Legal > Election of members of the Permanent Court of International Justice

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— Legal 1929.V.18). Under the amended text of-Article 17, the members of the Court may
not “ act as agent, counsel or advocate in any case ” ; the words “ in any case ” have been
substituted by the Conference for the words “ in any case of an international nature ” used
in the original text of the article (seepage 34 of the Minutes), and the obligation applies to
all the members of the Court.
Both the original and the amended text of Article 17 further provide that no member
of the Court “ may participate in the decision of any case in which he has previously taken
an active part as agent, counsel or advocate for one of the contesting parties, or as a member
of a national or international court or of a commission of enquiry or in any other capacity
Permanent Functioning of the Court.
The amendments affect the obligations of members of the Court by substituting for
the existing system under which the Court holds one regular annual session and may, when
necessary, be convened in extraordinary session, the rule that the Court shall remain constantly
in session except during the judicial vacations, the dates and duration of which are fixed by
it, and the rule that the members of the Court, unless they are on regular leave or prevented
from attending by illness or other serious reason duly explained to the President, must hold
themselves permanently at the disposal of the Court (Article 23, amended text). Provision
is, however, made for special leave of absence of six months every three years for members
whose homes are situated at more than five days’ normal journey from The Hague. The
obligation of residence at The Hague is imposed only upon the President of the Court (Article
22).
Remuneration and Pensions of Members of the Court.
In presenting the amendments to the Assembly, the Rapporteur, M. Politis, explained
that the new provisions regarding the members of the Court were inspired by the principle
that “ their judicial functions must constitute their sole and exclusive occupation The
alteration in the position of the members of the Court will be accompanied by a corresponding
revision of the provisions governing their remuneration and pensions, the effect of which
is shown below (Article 32 and Annex).
Text of the Articles of the Statute in Their Present Form and in the Form which
WILL RESULT FROM THE PROPOSED AMENDMENTS.
The articles of the Statute which are material in connection with the appointment and
the position of members of the Court are reproduced below in their present form and in the
form which will result from the proposed amendments :
Original text.
Article 2.
The Permanent Court of International
Justice shall be composed of a body of
independent judges elected regardless of their
nationality from amongst persons of high
moral character, who possess the qualifi¬
cations required in their respective countries
for appointment to the highest judicial
offices, or are jurisconsults of recognised
competence in international law.
Article 3.
The Court shall consist of fifteen members :
eleven judges and four deputy-judges. The
number of judges and deputy-judges may
hereafter be increased by the Assembly,
upon the proposal of the Council of the League
of Nations, to a total of fifteen judges and
six deputy-judges.
Amended text.
No change.
New Article 3.
The Court shall consist of fifteen members.