of the Protocol, and the fourth, fifth and sixth paragraphs of Article 15 of the Covenant]
If none of the parties asks for arbitration, the Council shall take the dispute under consideration and, either unanimously or by a majority vote, shall make and publish a report containing a statement of the facts of the dispute and the recommendations which are deemed just and proper in regard thereto.
Any Member of the League represented on the Council may make public a statement of the facts of the dispute and of its conclusions regarding the same.
If a report by the Council is unanimously agreed to by the Members thereof, other than the Representatives of any of the parties to the dispute, the Members of the League agree to comply with the recommendations of the report.
[Sidenote: 5 of Article 4 of the Protocol, with verbal changes. Eighth paragraph of Article 15 of the Covenant.]
In no case may a solution, in accordance with a unanimous recommendation of the Council accepted by one of the parties concerned, be again called in question.
If the dispute between the parties is claimed by one of them, and is found by the Council to arise out of a matter which by international law is solely within the domestic jurisdiction of that party, the Council shall so report and shall make no recommendation as to its settlement.
[Sidenote: Seventh paragraph of Article 15 of the Covenant, as modified by 4 of Article 4 of the Protocol.]
If the Council fails to reach a report which is unanimously agreed to by the Members thereof, other than the Representatives of any of the parties to the dispute, it shall submit the dispute to arbitration.
The Council shall itself determine the composition, the powers and the procedure of the Committee of Arbitrators and, in the choice of the arbitrators, shall bear in mind the guarantees of competence and impartiality referred to above.
[Sidenote: 6 of Article 4 of the Protocol, omitting clauses now unnecessary.]
The Members of the League undertake that they will carry out in full good faith any judicial sentence or arbitral award that may be rendered and that they will comply, as provided in paragraph ten hereof, with the solutions recommended by the Council. In the event of a Member of the League failing to carry out the above undertakings, the Council shall exert all its influence to secure compliance therewith. If the Council fails therein, it shall propose what steps should be taken to give effect thereto.
[Sidenote: Paragraphs nine and ten of Article 15 of the Covenant, and Article 6 of the Protocol.]
The Council may in any case under this Article refer the dispute to the a.s.sembly. The dispute shall be so referred at the request of either party to the dispute, provided that such request be made within fourteen days after the submission of the dispute to the Council.
In any case referred to the a.s.sembly, all the provisions of this Article and of Article 12 relating to the action and powers of the Council shall apply to the action and powers of the a.s.sembly, provided that a report made by the a.s.sembly, if concurred in by the Representatives of those Members of the League represented on the Council and of a majority of the other Members of the League, exclusive in each case of the Representatives of the parties to the {275} dispute, shall have the same force as a report by the Council concurred in by all the Members thereof, other than the Representatives of any of the parties to the dispute; and provided further that in any case referred to the a.s.sembly, the powers of the Council under paragraphs five, six, seven and fourteen hereof shall continue.
[Sidenote: 7 of Article 4 of the Protocol.]
The provisions of this article do not apply to the settlement of disputes which arise as the result of measures of war taken by one or more Members of the League in agreement with the Council or the a.s.sembly.
Article 15a.
[Sidenote: From Article 5 of the Protocol.]
If in the course of an arbitration, such as is contemplated in Article 15, one of the parties claims that the dispute, or part thereof, arises out of a matter which by international law is solely within the domestic jurisdiction of that party, the arbitrators shall on this point take the advice of the Permanent Court of International Justice through the medium of the Council. The opinion of the Court shall be binding upon the arbitrators, who, if the opinion is affirmative, shall confine themselves to so declaring in their award.
If the question is held by the Court or by the Council to be a matter solely within the domestic jurisdiction of the State, this decision shall not prevent consideration of the situation by the Council or by the a.s.sembly under Article 11.
Article 15b.
[Sidenote: Articles 8 and 7 of the Protocol, slightly changed.]
The Members of the League undertake to abstain from any act which might const.i.tute a threat of aggression against another State.
If a Member of the League is of opinion that another State is making preparations for war, it shall have the right to bring the matter to the notice of the Council.
In the event of a dispute arising between two or more Members of the League, they agree that they will not, either before the dispute is submitted to proceedings for pacific settlement or during such proceedings, make any increase of their armaments or effectives which might modify the position established by any agreement in force, nor will they take any measure of military, naval, air, industrial or economic mobilisation, nor, in general, any action of a nature likely to extend the dispute or render it more acute.
It shall be the duty of the Council, in accordance with the provisions of Article 11, to take under consideration any complaint as to infraction of the above undertakings which is made to it by one or more of the parties to the dispute. Should the Council be of opinion that the complaint requires investigation, it shall, if it deems it expedient, arrange for inquiries and investigations in one or more of the countries concerned. Such inquiries and investigations shall be carried out with the utmost possible dispatch and the Members of the League undertake to afford every facility for carrying them out.
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The sole object of measures taken by the Council as above provided is to facilitate the pacific settlement of disputes and they shall in no way prejudge the actual settlement.
If the result of such inquiries and investigations is to establish an infraction of the above undertakings, it shall be the duty of the Council to summon the Member or Members of the League guilty of the infraction to put an end thereto. Should any Member of the League in question fail to comply with such summons, the Council shall declare it to be guilty of a violation of the Covenant, and shall recommend measures to be taken with a view to end as soon as possible a situation of a nature to threaten the peace of the world.
For the purposes of this Article decisions of the Council may be taken by a two-thirds majority.
Article 15c.
[Sidenote: Article 9 of the Protocol, slightly changed.]
The existence of demilitarised zones being calculated to prevent aggression and to facilitate a definite finding of the nature provided for in Article 15d, the establishment of such zones between States mutually consenting thereto is to recommend as a means of preserving peace.
The demilitarised zones already existing under the terms of certain treaties or conventions, or which may be established in future between States mutually consenting thereto, may at the request and at the expense of one or more of the conterminous States, be placed under a temporary or permanent system of supervision to be organised by the Council.