The League of Nations
The " Systematic Survey " of International Law
ONE of the really few Greek words which used to appeal to me in the days of my youth was the irregular (?) verb NarOcirco, which I was always taught to translate, " I escape my own notice doing something." Precisely how one carried through this acrobatic feat was not then clear to me, but I have recently begun to get some glimmering of light from the really remarkable success of a committee of three well- known international lawyers in escaping, not perhaps their own notice, but at any rate, the notice of the rest of the world, with the important syllabus of international law which they presented to the League Council last summer. In view of the fact that a conference on the Codification of International Law is to meet at The Hague on March 18th, it would seem desirable to remove the bushel which has hitherto obscured this document and give a brief resume of its contents. The raising of the veil is the more legitimate at this moment, since a rather reluctant League Council has just bowed to the wishes of the Assembly and circulated the " Systematic Survey," as it is called, to the various tech- nical organizations of the League with -a request for a not- too-hurried report as to whether and to what extent the committee's proposals may be acted upon.
The three jurists responsible for this highly creditable and useful attempt to systematize the wide ramifications of International Law were Professor Diena (Italy), Dr. J. Gustavo Guerrero (Salvador), and Professor Walther Schiicicing (Germany). who were appointed by the Council in accordance with an Assembly resolution of September 24th, 1928. In their report, they say, and say truly, that they have " included the whole of International Law in their survey, without omitting any part thereof." They purposely eschewed, all questions of detail and have studiously confined themselves to drawing up a list of subjects to be dealt with. The result is an extraordinarily lucid document which will well repay study.
THE SCOPE OF THE SURVEY.
The main heads are five in number : Persons in Inter. national Law ; Objects of International Law ; Legal Rela- tions between States,; International Disputes ; and finally, and ominously, the one word, War. Each of these main divisions has numerous sub-divisions—indeed, the irreverent might almost feel tempted to cite the classical rhyme of the big fleas with little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em, for, if the list does not actually go on, ad infinitum, it never- theless does run into quite a goodly number of items, all of which, in accordance with the resolution already mentioned, " the Assembly proposes to cover by the work of codification."
Part One of the. Survey—Persons in International Law—is dealt with in five divisions-in-chief. What, as a beginning, are the conditions for the existence of International Legal Personality '1 What are the rights and duties of States possessing the quality of Persons in International Law ? What happens if one of these persons passes out ? What is the position of neutralized States, such as Belgium was, and, if I am not mistaken, the Vatican City is ? Finally, what about the League ?
The League, of course, is a problem in itself. First, there are the rules of law arising out of the Covenant to be con- sidered. Then come the rights and duties created by treaties, the execution of which is supervised by the League, par- ticularly as regards the legal status of minorities in certain countries ; after that—mandates. Not a word about our old friend " sovereignty " in this connexion, but the mention of this word will be sufficient to show that there is dynamite even in the question of International Persons. Two less controversial items, the Permanent Court of International Justice and the International Labour Organization, complete the list of lesser babes left on Europe's doorstep by the United States of America.
Part Two deals with Objects of International Law—objects, that is, in the sense of the chessboard and pieces with, and upon, which International Persons (and lawyers) exercise their ingenuity. These are, of course, such things as State territory, inland waters, the territorial seas, the air space
above territory. Some of these can be acquired—or lost. Others can be mule subject to a special regime, as, for instance, rivers like the Danube and the Oder passing through two or more States ; or canals, like Panama and Suez, linking two high seas (another Object). Then there is the nationality of, and jurisdiction over, the vessels which ply on the sea— curiously enough, a bit more escaping of notice comes in here, for the vessels which ply in the air are not mentioned. Finally, so far as this head is concerned, there are mere persons like you and me, our nationality and legal status if and when we happen to be aliens.
With Part Three—Legal Relations between States—we are brought back again to capital : Heads of States, Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Diplomats, Consuls and an unexpected item-International Organs—which seems a little out of place seeing that Article 24 of the Covenant puts these in the main under the control of the League. Then come Treaties, " consideration of form and substance required for their validity," their interpretation, effects and guarantees for their execution. More subtle, but at least equally important, are " international obligations formed without conventions," such as the question of damage caused to the person or property of a foreign resident (which is to be discussed at the Hague Codification Conference in March). Lastly, there is the " pursuit of common interests " in which are included, among other things, all methods of communication and transport ; humanitarian, health and labour interests ; bills of exchange ; commercial and maritime law ; mutual assistance with a view to the punishment of criminal offences.
Part Four enumerates all the different methods used for the settlement of International disputes from " good offices ".to " judicial settlement" via such processes as Commissions of Enquiry or Conciliation, mediation, arbitration and the pacific procedure provided by the Covenant. It also covers what it calls " means of pacific constraint " comprising retortion, or the -act of doing unto others the things you accuse them of having first done unto you, and reprisals, which my dictionary defines as " the act or practice of resorting to force, short of war, to procure redress of grievances." A third section is called " Collective Execution provided for by Article 16 of the Covenant." It is a little difficult to understand why this does not appear in Part Five, War, seeing that Article 16, as it stands to-day, specifically deals with States which' " resort to war in disregard of (their) covenants " and which, accordingly, " shall ipso facto be deemed to have committed' an act of war against all other Members of the League."
THE NEED FOR A DIVORCE OF LAW FROM WAR
But I have an even stronger complaint against the final section of the Survey—Part Five, War. Surely, it has been sufficiently demonstrated during the course of the past cen- turies, not to mention the present one, that you cannot lay down rules for war ; or, that if you do, they will only be broken. One might as well draw up a code for housebreakers. War is, or at any rate ought to 'be, outside the law. Any' State which resorts to war should have an international hue and cry raised against it; as the law-breaking individual did in the days of our Anglo-Saxon forefathers.
Instead of being called " War," Part Five Should be re- named " The Maintenance of Peace." It should cover the permissible action to be taken by the international posse comitatus, as well as the various treaties which enjoin this action. There is first of all Article 16 of the Covenant which describes the nature of the coercive measures to be adopted. Then there are such instruments as the Locarno Treaties and the Quadruple Pacific Treaty signed at Washington, of which the first cites the occasion and the second exemplifies the procedure that may be adopted when the big stick has to be applied to an international bully. As time goes on, the present rather meagre possibilities of police action will no doubt be extended, and the world will one day find itself with a full-fledged penal code which, if it does not completely deter the would-be international criminal, will, at least, ensure that he is faithfully dealt with by his law-abiding brethren.
A. G. LIAJ3.
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