Voting Procedures in United Nations Conferences for the Codification of International Law

1975 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 310-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis B. Sohn

The question of voting procedure in international conferences convoked to codify international law has been discussed for more than a hundred years, starting with the first Geneva Red Cross Conference in 1864. At the Hague Peace Conferences of 1899 and 1907 important departures were made from the unanimity rule in favor of near-unanimity or quasi-unanimity. Further steps toward a two-thirds rule were taken by the League of Nations in connection with the Hague Codification Conference of 1930. The question arose anew when the first United Nations conferences were held, and in particular as soon as the United Nations started its ambitious program for the progressive development of international law and its codification, pursuant to Article 13(1) (a) of the UN Charter.

1930 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 674-693 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hunter Miller

The Conference for the Codification of International Law which met at The Hague from March 13 to April 12, 1930, was the first international conference specifically called for that purpose.In 1924 the League of Nations set up a Committee of Experts for the progressive codification of international law. The task of that committee was to select and propose for the first conference on codification a certain number of subjects within the field of international law. Three subjects, namely, Nationality, Territorial Waters and The Responsibility of States for Damage Caused in Their Territory to the Person or Property of Foreigners, were finally agreed on as the subjects to be considered by the first conference.


Author(s):  
Dimitar Tyulekov ◽  
Ilko Drenkov ◽  
Jani Nikolla

The League of Nations sets strict professional frameworks that are subordinate to scientific knowledge and international law and respect, without any differences between small and big powers. The first chairman, Eric Drummond, who headed up to 1934, established a huge international prestige of the organization and achieved a number of successes in peace building. The League’s policy in the Balkans is revealed mainly through its relations with Albania and Bulgaria, which both joined the League in December 1920. The two countries rely on the international organization for the peaceful resolution of their political, minority and social problems. Under the supervision of the League of Nations, a number of agreements for voluntary and mutual exchange of people between Greece and Bulgaria are being concluded, which aims to soothe the Macedonian problem in Aegean Macedonia. Under her patronage are the agreements between Greece and Albania regulating the protection of Greek minorities and schools, as well as settling the border dispute between the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom and Albania in 1921. The rapid intervention of the United Nations suspended the Greek aggression on Bulgarian territory in the autumn of 1925 and prevented a possible new war. Dimitar Shalev's petitions from Skopje to the United Nations aim to achieve the Yugoslav state's humane treatment towards Bulgarian minorities within its borders, but political dependencies and overlapping contradictions are an obstacle to peaceful and sustainable political outcomes. In the second half of the 1930s, the League lost its initial prestige, and in the course of the emerging new global conflict it fell into political dependence, marking its collapse. Unresolved issues and contradictions, along with the harsh political post-war realities, quickly bury the League’s noble impetus.


1990 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 122-126
Author(s):  
Robert W. Schaaf

Those seeking information on the United Nations’ work in systematizing the rules of public international law may find it useful to examine the latest edition of The Work of the International Law Commission (4th ed., United Nations, 1988). According to this publication, (the primary source for this column), interest in the development and codification of the rules on international law may be traced back to the late 18th century and the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham, author of Principles of International Law. From this time forward there were numerous attempts at the codification of international law, but intergovernmental regulation of general legal questions originated with the Congress of Vienna (1814–1815). Thereafter, international legal rules on various subjects were developed by different diplomatic conferences. These included such subjects as the laws of war on land and sea, pacific settlement of international disputes and the regulation of postal services and telecommunications. The Hague Peace Conferences of 1899 and 1907 stimulated the movement for codification. Efforts to promote the codification and development of international law were further advanced with the 1924 (September 22) resolution of the fifth session of the League of Nations Assembly which envisaged the establishment of a standing Committee of Experts for the Progressive Codification of International Law. After having consulted member governments and the Council, the League Assembly decided in 1927 to convene a Codification Conference which took place at The Hague in the Spring of 1930. Unfortunately, the international instruments resulting from the work of the conference were only in the one field of nationality. One further step, however, was the adoption by the League Assembly on September 25, 1931 of a major resolution on codification of international law emphasizing the need to strengthen the influence of governments at each stage in the codification process.


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