The Geneva Protocol — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
The Geneva Protocol
John Stuart Mill · en
If the Council is unanimous, no difficulty arises. If, however, the
Council is not unanimous, the difficulty is to be overcome by directing
that the Council must enjoin upon the belligerents an armistice the
terms of which it will fix if need be by a two-thirds majority and the
party which rejects the armistice or violates it is to be held to be an
aggressor.
The system is therefore complete and is as automatic as it can be made.
Where a presumption has arisen and is not rejected by a unanimous
decision of the Council, the facts themselves decide who is an
aggressor; no further decision by the Council is needed and the
question of unanimity or majority does not present itself; the facts
once established, the Council is bound to act accordingly.
Where there is no presumption, the Council has to declare the fact of
aggression; a decision is necessary and must be taken unanimously. If
unanimity is not obtained, the Council is bound to enjoin an armistice,
and for this purpose no decision properly speaking has to be taken:
there exists an obligation which the Council must fulfil; it is only
the fixing of the terms of the armistice which necessitates a decision,
and for this purpose a two-thirds majority suffices.
It was proposed to declare that, in cases of extreme urgency, the
Council might determine the aggressor, or fix the conditions of an
armistice, without waiting for the arrival of the {191} representative
which a party not represented among its members has been invited to
send under the terms of paragraph 5 of Article 4 of the Covenant.
It seemed preferable, however, not to lay down any rule on this matter
at present but to ask the special Committee which the Council is to
appoint for the drafting of amendments to the Covenant on the lines of
the Protocol, to consider whether such a rule is really necessary.
It may in fact be thought that the Council already possesses all the
necessary powers in this matter and that, in cases of extreme urgency,
if the State invited to send a representative is too far distant from
the seat of the Council, that body may decide that the representative
shall be chosen from persons near at hand and shall attend the meeting
within a prescribed period, on the expiry of which the matter may be
considered in his absence.
The fact of aggression having been established by presumption or by
unanimous decision of the Council or by refusal to accept or violation
of the armistice, it will only remain to apply the sanctions and bring
into play the obligations of the guarantor States. The Council will
merely call upon them to fulfil their duty; here, again, there is no
decision to be taken but an obligation to be fulfilled, and the
question of majority or unanimous vote does not arise.
It is not, indeed, a matter of voting at all.