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PERMANENT COURT OF
INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE
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TIMELINE
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Proposals before 1919 Paris Peace Conference
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March 20, 1918
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arbitration is mentioned in the
British League of Nations Committee's plan submitted to the British Cabinet;
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November 29, 1918
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arbitration is mentioned in the
preliminary plan transmitted by M. Jessurand (the French Ambassador to the
US) to Mr. Lasing (US Secretary of State);
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July 16, 1918
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adjudication is discussed in detail
in Colonel House's plan submitted to Woodrow Wilson (including compulsory
jurisdiction, procedure and enforcement);
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December 16, 1918
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arbitration and conciliation
are mentioned in General Smut's Draft;
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June 8, 1918
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international court is
mentioned in the Draft of the French Ministerial Commission for the League of
Nations, including execution of the decisions through a representative body.
"At its demand, each nation shall be obliged, in agreement with the
other nations, to use its economic, naval and military power against any
recalcitrant States." (Article 4)
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1917-1918
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international court is discussed in
detail by the draft prepared by Danish, Norwegian and Swedish governments:
should have been based on equality of states; 15 judges nominated by
governments for election; judges elected by national groups at the head of
PCA; not more than 2 of the same nationality; election for life/9 years; 7 =
quorum; reasoning behind decision to be provided in a judgment; See: Avant-Projet
de Convention sur une Organisation Juridique Internationale
(Betänkande rörande en Internationell Rättsordning (Stockholm:
1919)
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1918-1919
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Draft created by Advisory Committee of the Swiss Federal Council: PCIJ
is an organ of the League of Nations; established by the Conference of States
for nine years; states would propose for 1-4 candidates and vote for 15 on
the list electing 15 judges (7 of which with the highest vote would
constitute the Bureau of the Court to elect a president and two
vice-presidents); no judges-nationals of the parties to the dispute allowed
on the bench; cases would be heard by 5 judges; sanctions would be proceeded
with through the Permanent Delegation of the League, which would submit them
to a council of mediation for decision.
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Proposals during 1919 Paris Peace Conference
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January 10, 1919
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arbitration and judicial
decision is mentioned in the second draft of Woodrow Wilson's plan (along
with a possibility to appeal arbitral awards to a Body of Delegates;
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January 20, 1919
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international court is outlined in
the British draft of a Covenant for the League of Nations (approved by the
English Cabinet and submitted to President Wilson by a confidential letter of
Lord Robert Cecil): three dispute settlement bodies: Court, Council,
Conference. It contained a proposal to create (pending creation of the
Permanent Court of International Justice) the 'Court of International Law'
from national groups @ PCA (to be chosen by the Council or the Conference).
Three month cooling off period. Jurisdiction was to be established on the
basis of a pre-dispute treaty or post-dispute agreement. Flexibility in the
procedure. Council/Conference could also unilaterally submit disputes for its
consideration, but in these cases decision of the court would have no force
unless confirmed by the report of the Conference or the Council.
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January 25, 1919
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international court was not mentioned in the Resolution passed at the Plenary Session of the
Preliminary Peace Conference creating a committee for discussion of plans of
the League of Nations.
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January 27, 1919
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Cecil-Miller Draft pays little attention to the international court,
yet proposed 9 judges:
5 nominated by Allies, other 4 selected by Allies, but nominated by others.
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January 31, 1919
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Conference of American and British representatives holds that
"provisions regarding the method of arbitration ... were not
essential, and that a general provision might be inserted for the creation of
a Permanent Court."
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Committee/Commission on the League of Nations (February
3, 1919 - February 13, 1919)
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February 3, 1919
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arbitration and plans for
establishment of the permanent international court (to consider
matters "which the parties recognize as suitable for submission to it
for arbitration" Article XII) as well as three months cooling off period
and dispute settlement through the Executive Council, all are mentioned in
Hurst-Miller Draft (who were technical experts for the GB and USA
respectively).
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February 3, 1919
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Italian Draft: International
Court of Justice were to be composed of judges appointed by all member-states
for 6 years; consideration of individual cases through panels (president,
vice-president, 1 judge chosen from the full Court by each party, and 4 other
judges chosen by the judges themselves from their own numbers by secret
ballot. Jurisdiction established through: 1) compromis; or 2)
unilaterally by one party with authorization from the Council. Rules
determined by parties in cases brought by compromis.
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February 6, 1919 (?)
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considered: (1)
Hurst-Miller Draft; (2) Draft of the French Ministerial Commission; (3)
Italian Draft.
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February 14, 1919
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Committee submits joint official draft of a Covenant for the League of
Nations to the Peace Conference
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February 27, 1920
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completion of the plan prepared by a joint committee created by
neutral states (Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland): court
would be open to all nations (members and non-members of the League of
Nations; compulsory jurisdiction in several types of matters; guarantee of
the performance of the decision through the League of Nations.
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March 11-13, 1919
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Meetings of the Unofficial Inter-Allied League of Nations Conference
held in London.
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March 20 – 21, 1919
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Meeting of the Commission with
representatives of neutral states (Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway,
Sweden, Spain) none of the proposed changes have been accepted
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March 26, 1919
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Commission/Committee on the
League of Nations appoints the drafting committee .
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April 11, 1919
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final English (i.e. language)
version of the draft approved;
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April 21, 1919
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final French (i.e. language)
version of the draft approved ;
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April 28, 1919
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Draft is adopted by the
Preliminary Peace Conference.
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Peace Treaties with Germany, Austria, Bulgaria and
Hungary
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May 7, 1919
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conditions of peace (including
the Covenant of the League of Nations) communicated to Germany ;
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May 9, 1919
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German Counter-Proposal
included: compulsory jurisdiction over legal disputes, jurisdiction over
complaints from private persons; recognition of the state equality; the court
would be in operation for 9 years; judges would be appointed by a Congress of
States (not included in the Covenant)
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June 09, 1919
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Organization Committee's second meeting:
proposition to establish a committee of jurists to discuss plans of the
court.
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June 23, 1919
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Austrian Counter-Proposal included a
proposal for the court with 15 judges and 8 deputy-judges; judges
elected by the Assembly; no more than 1 national of the same state on the
bench; parties could eliminate judges; judges nationals of the parties would
be excluded, judges
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June 28, 1919
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Treaty of Versailles was signed
by the representatives of Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, France,
Great Britain, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, The Hedjaz, Honduras, Italy, Japan,
Liberia, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Yugoslavia,
Siam, Czechoslovakia, United States of America, Uruguay and Germany.
Covenant of the League of Nations constituted Articles 1-30 of the Treaty of
Versailles, Saint-Germain, Neuilly and Trianon.
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August 4, 1919
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Swiss Federal Council's Consultative
Committee's draft providing for international court communicated to the Swiss
Federal Assembly.
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August 29, 1919
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Norwegian Committee's draft of the court
communicated to the Secretariat of the League of Nations
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September, 1919
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Swedish Committee's draft of the court
communicated to the Secretariat of the League of Nations
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September 10, 1919
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Treaty of Saint-Germain signed
by the above states and Austria
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November, 1919
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Danish Committee's draft communicated to
the Secretariat of the League of Nations
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November 27, 1919
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Treaty of Neuilly signed by the
above states and Bulgaria
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January 10, 1920
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Covenant of the League of Nations came into
force
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February 16-27, 1920
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Conference representing Denmark, the
Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland (see Grotius Annuaire
Internationale, 1919-1920); 55-article projet on the question of
the court.
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March 19, 1920
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US Congress did not ratify the
Treaty of Versailles
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June 4, 1920
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Treaty of Trianon signed by the
above states and Hungary
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July 1, 1921
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USA signed a Treaty of Berlin
with Germany.
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1920 Advisory Committee of Jurists
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February 12-13, 1920
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2nd Public Meeting of the
Council of the League of Nation passed resolution on the formation of the
Advisory Committee of Jurists (ACJ), responsible for the development of PCIJ.
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May 14, 1920
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creation of the Secretariat to assist the
ACJ with Anzilotti (Under Secretary-General of the League of Nations) acting
as a Secretary-General of the Committee and M. Åke Hammarskjöld as
deputy.
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June 16, 1920
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First meeting of the ACJ at The
Hague; Baron Descamps was elected President of the Committee , M. Loder
Vice-President.
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June 16 – July 24, 1920
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35 Meetings of the Committee considering
following:
- Italian, German and Austrian proposals at the Peace Conference;
- Convention for the est. of the CACJ;
- drafts of the Scandinavian committees;
- Swiss avant-projet;
- draft of the five neutral States;
- draft drawn up by the Netherlands Committee;
- draft prepared by the Inter-parliamentary Union;
- draft prepared by the Union Juridique Internationale .
Three main problems: compulsory jurisdiction and election of the judges.
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Draft before the Council and the
Assembly of the League of Nations
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July 24, 1920
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Preparation of the Draft Scheme for the
establishment of the PCIJ and Explanatory Report by M. de Lapradelle
completed by ACJ.
Root-Phillimore plan: joint election of the judges by the Council and
Assembly of the League (11 Judges and 4 Supplementary Judges)
Proposed compulsory jurisdiction by means of inter-state agreements on the
specific categories of disputes.
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August 3, 1920
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draft-scheme considered by the Council of
the League of Nations;
Draft Scheme and Explanatory Report forwarded to the Member-States .
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August 4, 1920
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Draft-Scheme given for consideration to the
members of the League of Nations
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October 23, 1920
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Draft-Scheme considered by the Council of
the League of Nations: rejection of the compulsory jurisdiction;
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November 15, 1920
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Meeting of the Assembly of the League of
Nations at Geneva (44 states)
Appointment of the Third Committee (36 members) to deal with a question of
jurisdiction.
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Draft before the Third Committee
(November 17 - December 16, 1919)
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November 17, 1920
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first (out of ten) meeting of the Third
Committee (Chairman: M. Léon Bourgeios)
appointment of the Sub-Committee (Charman: M. Hagerup).
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Nov. 24 - Dec. 10, 1920
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eleven meetings of the Sub-Committee
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December 8-11, 1920
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Sub-Committee presented a revised
Draft-Scheme and a Report to the Third Committee
Third Committee:
- rejected compulsory jurisdiction
- included optional Clause and Article 36 of the Statute
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Draft before the Council and the
Assembly of the League of Nations
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December 13, 1920
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Plenary Meeting of the Assembly considered
Third Committee’s Scheme and Report.
Statute of the Court (as drafted by the Third Committee) was unanimously
approved by Assembly through the ‘Resolution Concerning the Establishment of
PCIJ’, to be submitted to the members of the League of Nations for adoption
on the basis of the majority rule. Idea of the ratification of the Resolution
would take place through the Protocol of Signatures and would result into the
adoption of the Statute of the Court.
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December 14, 1920
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Council of the League of Nations adopted
the draft of the Protocol of Signatures and considers a draft of an
"Optional Clause"
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December 16, 1920
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Protocol of Signature became open for
signature.
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December 17, 1920
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Optional Clause became open for signature.
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February 25, 1921
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Protocol of Signature had been signed on
behalf of 27 Members of the League of Nations .
Council authorized election nomination of candidates for the first election
of judges.
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September 1, 1921
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Protocol of Signature had been ratified by
22 of 41 signatories. The Statute came into force.
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September 5, 1921
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Meeting of the Second Assembly.
By this time:
- 55 States have signed the Protocol of Signature of the Statute
- 47 States have ratified the Statute of the Court
- 48 States have signed the Optional Clause for compulsory jurisdiction
(with/without reservations).
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April 1, 1921
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Member-States asked to provide the names of
the members of the national groups created for the nomination of the
candidates for the positions of the members of the Court.
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June 2, 1921
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Secretary-General addressed a request to the
above groups to nominate the candidates.
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September 14, 1921
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Two separate meetings of the Council and
the Assembly elected 11 judges and 4 deputy-judges from the list of 89 names
submitted by the groups.
Results of the election in the Assembly:
1. Altamira (Spain) 23 votes
2. Alvarez (Chile) 24 votes
3. Anzilotti (Italy) 24 votes
4. Barboza (Brasil) 38 votes
5. de Bustamente (Cuba) 26 votes
6. Finlay (Great Britain) 29 votes
7. Loder (Netherlands) 24 votes
8. Oda (Japan) 29 votes
9. Weiss (France) 30 votes
10. J.B.Moore (USA) 21 votes (second ballot)
11. Huber (Switzerland) 22 votes (fifth ballot)
Results of the election in the Council:
1. Altamira (Spain)
2. Anzilotti (Italy)
3. Barboza (Brasil)
4. de Bustamente (Cuba)
5. Descamps (Belgium)
6. Finlay (Great Britain)
7. Loder (Netherlands)
8. Moore (USA)
9. Nyholm (Denmark)
10. Oda (Japan)
11. Weiss (France)
After additional meeting of the Assembly & Council:
1. Altamira (Spain)
2. Anzilotti (Italy)
3. Barboza (Brasil) – died 1923 replaced by Epitacio da Silva Pessoa (Brasil)
4. de Bustamente (Cuba)
5. Finlay (Great Britain) died 1929 replaced by Cecil Hurst
6. Huber (Switzerland)
7. Loder (Netherlands)
8. Moore (USA) – resigned 1928 replaced by Charles Evans Hughes resigned 1930
replaced by Frank B. Kellogg
9. Nyholm (Denmark)
10. Oda (Japan)
11. Weiss (France) – died 1928 replaced by Fromageot (France)
Deputy-Judges elected by the Assembly and the Council:
1. Negulesco (Romania)
2. Wang (China)
3. Yovanovitch (Yugoslavia)
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September 16, 1921
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Fourth Deputy-Judge - Beichmann (Normay)
elected at a result of the joint conference of the representatives of the
Assembly and the Council.
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September 21, 1921
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Meeting of the Assembly.
Confirmation of the acceptance of the office by the judges.
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January 30, 1922
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Preliminary Session of the Court.
Election of the Dr.B.C.J.Loder as a President 1925-1927 (1925-1927 Judges
Huber; 1928-1930 Judge Anzilotti); Weiss as a Vice-President (Huber from
1928) ; Åke Hammarskjöld as a Registrar.
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February 15, 1922
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Public inaugural meeting of the Court in
Peace Palace
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March 24, 1922
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Rules of the Court adopted
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June 15, 1922
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First Ordinary Session of the Court
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September 26, 1924
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Amendment of the Art. 14 of the Covenant:
added a reference to judicial settlement, in addition to arbitration in Art.
12, 13 and 15.
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January 27, 1926
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US Senate’s Resolution on the question of
the signing of the December 16th, 1920 Protocol
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March 18, 1926
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Meeting of the Council of the League
considered the above resolution
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September 1926
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Conference of the Signatories at Geneva.
Consideration of the above resolution.
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Summer 1926
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Revision of the Rules of the Court
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September 1927
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Amendment of the second paragraph in
Article 71 of the Rules of the Court
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February 19,1929
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US Government addresses a note to the
Member-States and Secretary-General of the League of Nations on the question
of the US’s participation in the activities of the Court.
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March 11 – 19, 1929
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Meetings of the Jurists’ Committee at
Geneva on the question of the amendment of the Statute of the Court
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September 1930
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Election of the renewal of the Bench after
nine-year period expired.
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September 4-12, 1929
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Conference of the States considered
amendments proposed by the Jurists’ Committee. Produced “Protocol for the
Revision of the Statute of the PCIJ”
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September 14, 1929
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Meeting of the Assembly. Consideration and
adoption of the above Protocol. (16 article were amended). Major amendment:
abolition of the deputy-judges and creation of a Bench of 15 judges that should
have been permanently available for the exercise of their responsibilities
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August 16, 1930
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Cuba “vetoes” ratification of the Revision
Protocol on the basis of its Article 4.
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September 9, 1930
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Council appoints a Committee of Jurists on
the question of the protocol not being passed.
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September 10, 1930
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Meeting of the Assembly
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September 12, 1930
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Council adopts committee’s proposal.
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September 25, 1930
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Plenary Assembly adopts three resolutions
on the question of the inadmissibility of the Revision Protocol and two
resolutions regarding remuneration of the judges.
Results: increase of the number of judges (from 11 to 15) and creation of the
permanent sessions of the court
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TO BE CONTINUED ...
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SOURCES:
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1. Alexander P. Fachiri The Permanent
Court of International Justice: Its Constitution, Procedure and Work 2nd
Edition, (London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1932).
2. Manley O. Hudson The Permanent Court of International Justice 1920 –
1942: A Treatise (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1943).
3. Antonio Sanchez de Bustamante, trans. Elizabeth F. Read, The World
Court (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1925).
4. Antonio Sanchez de Bustamante “Permanent Court of International
Justice” Minnesota Law Review 9 (December 1924 - June 1925).
Also see:
4. David Hunter Miller, The Drafting of the Covenant (New York: G. P.
Putnam's Sons, 1928),
5. Alfred Zimmern, The League of Nations and the Rule of Law, 1918-1935 (London:
Macmillan, 1936),
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