The Geneva Protocol Part 34

Welcomes warmly the draft Protocol on the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes proposed by the two Committees, of which the text is annexed to this resolution, and

Decides

(1) To recommend to the earnest attention of all the Members of the League the acceptance of the said draft Protocol;

(2) To open immediately the said Protocol in the terms proposed for signature by those representatives of Members of the League who are already in a position to sign it and to hold it open for signature by all other States;

(3) To request the Council forthwith to appoint a Committee to draft the amendments to the Covenant contemplated by the terms of the said Protocol;

(4) To request the Council to convene an International Conference for the Reduction of Armaments, which shall meet at Geneva as provided by the following stipulations of Article 17 of the draft Protocol:

"In preparation for the convening of the Conference, the Council shall draw up, with due regard to the undertakings contained in Articles 11 and 13 of the present Protocol, a general programme for the reduction and limitation of armaments which shall be laid before the Conference and be communicated to the Governments at the earliest possible date, and at the latest, three months before the Conference meets.

"If by May 1st, 1925, ratifications have not been deposited by at least a majority of the permanent Members of the Council and ten other Members of the League, the Secretary-General of the League shall immediately consult the Council as to whether he shall cancel the invitations or merely adjourn the Conference to a subsequent date to be fixed by the Council so as to permit the necessary number of ratifications to be obtained."

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(5) To request the Council to put into immediate execution the provisions of Article 12 of the draft Protocol.

RECOMMENDATION OF THE a.s.sEMBLY, OCTOBER 2ND, 1924.

II. The a.s.sembly,

Having taken cognisance of the report of the First Committee upon the terms of Article 36, paragraph 2, of the Statute of the Permanent Court of International Justice;

Considering that the study of the said terms shows them to be sufficiently wide to permit States to adhere to the special Protocol, opened for signature in virtue of Article 36, paragraph 2, with the reservations which they regard as indispensable;

Convinced that it is in the interest of the progress of international justice, and consistent with the expectations of the opinion of the world, that the greatest possible number of States should, to the widest possible extent, accept as compulsory the jurisdiction of the Court.

Recommends:

States to accede at the earliest possible date to the special Protocol opened for signature in virtue of Article 36, paragraph 2, of the Statute of the Permanent Court of International Justice.

RESOLUTION OF THE a.s.sEMBLY, OCTOBER 2ND, 1924.

I. The a.s.sembly recommends the Council to place the question of Regional Agreements for the Reduction of Armaments on the agenda of the International Conference for the Reduction of Armaments.

II. Whereas the majority of the States which have replied have stated that, with certain exceptions, they have not exceeded the expenditure on armaments shown in their last budgets, and whereas the recommendation addressed to the Governments relates to the period which must elapse before the meeting of the International Conference for the Reduction of Armaments, which is to take place next year:

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The a.s.sembly does not consider it necessary to repeat the recommendation regarding the limitation of expenditure on armaments, as this question is to be placed upon the agenda of the International Conference for the Reduction of Armaments.

III. The a.s.sembly is of the opinion:

1. That another technical conference on naval disarmament is unnecessary.

2. That the question of naval disarmament should be discussed as part of the general question of disarmament dealt with by the International Conference proposed in the resolution of September 6th, 1924, adopted by the Fifth a.s.sembly, and that it rests with the Council to settle the programme.

IV. The a.s.sembly requests the Council, in preparing the general programme of the Conference for the Reduction of Armaments provided for in Article 17 of the Protocol, to consider the advisability of including in that programme the following points:

1. General plan for a reduction of armaments in accordance with Article 8 of the Covenant, in particular:

(_a_) Basis and methods of reduction (budget, peace-time effectives, tonnage of naval and air fleets, population, configuration of frontiers, etc.);

(_b_) Preparation of a typical budget for expenditure on armaments.

2. Special position of certain States in relation to the reduction of armaments:

(_a_) Temporary reservations by countries exposed to special risks;

(_b_) Recommendation of regional agreements for the reduction (or limitation) of armaments,

3. Recommendation of the establishment of demilitarised zones (Article 9).

4. Control and investigation of armaments in the contracting States.

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The a.s.sembly also requests the Council to instruct the competent organisations of the League to examine the schemes relating to the above questions which have already been submitted to the Third Committee, or which may subsequently be received by the Secretariat, and to take them into consideration in preparing the programme of the Conference.

RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL, OCTOBER 3RD, 1924.

1. With a view to the preparation of the Conference for the Reduction of Armaments, the Council decides to form itself into a Committee. The representatives on the Council who consider that it will not be possible to attend the Committee in person will, as soon as possible, send to the Secretary-General the names of their subst.i.tutes on this Committee.

The Committee will hold its first meeting on November 17th, in order to draw up a general programme of the work connected with the application of Article 12 of the Protocol and with the reduction of armaments.

The Governments of the States represented on the Council are requested to give their representatives on the Committee the necessary instructions in order that the general lines of the programme may be laid down during its meeting of November 17th.[1] {216} The Secretary-General will invite the Governments of the States Members of the League not represented on the Council to forward through him to the Committee any suggestions which they may think useful with a view to the preparation of this programme.

2. The Secretariat is requested to collect the data necessary for the economic and financial investigations relative to the application of Article 12 of the Protocol, and is authorised to distribute these data to the competent organs of the League (Economic and Financial Organisation and Transit Organisation) with a view to the work which will subsequently be required of them by the Committee.

The Secretariat will obtain information from the official doc.u.ments at the disposal of the League or from doc.u.ments which might, if necessary, be furnished by the Governments.

3. In conformity with the a.s.sembly resolution, and in order to a.s.sist the Committee in co-ordinating the preparatory work for the Conference, the Temporary Mixed Commission shall be re-organised and shall take the name of the Co-ordination Commission, and be composed as follows:

(_a_) The Committee of the Council (ten members) a.s.sisted by:

(_b_) The President and one member or two members of each of the three Organisations, Economic, Financial and Transit (six members);

(_c_) Six members appointed by the Permanent Advisory Commission (six members);

(_d_) Two members of the Employers' Group and two members of the Workers' Group of the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, appointed by the latter (four members);