Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, TUESDAY, OCT. 29, 1929 THE OPTIONAL CLAUSE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17094, 29 October 1929, Page 6

Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, TUESDAY, OCT. 29, 1929 THE OPTIONAL CLAUSE

Although recently there have been many copious references to and discussions of the Optional Clause in the columns of the press, there arc many who are not clear as to what it implies. The Optional Clause is really Article 36 oi' the Statute of the Court of International Justice. In effect, the article binds the states who are members of the League of Nations to recognise the linal jurisdiction of the Court in all or any of the classes of legal disputes concerning (a) the interpretation of a treaty, (b) any question of International Law, (c) the existence of any fact which, it established, would constitute a breach of international obligation, or (d) the nature or extent of the reparation to be made for the breach of an international obligation. "The declaration," says the article, "may be made unconditionally oi' on condition of reciprocity on the part of several or certain members or states or for a certain time. In the event of a dispute as to whether the Court has jurisdiction, the matter shall be settled by the decision of the Court." So far as Britain was concerned, it was of the utmost value to her that the Dominions lent their support to the decision of the Mother Country to sign, and Britain was thus able to set tbe lead. One after another, the nations have signified their intentions to sign the clause, and thus a real step forward has been taken in the general direction of the good government of the world and .a great deal of assistance has been rendered at the same time to other wide movements that are heading in the same direction. In its origin, the clause was part of the draft statute of the Permanent Court prepared by the appointed representatives of the League of Nations in 1920. In its first form, the statute was prepared to hand over to the Court complete powers of jurisdiction in legal disputes over a very wide field of international interest. The League Council at that time, however, rejected the draft clause. Jt was Lord Balfour who pointed out that it went considerably beyond the provisions of the League Coitvcnant, and that compulsory arbitration would never bo accepted by the legal authorities of the various countries. Accordingly the optional was substituted for the compulsory clause, and has been known as such since. Its implications are that any member of the League may declare that it recognises the jurisdiction of the Permanent Court to be compulsory as between itself and any other member, The reservations grpvideii

go far towards obviating the difficulties which an unconditional surrender of freedom of choice would involve for any nation and especially for the British Empire. The same recognition of the need for these reservations —such as that regarding the reciprocity of other States—is a welcome sign that a growing atmosphere of reality is beginning to surround the labors of those who desire to see the world at peace. The signing of the clause represents a constructive effort towards peace, and a positive contribution towards its realisation. .Possibly the best way in which to prevent wars and rumors of wars is to implement and strengthen the positive peace spirit and to hedge it around by a system of generally accepted law. Britain's signature had the power to lead the world for the reason that she has never been guilty of dishonoring it. That is mucli to say, but it is well known that there are several international agreements in existence which have been observed by Britain alone of all the subscribers. In other .words, the moral iniluence of the great British people is still a power making tor good amongst the other peoples. The present Government at Home indicated its hope to be able to sign the clause. This was made plain in the King's speech last July. Mr. MaeDonald has certainly snown his wisdom in making sure that he had the adherence of the Dominions. The hesitation of previous Governments was chiefly due to the fact that a great proportion of international law is not yet in a fully consolidated state. There are all kinds of generalities, natural enough in the case of enactments designed to meet the needs of different nations, but which are inevitably open to misunderstanding, wrongful interpretation, or even wilful misrepresentation. Another cause of hesitation has been the unwillingness to commit the country to an irrevocable method of settling disputes which might in some possible instances turn out to be the wrong one. Mr. MacDonaid seems to have sized up all this, and that he was fully alive to the situation is evidenced by the fact that lie took the Dominions into his confidence. He has always been a man .who thinks in terms of peace rather than of war, and on this occasion he has managed to combine good statesmanship witli his own ideas. It is early to say what the eventual results of the signing of the clause will be. The vulue of the act will be evident only as actual incidents arise which have to be dealt with in a speedy and practical way. But that a good foundation has been laid no one can deny. To sum up: it has been pointed out that the broad effect of the clause is to bind any State which signs it to the jurisdiction of the International Court in all legal disputes. It is only operative in relation to States accepting the same obligation. it represents a compromise between those who wished to give the Court compulsory and those who wished to give it voluntary jurisdiction. The compromise is that the jurisdiction is compulsory only for those States which agree in advance to make it so. Perhaps it amounts to the preliminary step on the way to an international situation wherein the membership of the League itself will automatically imply the acceptance of the League Court's jurisdiction. Britain's lead may have a great and growing iniluence in this direction.