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The General Committee and Other Auxiliary Committees of the League Assembly
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 April 2017
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On December 14, 1939, the twentieth Assembly of the League of Nations authorized the Secretary-General to convene its General Committee and empowered it to decide any question which the Secretary-General and the Supervisory Commission might submit to it until the next session of the Assembly. Since the Assembly also authorized the Secretary-General, with the approval of a majority of the Supervisory Commission, “to take any exceptional administrative or financial measures or decisions which appear necessary” until the next session of the Assembly, the purpose of providing for a meeting of the General Committee would appear to have been to enable measures or decisions other than administrative or financial to be taken if in the opinion of the Secretary-General they were necessary.
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References
1 League of Nations, Records of the Twentieth Ordinary Session of the Assembly (Plenary Meetings), Geneva, 1940, p. 38.
2 Ibid., p. 45. For the text of the resolution conferring extraordinary powers on the Secretary-General and the Supervisory Commission, see Official Journal, 1938, Special Supplement No. 183, p. 140. The 1939 Assembly simply renewed powers conferred by the 1938 Assembly.
3 League of Nations, Monthly Summary, January-February, 1940, p. 11. Geneva Research Centre: Geneva Studies, Vol. XI, No. 8 (December, 1940), passim; Information Bulletin, October, 1940, p. 3; L. of N., Report on the Work of the League 1941-’42 (C.35.M. 35.1942).
4 League of Nations, Brief Statement on the Activities of the League of Nations and Its Organs in 1940–1941, Geneva, 1941 (C.41.M.38.1941), p. 7.
5 The members of the General Committee of the 20th Assembly were the President of the Assembly (Hambro), the Chairman of the Credentials Committee (Costa du Rels, Bolivia), Chairman of the Fourth Committee (de Wiart, Belgium) and the first delegates of Belgium, Great Britain, Canada, Egypt, France, Greece, Portugal and Switzerland. Records of 20th Assembly, pp. 3, 5, and 21. The Supervisory Commission consists of five members elected by the Fourth Committee for the purpose of examining the budget prepared by the Secretary-General and of making recommendations to the Assembly. Its functions, like those of other League committees, expanded with the passage of time. See L. of N., C.3.M.3.1931.X.
6 League of Nations, Official Journal, 1936, Special Supplement No. 156, p. 63. (Here-after cited, O.J., Suppl. No. —.)
7 Article 5.
8 O.J., 1936, Supp. No. 156, p. 63. For the text of the summons, L. of N. Records of the First Assembly (Plenary Meetings), Geneva, 1920, p. 1.
9 The Secretary-General, Sir Eric Drummond (now Lord Perth) was named in the Covenant (Annex II). He began the organization of the Secretariat in 1919, before the taking effect of the Treaty of Versailles on January 10,1920. (See Lord Balfour’s report to the Council in O.J., June, 1920, p. 136). The Council held its first meeting on January 16, 1920. Prior to the meeting of the Assembly, the Council had met ten times. (Assembly Records, 1920 (Plenary), pp. 128–131). On May 19,1920 the Council telegraphed President Wilson asking him to summon the Assembly in November. On July 12 the President summoned the Assembly to meet on November 15, in Geneva. (Assembly Records, 1920 (Plenary), pp. 103–104 O.J., June, 1920, p. 125.
10 By decision of Council, Assembly Records, 1920 (Plenary), p. 104.
11 Ibid., pp. 31–47, passim.
12 Ibid., p. 47 ff. These committees were reconstituted at every Assembly and were known as the “main committees.” Each member state had one delegate on each committee. The First Committee was known as the committee on Legal and Constitutional Questions; the second, Economic and Technical Organizations; the third, Disarmament; fourth, Budget; fifth, Social Questions; sixth, Political. During the years of the Disarmament Conference the Third Committee was not constituted and in 1938 a Beventh committee (Health, Opium and Intellectual Cooperation) was appointed. For the function of these committees see Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, Article 14. (C.472.M.204.1934. V.)
13 For the provisional rules, the draft prepared by the First Committee and discussion in Committee, see Assembly Records, 1920, First Committee, pp. 22–31 and annexes 2, 2a and 2b, pp. 52–67. For debate and decision of plenary session, see Assembly Records, 1920, Plenary, pp. 214–229. For Rules finally adopted, ibid., 236–241.
14 Article 7a, O.J., 1936, Special Supplement No. 155, p. 136.
15 Article 7b, Ibid. It was agreed that unless terminated earlier by the Assembly this procedure should continue through the ordinary session of 1939. For further mention of this committee, see below p. 47, under General Committee.
16 Assembly Records, 1920, Plenary, p. 37.
17 Ibid. See, also, p. 44.
18 Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, edition of April, 1937, (C.144.M.92.1937), p. 6.
19 For discussion of the distribution of committee membership, see below, p. 44.
20 L. of N., Verbatim Record, Seventeenth Assembly, 21 September, 1936, pp. 2–3.
21 Records of the sixteenth Assembly, Part II (O.J., Special Supplement No. 151), pp. 3438, for the attitude of these States. For action of the seventeenth Assembly, Records of Seventeenth Assembly, O.J. (1936), Special Supplement No. 155, p. 35.
22 Records of Seventeenth Assembly, Plenary, pp. 40–42.
23 O.J. (1938), p. 669. (L. of N., C.299.M.175.1938.VII).
24 Journal of Second Assembly, p. 76. The “ committee” mentioned in Rule 4 refers to one of the so-called “main committees” to which, according to Rule 14, all items must be referred before the Assembly can decide on them in plenary meeting. The function of the main committee is to discuss the substance of a question and to report, with recommendations, to the plenary meetings on the merits of various proposals. The function of the small agenda committee is to determine whether an item proposed after the Assembly convenes constitutes an addition to the items already on the agenda and, if so, whether the present Assembly should consider it.
25 On only three occasions after 1926 were no Great Powers represented: 1927, 1937, and 1938. In 1936 only France was represented. In 1939 no Agenda Committee was appointed, the Assembly agreeing to the President’s suggestions of simplifying procedure. The General Committee performed the duties of the Agenda Committee (Records of the 20th Assembly, p. 2 and p. 6).
26 Compare Records of Ninth Assembly (Plenary), O.J., 1928, Special Supplement No. 64, pp. 108–109.
27 During the first week or ten days of each session the Assembly held plenary meetings at which delegates of the member states discussed the report prepared by the Secretary-General on the work of the League since the last Assembly. It was customary for some States to ask that certain portions of the report which deal with matters continually before the League, such as the protection of minorities or the supervision of mandates, be referred to one of the main committees. This procedure permitted States not represented on the Council to discuss questions customarily dealt with by that body. On at least one occasion the General Committee referred a question to a main committee. See O.J., 1938, Special Supplement No. 183, p. 42.
28 Records of the Third Assembly (Plenary), p. 105, and Records of the Ninth Assembly (Plenary), p. 91.
29 O.J. (1934), Special Supplement No. 125, p. 59.
29a “ See report of Agenda Committee of 8 September, 1922; Records of Third Assembly, Plenary, Vol. II, pp. 112–113.
30 The reasons given for the proposal appear in the statement made by one of the British delegation: “I think that the General Committee might well consist of twelve members, six of them being the Presidents elected by the six Committees in virtue of their special technical capacity, and six of them elected directly by the Assembly… . There would be at any rate two great advantages in the plan. … In the first place, it is undoubtedly right and proper that the Assembly should directly elect certain Vice-Presidents in respect of their general personal eminence; but also I think it is an advantage in the practical conduct of business that the General Committee of the Assembly should also be assisted by the counsel and advice of the chairmen of the different Committees who will be following the technical work of their respective Committees with minute attention and closeness.” Records of First Assembly (Plenary), p. 69.
31 Article 7. The Rules of Procedure as adopted by the Assembly may be found on pp. 236–241 of the Records of the First Assembly (Plenary). For the Assembly’s action, see pp. 214–219.
32 See the statement by Rapporteur of the First Committee to the Assembly, Records of First Assembly (Plenary), p. 217.
33 Ibid., p. 134.
34 Records of Tenth Assembly (Committees) (O.J., 1929, Special Supplement No. 76), p. 43; statement by M. Hambro before First Committee.
35 Records of Fourteenth Assembly (Plenary) (O.J., 1933, Special Supplement No. 115), pp. 49–50.
36 On the first occasion he was asked to serve in order to maintain the Committee’s membership at the customary number, the Assembly having decided to set up no Third Committee.
37 At the Tenth Assembly, there were intimations that proposals for the complete revision of Article 7 would be introduced. See the remarks of the Norwegian delegate, Hambro, both before the First Committee and the plenary session. Assembly Record, Minutes of First Committee, pp. 43–44 and Minutes of Plenary Session, p. 139.
It , may not have been merely coincidence that this occurred at the same time that the Assembly was discussing the desirability of an examination of the composition and functions of the Secretariat and that such an examination was decided upon. See Minutes of the Fourth Committee of the Assemblies of 1927, 1928, 1929 and 1930, and the resolution adopted by the Tenth Assembly establishing the “Committee of Thirteen” to inquire into the position of the Secretariat. Assembly Records (Plenary), 1929, pp. 166–167.
38 The President of the Third Assembly announced at the third plenary meeting that the election of Vice-Presidents would be postponed “in order that the delegates might be able to come to some agreement.” Records of the Third Assembly, Plenary, Vol. I, p. 30.
39 Records of Seventeenth Assembly (Committees) (O.J., 1936, Special Supplement No. 156), p. 63.
40 See especially the observations of the Norwegian delegate before the First Committee at the sixteenth Assembly (O.J., 1935, Special Supplement No. 139, p. 76) and at the seventeenth Assembly (Ibid., 1936, Special Supplement No. 156, p. 62). Cf. Felix Morley, The Society of Nations (Washington, 1932), p. 566. His remarks relate to the President of the Assembly. They are also applicable to the General Committee.
41 Ibid. Special Supplement No. 156, p. 62. Later, at the same meeting, he stated that the “proposal had been the outcome of the very unsatisfactory impression left during the last few years, and particularly last year, by the procedure followed in constituting the General Committee of the Assembly. The desire had been to free the Secretariat from the responsibility of making occult preparations for the elections.” Ibid., p. 66.
42 Records of the Tenth Assembly (Committees) (O.J., 1929, Special Supplement No. 76), p. 42.
43 Ibid., p. 42.
44 Ibid., Special Supplement No. 75, p. 138.
45 O.J., 1930, Special Supplement No. 85, p. 34. The proposal was embodied in the amendment subsequently made to Article 7 of the Rules of Procedure. See infra., p. 86.
46 L. of N. Verbatim Record, 16th Assembly, 11 September 1935 (Third Plenary Meeting), p. 2. The only exception at the regular sessions, in the observance of this custom was the failure to elect any Italian delegate at the Fourth Assembly (1923). Japan was not elected at the special session in February, 1932. On this occasion Japan was a party to a dispute before the League. Italy was elected at the 16th ordinary session prior to the imposition of sanctions.
47 For the text of the draft amendment, see Assembly Records (Committees) (O. J., 1935, Special Supplement No. 139), p. 97.
48 For the discussion, see Records of the Sixteenth Assembly (Committees), 1935, pp. 74–78, 80–81; and Records of the Seventeenth Assembly (Committees), 1936, pp. 62–71. The delegates of France and of Poland particularly mentioned the increased importance of the General Committee.
49 In the 1936 Assembly the Secretary-General defended his proposal by stating that the arrangement for membership on the General Committee of a delegate from each permanent member of the Council had never been contested. “Nevertheless,” he added, “the question arose whether that custom should be embodied in a text or should be continued by tacit consent.” Records of the Seventeenth Assembly (Committees) (O.J., 1936, Special Supplement No. 156), p. 63.
50 Numerous changes were made in the rules of Procedure by the Assembly on October 10, 1936. (1) The first paragraph of Article 7 was changed to read: “The General Committee of the Assembly shall consist of the President of the Assembly, 8 Vice-Presidents and the Chairmen of the main Committees of the Assembly, the Agenda Committee and the Committee for the examination of the full powers.” (2) Added to this was a second paragraph: “The Assembly may decide to add to the General Committee the Chairman of other Assembly Committees and, in exceptional cases, other members.” (3) A new rule, 7a, was added to provide for the Agenda Committee as described above. (4) “The Assembly adopts as an experiment the following procedure which, unless otherwise decided in the interval, shall have effect down to the termination of the ordinary session of 1939: Rule 7b. 1. At the commencement of each session, the Assembly shall appoint a committee of 11 members whose duty shall be to nominate candidates for functions which carry with them a seat on the General Committee. 2. The provisional President of the Assembly shall submit proposals to it regarding the composition of this Committee. 3. The Members of the Assembly and the Committees shall retain the right to vote for persons other than those proposed by the above-mentioned Committee.” Records of Seventeenth Assembly (Committees) (O.J., 1936, Special Supplement No. 156), pp. 83–84.
51 See, for example, the Swiss delegate’s remarks in the 17th Assembly, Ibid., p. 63. A special committee of five which was appointed to consider improvement in the arrangements of the Assembly recommended, inter alia, that the President be nominated by a special committee. The First Committee and the Second Committee rejected this suggestion. In reporting the recommendations of the special committee to the Assembly, Mr. Henderson expressed the opinion that the method of choosing the President in the past had been very satisfactory. Assembly Records (Plenary) (O.J., 1930, Special Supplement No. 84), p. 130.
52 In the election of non-permanent members of the Council the custom developed of electing one state from each of several groups of states, such as the British Dominions, the Little Entente and the Scandinavian countries. The distribution of members of other League bodies, including the General Committee of the Assembly, was influenced by this custom. For example, on the General Committee of every Assembly but one there was a representative of at least one of the states of the Little Entente; representatives of the other two groups mentioned above served at almost every Assembly. For queries about the assignment of seats on the Council according to groups, see the remarks made by the Portuguese representative at the Tenth Assembly (Assembly Records (Plenary), O. J., 1929, Special Supplement No. 75, p. 83); the communication of the Portuguese Government to the Eleventh Assembly, ibid., 1930, Special Supplement No. 84, p. 140. For discussion and description of group representation, see ibid., 1931, Special Supplement No. 94, pp. 15–21; Report of the special committee on the system of election on non-permanent members of the Council, resolutions of the First Committee and of the Assembly, ibid., 1933, Special Supplement No. 115, pp. 67–68; No. 116, pp. 6–7; and Minutes of First Committee, ibid.. Special Supplement No. 156, passim and especially pp. 73–76.
53 Assembly Records (Plenary) (O.J., 1937, Special Supplement No. 169), p. 32.
54 Ibid. (O.J., 1938, Special Supplement No. 183), p. 27. Report of the Nominations Committee, pp. 33–34.
55 Records of Twentieth Assembly, p. 3.
56 On the composition of League Committees, see especially Council Minutes, 78th Session, O.J., February, 1934, pp. 112–120; Secretary General’s Report on Committees of the League of Nations (C.287.M.125.1934); Report of the Committees appointed to study the Constitution, Procedure and Practice of Committees of the League of Nations (A.16.1935).
57 Annex II of the Rules of Procedure, C.144.M.92.1937, pp. 18–20.
58 Assembly Records (Plenary), 1926, Special Supplement No. 44, p. 31.
59 Ibid., 1927, Special Supplement No. 54, p. 32.
60 Ibid., 1929, Special Supplement No. 75, pp. 140–141.
61 Ibid., 1936, Special Supplement No. 155, p. 109.
62 Ibid., 1938, Special Supplement No. 183, p. 36.
63 For example, see Journal of Twelfth Assembly, p. 190; O.J., 1937, Special Supplement No. 166, p. 23. Assembly Records (Plenary) (O.J., 1934, Special Supplement No. 125), pp. 62, 64, 74. At the Fifth Assembly the Dominican Republic’s application was referred to the Agenda Committee. Assembly Records (Plenary), 1924, p. 144.
64 Records of special Assembly (O.J., 1932, Special Supplement No. 101), Vol. 1, p. 25, p. 41, pp. 79–89.
65 Verbatim Record, September 28, October 9 and 10,1935 (16th plenary meeting).
66 Verbatim Record, July 4, 1936.
67 Assembly Records (Committees) (O.J., 1936, Special Supplement No. 156), p. 63.
68 Ibid., Special Supplement 112, p. 28; Assembly Records (Plenary) (O.J., 1929), p. 140; pp. 166–167, p. 173.
69 Assembly Records (Committees), 1929, p. 43.
70 Ibid., 1929 (Plenary), pp. 140 and 445. Also O.J., 1930, Special Supplement No. 84, pp. 149–150. One writer attributes this change to opposition to the assertion of unwritten authority of the Secretariat “The General Committee is only in theory a representative body, and is largely dominated by the delegates of the Great Powers. Moreover, having duties which are political rather than constitutional in nature, the General Committee relies largely on the advice of the higher officers of the Secretariat in such matters as the making of appointments.” Felix Morley, op. cit., p. 538. He does not offer any evidence in support of this statement.
71 Assembly Records (Plenary) (O.J., 1934, Special Supplement No. 125), p. 34.
72 Ibid. and Assembly Records (Plenary), 1933, p. 35.
73 O.J., Special Supplement No. 155, p. 38; pp. 43–44, p. 82.
74 Records of Second Assembly (Plenary), p. 42.
75 See references cited in footnote 64.
76 O.J., 1935, Special Supplement No. 138, pp. 98–101, p. 113 and Assembly Records, 16th Assembly (Plenary) (Part II) (O.J., 1936, Special Supplement No. 151), pp. 65–66.
77 O.J., 1938, Special Supplement No. 183, pp. 94–95.