In a moment of bi-partisanship, and to sway European opinion, President Calvin Coolidge embraced the establishment of a permanent international court of law. It had been 25 years, since President McKinley first instructed his delegates at the Hague Tribunal to Congress to establish an international Court. At this early stage of his presidency, Coolidge voiced his support calling the establishment of such a court, “an American policy." He later would turn away from the court.
Just after World War I, during the roaring twenties, international law saw a surge in progress and interest around the world, 25 years after President McKinley first expressed his desire to establish a world tribunal which could settle difficulties by judicial methods rather than by war. As early as 1897, McKinley instructed his American delegation at the first Hague conference to act upon the interest and wishes of the American people to establish an international Court. Under the Convention in 1900, a Court of Arbitration was established, and in 1902 President Roosevelt submitted the first case to the court to settle a dispute between the United States and Mexico. Despite this start, the court lacked the basic characteristics of a judicial body and failed to fulfill the hopes of its sponsors. A second conference in Hague met in 1907, and both the British and the German joined America to establish a court with a more defined jurisdiction, but the efforts failed because no agreement could be reached on how the judges of the court would be selected.
Then, after World War I, the Treaty of Versailles gave the Council of the League of Nations the authority to investigate setting up an international court, and on December 13,1920, the Counsel wasted no time in carrying out this mandate. The Permanent Court of International Justice was formed with fifteen judges and four deputy judges who were to be elected for a term of nine years. In a moment of bi-partisanship, and to sway European opinion, Calvin Coolidge embraced the establishment of such a court. Coolidge reminded Congress that for nearly 25 years since the first Hague Tribunal, America had been working to establish an international Court. According to Coolidge, establishing such a court, "is, and has long been, an American policy." Therefore, Coolidge recommended that the Senate take up the proposal and give it "favorable consideration".
"Our foreign policy has always been guided by two principles. The one is the avoidance of permanent political alliances which would sacrifice our proper independence. The other is the peaceful settlement of controversies between nations. By example and by treaty we have advocated arbitration. For nearly 25 years we have been a member of The Hague Tribunal, and have long sought the creation of a permanent World Court of Justice. I am in full accord with both of these policies. I favor the establishment of such a court intended to include the whole world. That is, and has long been, an American policy.
Pending before the Senate is a proposal that this Government give its support to the Permanent Court of International Justice, which is a new and somewhat different plan. This is not a partisan question. It should not assume an artificial importance. The court is merely a convenient instrument of adjustment to which we could go, but to which we could not be brought. It should be discussed with entire candor, not by a political but by a judicial method, without pressure and without prejudice. Partisanship has no place in our foreign relations. As I wish to see a court established, and as the proposal presents the only practical plan on which many nations have ever agreed, though it may not meet every desire, I therefore commend it to the favorable consideration of the Senate, with the proposed reservations clearly indicating our refusal to adhere to the League of Nations."
Calvin Coolidge eventually even turned away from the World court, and America would not join an international court until a new world court was formed after World War II as part of the United Nations.
References
Presidency.ucsb.edu. (2019). First Annual Message | The American Presidency Project. [online] Available at: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/first-annual-message-20 [Accessed 11 Apr. 2019].
Greene, R. (1932). The Progress of the Permanent Court of International Justice. St. John's Law Review, [online] 6(2), pp.226-240. Available at: https://scholarship.law.stjohns.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6279&context=lawreview [Accessed 11 Apr. 2019].
En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Permanent Court of International Justice. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permanent_Court_of_International_Justice [Accessed 11 Apr. 2019].
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