STRUCTURE The structure created for the fulfilment of the function consists of (a) the panel of members of the Court; (b) the Administrative Council; and (c) the International Bureau. (a) The members of the Court, who by the terms of their appointment hold themselves liable to service, are available for selection for ad hoc tribunals organized by states, whether or not parties to one of the conventions. Tribunals have been constituted of three or five members, though in four cases single arbitrators were chosen. Under the Statute of the International Court of Justice, the members of the Court, as national groups, perform the function of nominating candidates for judges of that Court. (b) The Administrative Council is composed of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, who acts as president, and of diplomatic representatives accredited to The Hague by the states parties to one or both of the conventions. The Administrative Council directs and controls the International Bureau and meets at least annually. Its competence is strictly limited to administration, and it has no authority to deal with questions arising in the conduct of an arbitration. (c) The International Bureau consists of the Secretary General and a small staff. The present Secretary General is A. M. Snouck Hurgronje. The Bureau acts as the registry of the Court; it is the channel for communications relative to the meetings of the Court, and it has charge of the archives and conducts all the administrative busiThe languages, form of decision, method of voting, and other details not provided for in the chapter on procedure in the conventions are determined in the compromis or special agreement, by which each case is submitted to a tribunal by the governments concerned. ness. FINANCES Budget. The budget of the International Bureau is adopted by the Administrative Council after examination by its financial committee. The Bureau's annual expenses, financed entirely by member contributions, amount to approximately 85,600 florins (about $32,300). The expenses of a tribunal are met by the parties to the case at issue. Members' Quotas. The convention of 1907 provides that the states parties to the conventions shall contribute to the budget of the Bureau according to the allocation scheme of the Universal Postal Union which divides contributors into seven optional classes paying from one to twenty-five units. The following chart shows the assessed contributions of the members of the Bureau for the year 1948: Authorization. The United States ratified the convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes, signed at The Hague, July 29, 1899, and the revision of that convention signed October 18, 1907. Payments. The United States contribution to the International Bureau is paid from funds appropriated to the Department of State for this purpose. Its annual share of the expenses of the Bureau for each of the years 1947 and 1948 amounted to 4,100 florins ($1,547), or 4.79 percent of total assessments. Agencies Chiefly Concerned. The Department of State negotiates the compromis under which a tribunal of the Court functions in cases to which the United States is a party. Participation. The United States Delegations at both the Hague conferences took an active part in negotiating the conventions of 1899 and 1907. The Government ratified both promptly, and the United States was one of the states which brought them initially into force, the first on September 4, 1900 and the second on January 26, 1910. The United States Ambassador at The Hague is ex officio a member of the Administrative Council. RELATIONS WITH OTHER INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS The members of the Permanent Court of Arbitration act under articles 4-6 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice as national groups for the selection of candidates for election to that Court. States parties to the Statute and not parties to the Hague conventions appoint national groups of like qualifications for performing the duty under the Statute. A tribunal created under the Hague conventions is stipulated in many multilateral conventions as the sole or alternative forum for the consideration of disputes arising from their terms. BASIC TEXTS AND PUBLICATIONS U. S. Department of State. Convention Between the United States and Certain Powers for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes, Signed at The Hague, July 29, 1899. Treaty Series 392. Washington, Government Printing Office, 1902 [?]. 32 pp. (32 Stat. 1779.) Pacific Settlement of International Disputes; Convention Between the United States and other Powers, Signed at The Hague, October 18, 1907. Treaty Series 536. Washington, Government Printing Office, 1932. 54 pp. (36 Stat. 2199.) The publications issued by the International Bureau do not include the cases, countercases, and court records of an arbitration. The publications comprise: Permanent Court of Arbitration. Rapport du Conseil administratif de la Cour permanente d'arbitrage La Haye, 1901-48. 47 v. .. 4 v. Traites généraux d'arbitrage, communiqués au Bureau international de la Cour permanente d'arbitrage. La Haye, Van Langenhuysen, 1911issued. Regional Caribbean Commission Kent House, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, B.W.I. ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT The Caribbean Commission is an outgrowth of the former AngloAmerican Caribbean Commission, composed of the Governments of the United States and the United Kingdom, the establishment of which was announced by a joint communiqué issued by the two Governments on March 9, 1942. This bilateral organization was the first regional commission to be set up as an intergovernmental, advisory, and consultative body on social and economic matters for the member governments and their non-self-governing territories. In 1945 France and the Netherlands accepted invitations to participate as full members of the Commission, whereupon it was informally renamed the Caribbean Commission. An agreement signed in Washington, D. C., on October 30, 1946, by representatives of France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States formally established the organization as the Caribbean Commission.1 The agreement entered into force on August 6, 1948, when notices of approval had been deposited by the four member governments. Eight meetings of the Caribbean Commission have been held in the period 1946-49, both in the Caribbean area and in Washington, D.C. MEMBERSHIP The membership of the Caribbean Commission is limited to governments. The present member governments are France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. PURPOSES, POWERS, AND FUNCTIONS The purpose of this advisory and consultative body is to improve the economic and social conditions of the 15 non-self-governing terri 1 See Basic Texts and Publications, p. 196. tories of the member governments in the Caribbean area through cooperative research and regular consultation among the governments and peoples concerned on matters of common interest, particularly agriculture, communications, education, fisheries, health, housing, industry, labor, social welfare, and trade. It is the function of the Commission to study, formulate, and recommend measures, programs, and policies with respect to social and economic problems designed to contribute to the well-being of the peoples of the area either on its own initiative, or that of its auxiliary bodies, or the territorial governments. The Commission also has the task of assisting in coordinating local projects which have regional significance and of providing technical guidance. In addition the Commission reviews the activities of the Research Council, provides for the convening of the sessions of the West Indian Conference, and reports to the member governments on conference resolutions and recommendations. According to the terms of the agreement, the Commission has such legal capacity as may be necessary for the exercise of its functions and the fulfillment of its purposes. Article XVIII of the agreement provides for cooperation between the Commission and governments of the Caribbean area that are not members of the Commission. Observers from the independent island republics of Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic have attended technical meetings and conferences. STRUCTURE The Commission consists of not more than 16 commissioners, four appointed by each of the member governments. Each such group of commissioners forms a national section of the Commission. The Commission has two auxiliary bodies-the Caribbean Research Council and the West Indian Conference. A Central Secretariat serves the auxiliary bodies and the Commission. The Research Council is composed of not less than 7 nor more than 15 members who are appointed by the Commission for their scientific competence. The principal functions of the Council are to ascertain what research has been done, to survey needs, to arrange and facilitate cooperative research, and to collect and disseminate information concerning research. It is assisted by six technical research committees on (a) agriculture, fish, wildlife and forestry; (b) medicine, public health, and nutrition; (c) industrial development; (d) engineering; (e) sociology and education; and (ƒ) economics and statistics. The Conference, which meets biennially in the Caribbean area, provides a regular means of consultation with and between the delegates from the territories on matters of common interest within the terms of |