The Council must, further, take the necessary measures to put an end,
as soon as possible, to a situation calculated to {196} threaten the
peace of the world. The text does not define the nature of these
preventive measures. Its elasticity permits the Council to take such
measures as may be appropriate in each concrete case, as, for example,
the evacuation of territories.
Any decisions which may be taken by the Council in virtue of this
Article may be taken by a two-thirds majority, except in the case of
decisions dealing with questions of procedure which still come under
the general rule of Article 5, paragraph 2, of the Covenant. The
following decisions, therefore, can be taken by a two-thirds majority:
The decision as to whether there has or has not been an offence
against the first paragraph;
The decision calling upon the guilty State to remedy the offence;
The decision as to whether there has or has not been refusal to
remedy the offence;
Lastly, the decision as to the measures calculated to put an end,
as soon as possible, to a situation calculated to threaten the
peace of the world.
The original text of Article 7 provided that, in the case of enquiries
and investigations, the Council should avail itself of the organisation
to be set up by the Conference for the Reduction of Armaments in order
to ensure respect for the decisions of that Conference. There is no
longer any mention of this organisation, but this omission does not
prejudice any decisions which the Conference may be called upon to take
regarding the matter. It will be entirely free to set up an
organisation, if it judges this necessary, and the Council's right to
make use of this body for the enquiries and investigations contemplated
will, _a fortiori_, remain intact.
_Article 8._
Article 8 must be considered in relation to Article 2. Article 2
establishes the obligation not to resort to war, while Article 8,
giving effect to Article 10 of the Covenant, goes further. The {197}
signatories undertake to abstain from any act which might constitute a
threat of aggression against any other State. Thus, every act which
comes within the scope of this idea of a threat of war--and its scope
is sufficiently elastic--constitutes a breach of the Protocol, and
therefore a dispute with which the Council is competent to deal.