Part 43 (1/2)

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.