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[p5] THE COURT,
composed as above,
after deliberation,
makes the following Order:
[1] The Permanent Court of International Justice,
[2] Having regard to Article 48 of the Statute of the Court;
[3] Having regard to Article 61 of the Rules of Court;
[4] Having regard to Article 28 of the Rules of Court;
[5] Having regard to the Application instituting proceedings dated November
25th, 1926, filed with the Registry of the Court on November 26th, 1926, on
behalf of the Belgian Government and submitting to the Court a case
concerning [p6] the denunciation by the Chinese Government of the Treaty
concluded on November 2nd, 1865, between Belgium and China;
[6] Having regard to the Orders made by the President of the Court in this
case on January 8th and February 15th, 1927;
[7] Having regard to the Orders made by the Court on June 18th, 1927,
February 21st and August 13th, 1928;
[8] Whereas, by a decision dated December 14th, 1926, the President of the
Court, in virtue of the powers conferred upon him by Article 33 of the Rules
of Court, fixed Wednesday, January 5th, 1927, as the date of expiration of
the time allowed for the filing of the Case by the Applicant, and this Case
was in effect filed within the time thus fixed;
[9] Whereas the Court, by its Order of August 13th, 1928, decided, after
several extensions of the times, finally to fix as follows the subsequent
time limits for the written proceedings in the case between Belgium and
China concerning the abrogation by China of the Sino-Belgian Treaty of
November 2nd, 1865:
for the Counter-Case, by the Respondent, Friday, February 15th, 1929;
for the Reply, by the Applicant, Monday, April 1st, 1929;
for the Rejoinder, by the Respondent, Wednesday, May 15th, 1929;
[10] Whereas, by a letter dated February 13th, 1929, registered with the
Registry of the Court on the following February 14th, the Agent of the
Belgian Government before the Court in the suit requested the Registrar to
inform the Court that the dispute between Belgium and China was practically
settled by the conclusion of a preliminary treaty signed at Nanking on
November 22nd, 1928, the ratification of which treaty would shortly take
place, and that accordingly the Government of His Majesty the King of the
Belgians withdrew the action brought by the Application of November 25th,
1926, and asked that the said action should be removed from the Court's
list;
[11] Whereas, according to the terms of another letter, dated March 4th,
1929, the Agent for the Belgian Government [p7] informed the Registrar of
the Court that the preliminary treaty of November 22nd, 1928, above
mentioned had then been ratified;
[12] Whereas the request made by the Belgian Government on February 13th,
1929, was submitted to the President of the Court, the latter not being in
session at the time in question; as the President decided to leave it to the
Court itself officially to record at the present session the fact that
Belgium intended to break off the proceedings instituted by her against
China; and as this decision was conveyed to the Belgian Government by a
letter addressed on February 26th, 1929, by the Registrar to that
Government's Agent before the Court;
[13] Whereas the letter of the Belgian Government's Agent to the Registrar
of February 13th, 1929, and the letter of the Registrar to the Belgian
Government's Agent of February 26th, 1929, were duly communicated to the
Chinese Government through the Chinese Legation at The Hague, which confined
itself to an acknowledgment of receipt;
[14] Considering that the Chinese Government, the Respondent in the suit in
question, has never taken any proceeding in the suit before the Court;
[15] Considering that, consequently, there is nothing to- prevent the
unilateral withdrawal of the suit by the Belgian Government, the Applicant
in the case;
Considering that, in these circumstances, the request of the latter
Government, to the effect that the case be removed from the Court's list of
cases, should be complied with;
[16] THE COURT,
Records the fact that the Government of His Majesty the King of the Belgians
intends to break off the action brought by it against the Government of the
Republic of China by the Application instituting proceedings dated November
25th, 1926;
Declares that the proceedings begun in regard to the said suit are thus
terminated;
Instructs the Registrar to cause the said suit to be removed from the
Court's list of cases. [p8]
[17] Done in French and English, the French text being authoritative, at the
Peace Palace, The Hague, this twenty-fifth day of May, nineteen hundred and
twenty-nine, in four copies, one of which is to be deposited in the archives
of the Court, and the others to be forwarded to the Government of China, to
the Government of Belgium and to the Secretary-General of the League of
Nations respectively.
(Signed) D. Anzilotti,
President.
(Signed) �. Hammarskj�ld,
Registrar.
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