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Study of Methods for the Promotion of International Co-operation in the Political Field One of the tasks given to the Interim Committee by the General Assembly was to draw up a report on possible methods of giving effect to the articles in the ('barter which deal with the general principles of co-operation in the maintenance of international peace and security. 1 In presenting the report of the Committee, its Rapporteur (Mr Entezam of Iran) said that recommendations had not been submitted in respect of all the proposals that had been put forward. Some of these proposals were very wide in scope and required long-term study. A Lebanese proposal for the creation of a permanent Committee of Conciliation, and an Ecuadorian proposal designed to minimize the application of the domestic application clause (Article 2, paragraph 7) of the Charter, were among those which, in the view of the Committee, came under this category. The Committee, however, presented recommendations based on three proposals which had been submitted to it. The first of these was a Belgian proposal to revive the General Act of 26 September, 1928, for the pacific settlement of international disputes. Adoption of this proposal would not imply approval or disapproval by the Assembly of the substantive provisions of the Act. By agreeing that United Nations organs (including the International Court of Justice) would assume the functions of the League of Nations and the Permanent Court of International justice under the Act, and by providing for this in a protocol open for accession, the Assembly would merely make it possible for States, if they so wished, to restore the efficacy of the Act. The second proposal was one put forward by the United Kingdom, to which Iran had submitted certain amendments. This proposal derived from the practice initiated in the League of Nations whereby cases were presented to the Council by a rapporteur who had also the function of conciliator—a practice which allowed private conversations to be held among the parties and the rapporteur and avoided the premature crystallization of views which often results from public debate. The United Kingdom proposed, therefore, that the Assembly should recommend to the Security Council a similar procedure ; when a dispute came before the Council the parties should attempt first of all to agree on a rapporteur-conciliator (who might be the President or any other representative on the Council) to seek a basis for settling

1 Article 11, paragraph 1 : " The General Assembly may consider the general principles of co-operation in the maintenance of international peace and security, including the principles governing disarmament and the regulation ol armaments' and may make recommendations with regard to such principles to the members or to the Security Council or to both." Article 13, paragraph 1 (a) : " The General Assembly shall initiate studies and make recommendations for >the purpose of (a) promoting international cooperation in the political field and encouraging the progressive development of international law and its codification."