Treaty between Germany and Luxembourg, "to settle by peaceful means" any disputes not resolved by diplomacy, specifying arbitration and conciliation procedures

TREATY OF ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION, BETWEEN GERMANY AND LUXEMBOURG, SIGNED AT GENEVA, SEPTEMBER 11, 1929
Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg and the President of the German Reich.
Being desirous of consolidating and developing the peaceful and friendly relations existing between the two countries and of ensuring the pacific settlement of any disputes which may arise between them,
Have decided to conclude a Treaty of Arbitration and Conciliation and have appointed as their Plenipotentiaries for this purpose : '
Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg:
M. Joseph Bech, Minister of State, President of the Government ; .
The President of the German Reich:
Dr. Stresemann, Minister for Foreign Affairs;
Who, having communicated to each other their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed as follows:
Article 1
The Contracting Parties undertake to settle by peaceful means, as provided in the present Treaty, all disputes of any nature whatever which may arise between them and which it may not be possible to settle by diplomacy.
The present Treaty shall also apply to any dispute arising out of events prior to its conclusion. Nevertheless, disputes relating to events of the World War shall be excluded from the present Treaty.
Disputes for the settlement of which a special procedure is or may hereafter be laid down, in other Conventions in force between the Contracting Parties shall be settled in conformity with the provisions of those Conventions.
Article 2
Any dispute which, according to the municipal law of either Contracting Party, is within the competence of its own courts,-shall not be submitted to the procedure provided in the present Treaty until judgment has been rendered within a reasonable time by the competent judicial authorities of the country and has acquired force of law.
Article 3
Any disputes between the Contracting Parties concerning a right, and especially disputes belonging to the categories men-
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tioned in Article 13 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, shall be submitted to the Permanent Court of International Justice.
The Contracting Parties shall submit the dispute to the Permanent Court of International Justice jointly, by means of a special agreement concluded in each individual case. In the event of disagreement, either Party shall be entitled, after giving two months' notice to the other Party, to bring the dispute before the Permanent Court of International Justice direct by means of an application. '
Article 4
The Contracting Parties reserve the right of agree, in any individual case, that the dispute in question shall not be submitted to the Permanent Court of International Justice, but to a special Arbitral Tribunal. This decision shall be based on the conclusion of a special arbitration agreement which shall determine the subject of the dispute, any special powers which may be accorded to the Tribunal, its composition and place of meeting, the sum to be deposited by each Party as provision for costs, the rules to be observed in respect of the form and time-limit of the proceedings, and any other details which may be considered necessary.
Any disputes with regard to the interpretation of the arbitration agreement shall be settled by the Arbitral Tribunal.
Article 5 "
The Permanent Court of International Justice or the Arbitral Tribunal shall base its decision on:
(1) The conventions, whether general or particular, in force between the Parties and the principles of law arising therefrom;
(2) Internationalcustoms as evidence of a general practice accepted as law;
(3) The general principles of law recognized by civilized nations.
In any case in which the aforementioned legal bases are insufficient, the Arbitral Tribunal shall decide according to the legal principles which, in its opinion, should constitute the rules of international law. It shall follow recognized doctrine and legal practice in the matter.
If both Parties agree, the Tribunal njiay, instead of basing its decision on legal principles, give an award in accordance with considerations of equity.
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Article 6 '
Before being submitted to the Permanent Court of International Justice, or to any arbitration procedure, the dispute may, by mu- tual agreement between the Parties, be referred for amicable settlement to a permanent international commission called the "Permanent Conciliation Commission", which shall be constituted in accordance with the present Treaty.
Article 7
The Permanent Conciliation Commission provided for in Article VI shall consist of five members appointed as follows: The Contracting Parties shall each nominate one member from among their respective nationals and shall elect the three remaining members by mutual agreement from among the nationals of other Powers. These three members must be of different nationalities and the Contracting Parties shall appoint the President of the Commission from among them.
The members of the Permanent Conciliation Commission shall be appointed for five years and shall be eligible for re-appointment. They shall retain their functions until they have been replaced, and in any case until the completion of the work in progress at the time of the expiration of their term of office.
Any vacancies which may occur through death, resignation, or any other cause, shall be filled within the shortest possible time according to the procedure laid down for appointment.
Article 8
The Permanent Conciliation Commission shall be constituted within three months after the present Treaty has come into force.
If the nomination of the members to be appointed jointly has not taken place within the said time-limit, or, in case of replacement, within three months from the date on which the vacancy occurs, the President of the Swiss Confederation shall, in the absence of any other agreement, be invited to make the necessary appointments.
Article 9
The Permanent Conciliation Commission shall enter upon its duties on receipt of an application addressed to the President by both Parties in mutual agreement or in the absence of such agreement, by one of the Parties.
The application shall contain a brief statement of the subject of the dispute and a request to the Commission to take all suitable measures with a view to bringing about an amicable settlement.
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If one of the Parties submits an application, it shall immediately notify the other Party.
Article 10
Within two weeks from the date when one of the Contracting Parties has referred a dispute to the Permanent Conciliation Commission, either Party may, for the purpose of this particular dispute, replace its member by a person possessing expert knowledge of the question at issue.
The Party exercising this right shall immediately inform the other Party ; the latter shall in that case be entitled to take similar action within two weeks after the receipt of such notice.
Article 11
It shall be the task of the Permanent Conciliation Commission to elucidate the question in dispute and to obtain for this purpose all relevant information either by investigation or otherwise, and to endeavor to bring about an amicable settlement between the Parties. The Commission may, after examining the case, communicate to the Parties the conditions of settlement which it deems suitable and request them to submit their observations thereon within a specified time-limit.
On the conclusion of its work the Commission shall draw up a report which shall, according to the circumstances of the case, state either that the parties have come to an agreement and, if necessary, the conditions of such agreement, or that it has not been possible to effect a settlement between the Parties.
The work of the Commission must, unless the Parties agree otherwise, be completed within six months from the date on which the dispute was submitted to it.
Article 12
Unless there is a special agreement to the contrary, the Permanent Conciliation Commission shall lay down its own procedure, which shall in any case provide for both Parties being heard. As regards enquiries, the Commission shall, unless it unanimously decides otherwise, conform to the provisions of Chapter III (International Commissions of Enquiry) of The Hague Convention of October 18, 1907, for the Pacific Settlêment of International Disputes. -- Article 13
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The Permanent Conciliation Commission shall, unless the Parties decide otherwise, meet at the place chosen by its President.
Article 14
The proceedings of the Permanent Conciliation Commission
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shall not be public unless the Commission so decides with the agreement of the Parties.
Article 15
The parties shall be represented before the Permanent Conciliation Commission by agents, who shall act as intermediaries between them and the Commission; they may also be assisted by counsel and experts whom they shall appoint for the purpose, and may ask that any person whose evidence may seem to them useful, shall be heard.
The Commission shall, for its part, be entitled to obtain verbal explanations from the agents, counsel and experts of both Parties and from any persons whom it may consider useful to summon, with*the consent of their respective Governments.
Article 16 '
The proceedings of the Permanent Conciliation Commission shall be valid if all the members have been duly convened and if at least the members nominated jointly are present.
The decisions of the Permanent Conciliation Commission shall be taken by a majority vote. If the votes are equally divided, the Chairman shall have a casting vote.
Article 17
The Contracting Parties undertake to assist the Permanent Conciliation Commission in its work and, in particular, to furnish it, as far as possible, with all useful documents and information, and to use all the means at their disposal to enable it, in their respective territories and according to their respective laws, to summon and hear witnesses and experts and to proceed to investigations on the spot. '
Article 18 ^
For the duration of the work of the Permanent Conciliation Commission each of the members appointed jointly shall receive emoluments, the amount of which shall be fixed by mutual agreement between the Contracting Parties, who shall each contribute one half thereof. The costs arising out of the proceedings of the Commission shall be shared in a similar manner.
x Article 19
All disputes other than those mentioned in Article III shall, on the proposal of either Party, be submitted to the Permanent Conciliation Commission according to the "procedure laid down in the foregoing Articles.
Article 20
In the case of disagreement with regard to the nature of the dispute, this preliminary question shall, if no other procedure is
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agreed upon, be submitted to the Permànënt Court of International Justice for a summary decision.
Article 21
In all cases, particularly when the dispute between the Parties arises from events which have already taken place or are about to take place, the Permanent Conciliation Commission or the arbitral tribunal or the Permanent Court of International Justice in accordance with Article 41 of its Statute, as the case may be, shall, as soon as possible, give instructions as to what provisional measures shall be taken. The Contracting Parties undertake to observe these instructions and to refrain from any measures which may have effects prejudicial to the decision or to the settlement proposed by the Permanent Conciliation Commission, and in general to avoid any act liable to aggravate or extend the dispute.
Article 22
The present Treaty shall be valid as between the High Contracting Parties even if other Powers are concerned in the dispute..
Article 23
The present Treaty shall be ratified.
It shall come into force on the date of the exchange of the instruments of ratification, which shall take place in Luxemburg. It shall be valid for a period of ten years. If, however, it is not denounced six months before the expiration of this period, it shall remain in force for a further period of five years, and similarly thereafter.
If at the time when the Treaty expires any proceedings in virtue of the present Treaty are pending before the Permanent Conciliation Commission, the Permanent Court of International Justice or an arbitral tribunal, the Treaty shall remain in force in respect of the dispute in question, until a definite settlement has been reached.
In faith whereof the Plenipotentiaries have signed the present Treaty.
Done in duplicate at Geneva, in German, September 11, 1929.
(signed) BECH. (signed) STRESEMANN.
PROTOCOL
The following provision has been decided upon with, regard to the interpretation of .Article I paragraph 2 of the Treaty of
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Arbitration and Conciliation signed this day between the Crand Duchy of Luxemburg and the German Reich.
The Disputes referred to in the second sentence of paragraph 2 of Article I as disputes to which the present Treaty shall not apply shall include all mutual claims relating to railways (final paragraph of the Additional Protocol of August 22, 1927, to the Protocol of October 30, 1925).
GENEVA, September 11, 1929.
(signed) BECH. (signed) STRESEMANN.