Dreams Born and Shattered 353Th e Japa nese then attempted, as an alternative, to amend the preamble to
the League Covenant to include a general “endorsement of the principle of
equality of nations and just treatment of their nationals.” Th is idea attracted
wide support— indeed, there was outright unanimity for the principle of
“equality of nations,” since that was at the very heart of international law.
But the “just treatment” component led Cecil to object once again. Th e pro-
vision, he explained, would have implications for “the question of White
Australia.” Some countries, as he delicately put it, regarded questions of
permitting Eastern immigration as being “impossible to discuss.” Despite
this opposition, the racial-equality proposal attracted a majority of votes in
its favor. But it was kept out of the covenant when Wilson, chairing the rel-
evant session, ruled that unanimity was required. At the plenary of the
Peace Conference, the Japa nese delegation expressed “poignant regret” at
the failure of its initiative.
A World Court at Last
Of more direct signifi cance for international law than the League itself was
the establishment, at last, of a true World Court— that is, of a standing tri-
bunal, in permanent existence, with a continuing panel of judges and an
ever- growing body of case law. Th e creation of such a court was not a fore-
gone conclusion. President Wilson’s original draft of the League Covenant
did not include any provision for a court. Th e fi nal draft , however, did—
though in such a manner as to make it clear that the Court would not have
mandatory jurisdiction over League member states.
Th e actual establishment of the Court— known offi cially (if a trifl e optimis-
tically) as the Permanent Court of International Justice (P.C.I.J.)— occurred
by way of adoption of a separate treaty (or statute). A draft statute was pro-
duced in 1920 by an Advisory Committee of Jurists and then approved (with
some changes) by the League Assembly and Council and put out for ratifi ca-
tion by states of the world generally. Membership in the Court was not con-
fi ned to League member states.
Th e Court consisted of eleven judges and four deputy (or substitute)
judges, serving nine- year terms of offi ce, renewable any number of times.
(In 1929, the bench would be raised to fi ft een by, in eff ect, promoting the
deputies to full judges.) Th e judges would sit in a purely personal capacity.
Th at is, they would not be delegates of their states of nationality but instead