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The
Court,
Having
regard to the Statute annexed to the Protocol of December 16th,
1920, and the amendments to this Statute annexed to the Protocol of
September 14th, 1929, in force as from February 1st, 1936;
Having
regard to Article 30 of this Statute;
Adopts
the present Rules:
The
term of office of members of the Court shall begin to run on January
1st of the year following their election, except in the case of an
election under Article 14 of the Statute, in which case the term of
office shall begin on the date of election.
1)
Members of the Court elected at an earlier session of the
Assembly and of the Council of the League of nations shall take
precedence over members elected at a subsequent session. Members
elected during the same session shall take precedence according to
age. Judges nominated under Article 31 of the Statute of the Court
from outside the Court shall take precedence after the other judges
in order of age.
2)
The Vice-President shall take his seat on the right of the
President in the order laid down above.
1)
Any State which considers that it possesses and which intends
to exercise the right to nominate a judge under Article 31 of the
Statute of the Court shall so notify the Court by the date fixed for
the filing of the Memorial. The name of the person chosen to sit as
judge shall be indicated, either with the notification above
mentioned, or within a period to be fixed by the President. These
notifications shall be communicated to the other parties and they
may submit their views to the Court within a period to be fixed by
the President. If any doubt or objection should arise, the decision
shall rest within the Court, if necessary after hearing the parties.
2)
If, on receipt of one or more notifications under the terms
of the preceding paragraph, the Court finds that there are several
parties in the same interest and that none of them has a judge of
its nationality upon the Bench, it shall fix a period within which
these parties, acting in concert, may nominate judge under Article
31 of the Statute. if, at the expiration of this time-limit, no
notification of a nomination by them has been made, they shall be
regarded as having renounced the right conferred upon them by
Article 31 of the Statute.
Where
one or more parties are entitled to nominate a judge under Article
31 of the Statute, the full Court may sit with a number of judges
exceeding the number of members of the Court fixed by the Statute.
1)
The declaration to be made by every judge in accordance with
Article 20 of the Statute of the Court shall be worded as follows:
"I
solemnly declare that I will exercise all my powers and duties as a
judge honorably and faithfully, impartially and
conscientiously."
2)
This declaration shall be made at the first public sitting of
the Court at which the judge is present after his election or
nomination. A special public sitting of the Court may be held for
this purpose.
3)
At the public inaugural sitting held after a new election of
the whole Court the required declaration shall be made first by the
President, next by the Vice-President, and then by the remaining
judges in the order laid down in Article 2 of the present Rules.
For
the purpose of applying Article 18 of the Statute of the Court the
President, or if necessary the Vice-President, shall convene the
members of the Court. The member affected shall be allowed to
furnish explanations. When he had done so the question shall be
discussed and a vote shall be taken, the member in question no being
present. If the members present are unanimous, the Registrar shall
issue the notification prescribed in the above-mentioned Article.
1)
The President shall take steps to obtain all relevant
information with a view to the selection of the technical assessors
to be appointed in a case. For case falling under Article 26 of the
Statute of the Court, he shall consult the Governing Body of the
International Labor Office.
2)
Assessors shall be appointed by an absolute majority of votes
by the full Court or by the Chamber which has to deal with the case
in question, as the case may be.
3)
A request for assessors to be attached to the Court under
Article 27, § 2, of the Statute must at latest be submitted with
the first document of the written proceedings. Such a request shall
be complied with if the parties are in agreement. if the parties are
not in agreement, the decision rests with the full Court or with the
Chamber, as the Case made be.
Before
taking up their duties, assessors shall make the following solemn
declaration at a public sitting:
"I
solemnly declare that I will exercise my duties and powers as an
assessors honorably and faithfully, impartially and conscientiously,
and that I will scrupulously observe all the provisions of the
Statute and of the Rules of Court."
1)
The President and the Vice-President shall be elected in the
last quarter of the last year of office of the retiring President
and Vice-President. They shall take up their duties on the following
January 1st.
2)
After a new election of the whole Court, the election of the
President and of the Vice-President shall take place at the
commencement of the following year. The President and Vice-President
elected in these circumstances shall take up their duties on the
date of their election. They shall remain in office until the end of
the second year after the year of their election.
3)
Should the President or the Vice-President or the
Vice-President cease to belong to the Court before the expiration of
his normal term of office, an election shall be held for the purpose
of appointing a successor for the unexpired portion of his term of
office.
4)
The elections referred to in the present Article shall take
place by secret ballot. The candidate obtaining an absolute majority
of votes shall be declared elected.
The
President shall direct the work and administration of the Court; he
shall preside at the meetings of the full Court.
The
Vice-President shall take the place of the President, if the latter
is unable to fulfill his duties. In the event of the President
ceasing to hold office, the same rule shall apply until his
successor has been appointed by the Court.
1)
The discharge of the duties of the President shall always be
assured at the seat of the Court, either by the President himself or
by the Vice-President.
2)
If at the same time both the President and the Vice-President
are unable to fulfil their duties, or if both appointments are
vacant at the same time, the duties of President shall be discharged
by the oldest among the members of the Court who have been longest
on the Bench.
3)
After a new election of the whole Court, and until the
election of the President and the Vice-President, the duties of
President shall be discharged by the oldest member of the Court.
1)
If the President is a national of one of the parties to a
case brought before the Court, he will hand over his functions as
President in respect of that case. The same rule applies to the
Vice-President or to any member of the Court who might be called on
to act as President.
2)
If, after a new election of the whole Court, the newly
elected President sits, under Article 13 of the Statute of the
Court, in order to finish a case which he had begun during his
preceding term of office as judge, the duties of President, in
respect of such case, shall be discharged by the member of the Court
who presided when the case was last under examination, unless the
latter is unable to sit, in which case the former Vice-President or
the oldest among the members of the Court who have been longest on
the Bench shall discharge the duties of President.
3)
If, owing to the expiry of a President's period of office, a
new President is elected, and if the Court sits after the end of the
said period in order to finish a case which it had begun to examine
during that period, the former President shall retain the functions
of President in respect of that case. Should he be unable to fulfil
his duties, his place shall be taken by the newly elected President.
1)
The Court shall select its Registrar from amongst candidates
proposed by members of the Court. The latter shall receive adequate
notice of the date on which the list of candidates will be closed so
as to enable nominations and information concerning the nationals of
distant countries to be received in sufficient time.
2)
Nominations must give the necessary particulars regarding
age, nationality, university degrees and linguistic attainments of
candidates, as also regarding their judicial and diplomatic
qualifications, their experience in connection with the work of the
League of Nations and their present profession.
3)
The election shall be by secret ballot and be an absolute
majority of votes.
4)
The Registrar shall be elected for a term of seven years
reckoned from January 1st of the year following that in which the
election takes place. He may be re-elected.
5)
Should the Registrar cease to hold his office before the
expiration of the term above mentioned, and election shall be held
for the purpose of appointing a successor. Such election shall be
for a term of seven years.
6)
The Court shall appoint a Deputy-Registrar to assist the
Registrar, to act as Registrar in his absence and, in the event of
his ceasing to hold the office, to perform the duties until a new
Registrar shall have been appointed. The Deputy-Registrar shall be
appointed under the same conditions and in the same way as the
Registrar.
1)
Before taking up his duties, the Registrar shall make the
following declaration at a meeting of the full Court:
"I
solemnly declare that I will perform the duties conferred upon me as
Registrar of the Permanent Court of International Justice in all
loyalty, discretion and good conscience."
2)
The Deputy-Registrar shall make a similar declaration in the
same conditions.
The
Registrar is entitled to two months' holiday in each year.
1)
The officials of the Registry, other than the
Deputy-Registrar, shall be appointed by the Court on proposals
submitted by the Registrar.
2)
On taking up their duties, such officials shall make the
following declaration before the President, the Registrar being
present:
"I
solemnly declare that I will perform the duties conferred upon me as
an official of the Permanent Court of International Justice in all
loyalty, discretion and good conscience."
1)
The Court shall determine or modify the organization of the
Registry upon proposals submitted by the Registrar.
2)
The Regulations for the staff of the Registry shall be drawn
up having regard to the organization decided upon by the Court and
to the provisions of the Regulations for the staff of the
Secretariat of the League of Nations, to which they shall, as far as
possible, conform. They shall be adopted by the President on the
proposal of the Registrar, subject to subsequent approval by the
Court.
In
case both the Registrar and the Deputy-Registrar are unable to be
present, or in case both appointments are vacant at the same time,
the President, on the proposal of the Registrar or the
Deputy-Registrar, as the case may be, shall appoint the official of
the Registry who is to act as substitute for the Registrar until a
successor to the Registrar has been appointed.
1)
The General List of cases submitted to the Court for decision
or for advisory opinion shall be prepared and kept up to date by the
Registrar on the instructions and subject to the authority of the
President. Cases shall be entered in the list and numbered
successively according to the receipt of the document bringing the
case before the Court.
2)
The General List shall contain the following headings:
I.
Number in list
II.
Short title.
III.
Date of registration.
IV.
Registration number.
V.
File number in the archives.
VI.
Nature of case.
VII.
Parties.
VIII.
Interventions.
IX.
Method of submission.
X.
Date of document instituting proceedings.
XI.
Time-limits for filing documents in the written proceedings.
XII.
Prolongation, if any, of time-limits.
XIII.
Date of termination of the written proceedings.
XIV.
Postponements.
XV.
Date of the beginning of the hearing (date of the first public
sitting).
XVI.
Observations.
XVII.
References to earlier or subsequent cases.
XVIII.
Result (nature and date).
XIX.
Removal from the list (nature and date).
XX.
References to publications of the Court relating to the case.
3)
The General List shall also contain a space for notes, if
any, and spaces for the inscription, above the initials of the
President and of the Registrar of the dates of the entry of the
case, of its result, or of its removal from the list, as the case
may be.
1)
The Registrar shall be the channel for all communications to
and from the Court.
2)
The Registrar shall ensure that the date of dispatch and
receipt of all communications and notifications may readily be
verified. Communications and notifications sent by post shall be
registered. Communications addressed to the agents of the parties
shall be considered as having been addressed to the parties
themselves. The date of receipt shall be noted on all documents
received by the Registrar, and a receipt bearing this date and the
number under which the document has been registered shall be given
to the sender.
3)
The Registrar shall, subject to the obligation of secrecy
attaching to his official duties, reply to all inquiries concerning
the work of the Court, including inquiries from the Press.
4)
The Registrar shall publish in the Press all necessary
information as to the date and hour fixed for public sittings.
A
collection of the judgments and advisory opinions of the Court, as
also of such orders as the Court may decide to include therein,
shall be printed and published under the responsibility of the
Registrar.
1)
The Registrar shall be responsible for the archives, the
accounts and all administrative work. He shall have the custody of
the seals and stamps of the Court. The Registrar of the
Deputy-Registrar shall be present at all sittings of the full Court
and at sittings of the Special Chambers and of the Chambers for
Summary Procedure. The Registrar shall be responsible for drawing up
the minutes of the meetings.
2)
He shall undertake, in addition, all duties which may be laid
upon him by the present Rules.
3)
The duties of the Registry shall be set forth in detail in a
list of instructions submitted by the Registrar to the President and
approved by him.
1)
The members of the Chambers constituted by virtue of Article
26, 27 and 29 o the Statute of the Court and also the substitute
members shall be appointed at a meeting of the full Court by secret
ballot and by an absolute majority of votes.
2)
The election shall take place in the last quarter of the year
and the period of appointment of the persons elected shall commence
on January 1st of the following year.
3)
Nevertheless, after a new election of the whole Court, the
election shall take place at the beginning of the following year.
The period of appointment shall commence on the date of election and
shall terminate, in the case of the Chamber referred to in Article
29 of the Statute, at the end of the same year and, in the case of
the Chambers referred to in Article 26 and 27 of the Statute, at the
end of the second year after the year of election.
4)
The Presidents of the Chambers shall be appointed at a
sitting of the full Court. Nevertheless, the President of the Court
shall preside ex officio over any Chamber of which he may be elected
a member; similarly, the Vice-President of the Court shall preside
ex officio over any Chamber of which he may be elected a member and
of which the President of the Court is not a member.
5)
The Chambers referred to in Article 26, 27 and 29 of the
Statute of the Court may not sit with a greater number than five
judges.
The
judicial year shall begin on January 1st in each year.
In
the absence of a special resolution by the Court, the dates and
duration of the judicial vacations are fixed as follows:
from
December 18th to January 7th;
from
the Sunday before Easter to the second Sunday after Easter;
from
July 15th to September 15th.
In
case of urgency, the President can always convene the members of the
Court during the periods mentioned in the preceding paragraph.
The
public holidays which are customary at the place where the Court is
sitting will be observed by the Court.
The
order in which the leaves provided for in Article 23, paragraph 2,
of the Statute of the Court are to be taken shall be laid sown in a
list drawn up by the Court for each period of three years. This
order can only be departed from for serious reasons duly admitted by
the Court.
The
number of members of the Court on leave at an one time must not
exceed two. The President and the Vice-President must not take their
leave at the same time.
Members
of the Court who are prevented by illness or other serious reasons
from attending a sitting of the Court to which they have been
summoned by the President, shall notify the President who will
inform the Court.
The
date and hour of sittings of the full Court shall be fixed by the
President of the Court.
The
date and hour of sittings of the Chambers referred to in Article 26,
27 and 29 of the Statute of the Court shall be fixed by the
Presidents of the Chambers respectively. The first sitting, however,
of a Chamber in any particular case is fixed by the President of the
Court.
If
a sitting of the full Court has been convened and it is found that
there is no quorum, the President shall adjourn the sitting until a
quorum has been obtained. Judges nominated under Article 31 of the
Statute shall not be taken into account for the calculation of the
quorum.
The
Court shall sit in private to deliberate upon disputes which are
submitted to it and upon advisory opinions which it is asked to
give.
During
the deliberations referred to in the preceding paragraph, only
persons authorized to take part therein and the Registrar or his
substitute shall be present. No other person shall be admitted
except by virtue of a special decision take by the Court.
Every
judge who is present at the deliberations shall state his opinion
together with the reasons on which it is based.
Any
judge may request that a question which is to be voted upon shall be
drawn up in precise terms in both the official languages and
distributed to the Court. Effect shall be given to any such request.
The
decision of the court shall be based upon the conclusions adopted
after final discussion by a majority of the judges voting in an
order inverse to the order laid down by Article 2 of the present
Rules.
No
detailed minutes shall be prepared of the private meetings of the
Court for deliberation upon judgements or advisory opinions; the
minutes of these meetings are to be considered as confidential and
shall record only the subject of the debates, the votes taken, the
names of those voting for and against a motion and statements
expressly made for insertion in the minutes.
After
the final vote taken on a judgement or advisory opinion, any judge
who desires to set forth his individual opinion must do so in
accordance with Article 57 of the Statute.
Unless
otherwise decided by the Court, paragraph 2, 4 and 5 of this Article
shall apply to deliberations by the Court in private upon any
administrative matter.
The
rules contained in Sections I, II and IV of this Heading shall not
preclude the adoption by the Court of particular modifications or
additions proposed jointly by the parties and considered by the
Court to be appropriate to the case and in the circumstances.
When
a case is brought before the Court by means of a special agreement,
Article 40, paragraph 1, of the Statute of the Court shall apply.
When
a case is brought before the Court by means of an application, the
application must, as laid down in Article 40, paragraph 1, of the
Statute, indicate the party making it, the party against whom the
claim is brought and the subject of the dispute. It must also, as
far as possible, specify the provision on which the applicant founds
the jurisdiction of the Court, state the precise nature of the claim
and give a succinct statement of the facts and grounds on which the
claim is based, these facts and grounds being developed in the
Memorial, to which the evidence will be annexed.
The
original of an application shall be signed either by the agent of
the party submitting it, or by the diplomatic representative of the
party at The Hague, or by a duly authorized person. If the document
bears the signature of a person other than the diplomatic
representative of that party at The Hague, the signature must be
legalized by this diplomatic representative or by the competent
authority of the government concerned.
When
a case is brought before the Court by means of an application, the
Registrar shall transmit forthwith to the party against whom the
claim is brought a copy of the application certified by him to be
correct.
When
a case is brought before the Court by means of a special agreement
filed by one only of the parties, the Registrar shall notify
forthwith the other party that it has been so filed.
The
Registrar shall transmit forthwith to all the members of the Court
copies of special agreements or applications submitting a case to
the Court
He
shall also transmit through the channels indicated in the Statute of
the Court or in a special arrangements, as the case may be, copies
to Members of the League of Nations and to States entitled to appear
before the Court.
When
a case is brought before the Court by means of a special agreement,
the appointment of the agent or agents of the party or parties
lodging the special agreement shall be notified at the same time as
the special agreement is filed. If the special agreement is filed by
one only of the parties, the other party shall, when acknowledging
receipt of the communication announcing the filing of the special
agreement, or failing this, as soon as possible, inform the Court of
the name of its agent.
When
a case is brought before the Court by means of an application, the
application, or the covering letter, shall state the name of the
agent of the applicant government.
The
party against whom the application is directed and to whom it is
communicated shall, when acknowledging receipt of the communication,
or failing this, as soon as possible, inform the Court of the name
of its agent.
Applications
to intervene under Article 64 of the present Rules, interventions
under Article 66 and requests under Article 78 for the revision, or
under Article 79 for the interpretation, of a judgment, shall
similarly be accompanied by the appointment of an agent.
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