The Optional Clause Last Saturday the representative of the Irish
Free State at Geneva unexpectedly signed the Optional Clause of the Statute of the World Court. The other Dominion delegates knew nothing of the Free State's intention and were greatly surprised when they heard of the signature on Monday. The Free State has made no reservation, unless there be a reservation in the proviso that the Free State has signed " on the sole condition of reciprocity." The Dublin correspondent of the Times says that the real purpose of the unqualified acceptance of the Optional Clause is to release the Free State from the jurisdiction of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The dislike of the Free State for this jurisdiction is well known, but if the idea is really to circumvent the Judicial Committee by clever tactics we must express our grave misgivings. The powers of the Judicial Committee in the Free. State are explicitly provided for in the Anglo-Irish Treaty, When we write on Thursday, Great Britain and the Dominions are about to sign the Optional Clause, though the nature of their reservations has not yet been made known.
Previous page
