Evening star., 1923-04-28

THE EVENING
| and firmly laid and added, "a little
! time. little patience, and the great
work is accomplished" Echoing the
same sentiment, President Roosevelt
| said in his next message to the Con-
! gress: Substantial progress was also
| made toward the creation of a per-
manent judicial tribunal for the de-
! termination of International causes"
He regarded the unsettled question as
! to the method of selecting judges as
| plainly one which time and good
| temper will solve
Third. Is the present Permanent
| Court of international Justice, to
| tinued to be Il cardinal feature of
| American policy.
Third. Is the present permanent
court of International justice, to
| which the Presidents recommendation
| refers, established on sound basis
| This question invites consideration
| of it's organizations of the extent to
which the court has the support of
the nations; of the jurisdiction and
standards of the court: and of the
! qualifications, tenure, method of Sc
! lection and independence of the judges
composing it.
|
! tional Justice has been established
under what is called a statute, or
| constitution. which defines its organi
zation, jurisdiction and procedure. In
! the preparation of this statute the
| council of the league called to it's
| aid an international committee of the
| most distinguished jurists. among
! whom was Mr.. Root. This advisory
committee of jurists formulated a
| plan for permanent court. The plan
.lAy. .l.Ri
| council and assembly of the league.
| but its main structure was retained.
While the amended plan was adopted
| by the assembly of the league, it
| could not be put into effect by action
| of the league. In view of the scope
| of the plan, IL was necessary to have
| a special international agreement on
| the part of the states which were
! willing to accept it. Accordingly a
| special protocol or agreement, with
| the statute of the court annexed, was
| drawn up and sent to the nations for
| approval. | understand that about
! forty-SiX states have signed this spe-
! cial agreement, and of these about
i thirty-fuur states have already rati-
| fled il.
Separate From League.
/ The Permanent Court is thus an
establishment separate from the
league. having Il distinct legal status
I created Dy an INDEPENDENT organic
/ act.
Z The jurisdiction of the court COM
sDriSes all cases which the parties re
Ger to. il and all matters specially
provided for i'll treaties and conven-
EionS in force
Careful provision has been made to
secure the Independence of the court
and to safeguard the appropriate dis
charge of its functions as judicial
body in accordance with accepted
judicial standards. The statute of
the court provides that il shall be
composed "of body of independent
Judges. elected regardless Of their
nationality from among persons of
high moral character. who possess
ting qualifications required in their
respective countries for appointment
to -the highest judicial Offices. or are
juI=Sconsults of recognized Compe-
tence in international law" The
court consists Of fifteen members
eleven ordinary judges and four
d"paty judges. The eleven judges
canI-ot all he present. the deputy
| judges may bc called on. Nine con-
Stituse Il quorum. The court is thus
large: enough to be appropriately rep
reserEtative and at the same time is
not So large that it cannot effectively
transact its business.
The judges are elected for nine
years land are eligible for collection.
Every: judge before taking up his
duties must make solemn deciara-
tion ii. open court that he will eXer-
else h.s Eowers impartially and con-
scienti3usly. The ordinary members
of the- court may not exercise any
politic;.l or administrative function.
This psovision applies To the deputy
judges during the time that they are
performing their duties on the court.
.Iudges Given Security.
No Judge can he removed by the
league :f nations. a Judge cannot
be dismissed unless. in the unanimous
opinion OF the other members of the
court. h5 has ceased to fulfill the re-
Guired conditions. This gives the
Judges absolute security in the i'm
partial performance of their duties.
The statute provides that In decid-
ing cases the court shall apply inter-
national /: conventions establishing
rules expressly recognized by the
ConteStinE states: international Gus
tom. as eyidenc" Of n general practice
accepted stS law: the general prin-
cipLes of law recognized by civilized
and the teachings of the most highly
qualified buhlicists of the various
nations, as subsidiary means for the
determination of rules of law. All
questions are decided by a majority
of the Judges present. and in the
event of an equality of votes. the
pro sidcnt ar his deputy, who are
elected by the court itself, shall have
Il casting vote.
The Judgment of the court is to be
final and without appeal. 1t is cx-
pressIy provided, however that the
decision of the court shall have no
binding force except between the
parties and in respect of the particu-
lar case decided.
As already observed. The Hague
" nf hn ,I,l I'LL,
of permanent court failed because
it was found to he impossible to agree
upon the method of selecting the
judges. Manifestly. if the nations are
to participate in maintaining an in
ternational court they must have
suitable opportunity to participate in
the election of those who compose il.
Still. to have every nation represented
upon such court, or to have a Sc
lection Of a permanent body of judges
according to nationality. would be
wholly impracticable, and insistenCe
upon such a course would make i'm
possible the establishment of a per-
manent court. The fundamental pos
tulate of international law is the
equality of states but if this princinIe
alone is observed and all states
should join in the election of Judges
precisely upon the same footing the
small powers would have a great ma
Jorty and would control the election.
Even thouSn the jurisdiction of the
court was not compulsory, a court
thus constituted would not be likely
to enjoy the confidence of the great
powers. At least the fear Of such
an arrangement has been until now
an insuperable obstacle in establish
ing an international court.
Two Groups to Concur.
This difficulty has been surmounted
by providing that the two groups of
powers in the council and assembly
OF the league shall act concurrently