1922 LEAGUE OF NATIONS PALESTINE MANDATE
The Palestine Mandate
The Council of the League of Nations:
July 24, 1922
Whereas the Principal Allied Powers have agreed, for the purpose of
giving effect to the provisions of Article 22 of the Covenant of the
League of Nations, to entrust to a Mandatory selected by the said
Powers the administration of the territory of Palestine, which formerly
belonged to the Turkish Empire, within such boundaries as may be fixed
by them; and
Whereas the Principal Allied Powers have also agreed that the Mandatory
should be responsible for putting into effect the declaration
originally
made on November 2nd, 1917, by the Government of His Britannic Majesty,
and
adopted by the said Powers, in favor of the establishment in Palestine
of
a national home for the Jewish people, it being clearly understood that
nothing
should be done which might prejudice the civil and religious rights of
existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and
political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country; and
Whereas recognition has thereby been given to the historical connection
of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for
reconstituting their national home in that country; and
Whereas the Principal Allied Powers have selected His Britannic Majesty
as the Mandatory for Palestine; and
Whereas the mandate in respect of Palestine has been formulated in the
following terms and submitted to the Council of the League for
approval; and
Whereas His Britannic Majesty has accepted the mandate in respect of
Palestine and undertaken to exercise it on behalf of the League of
Nations
in conformity with the following provisions; and
Whereas by the afore-mentioned Article 22 (paragraph 8), it is provided
that the degree of authority, control or administration to be exercised
by the Mandatory, not having been previously agreed upon by the Members
of the League, shall be explicitly defined by the Council of the League
Of Nations; confirming the said Mandate, defines its terms as follows:
ARTICLE 1. The Mandatory shall have full powers of legislation and of
administration, save as they may be limited by the terms of this
mandate.
ART. 2. The Mandatory shall be responsible for placing the country
under such political, administrative and economic conditions as will
secure the establishment of the Jewish national home, as laid down in
the preamble, and the development of self-governing institutions, and
also for safeguarding the civil and religious rights of all the
inhabitants of Palestine, irrespective of race and religion.
ART. 3. The Mandatory shall, so far as circumstances permit, encourage
local autonomy.
ART. 4. An appropriate Jewish agency shall be recognised as a public
body for the purpose of advising and co-operating with the
Administration
of Palestine in such economic, social and other matters as may affect
the
establishment of the Jewish national home and the interests of the
Jewish
population in Palestine, and, subject always to the control of the
Administration
to assist and take part in the development of the country.
The Zionist organization, so long as its organization and constitution
are in the opinion of the Mandatory appropriate, shall be recognised as
such
agency. It shall take steps in consultation with His Britannic
Majesty's Government
to secure the co-operation of all Jews who are willing to assist in the
establishment
of the Jewish national home.
ART. 5. The Mandatory shall be responsible for seeing that no Palestine
territory shall be ceded or leased to, or in any way placed under the
control of the Government of any foreign Power.
ART. 6. The Administration of Palestine, while ensuring that the rights
and position of other sections of the population are not prejudiced,
shall facilitate Jewish immigration under suitable conditions and shall
encourage, in co-operation with the Jewish agency referred to in
Article 4, close settlement by Jews on the land, including State lands
and waste lands not required
for public purposes.
ART. 7. The Administration of Palestine shall be responsible for
enacting a nationality law. There shall be included in this law
provisions framed so as to facilitate the acquisition of Palestinian
citizenship by Jews who take up their permanent residence in Palestine.
ART. 8. The privileges and immunities of foreigners, including the
benefits of consular jurisdiction and protection as formerly enjoyed by
Capitulation or usage in the Ottoman Empire, shall not be applicable in
Palestine.
Unless the Powers whose nationals enjoyed the afore-mentioned
privileges and immunities on August 1st, 1914, shall have previously
renounced the right to their re-establishment, or shall have agreed to
their non-application for a specified period, these privileges and
immunities shall, at the expiration of the mandate, be immediately
reestablished in their entirety or with such modifications as may have
been agreed upon between the Powers concerned.
ART. 9. The Mandatory shall be responsible for seeing that the judicial
system established in Palestine shall assure to foreigners, as well as
to natives, a complete guarantee of their rights.
Respect for the personal status of the various peoples and communities
and for their religious interests shall be fully guaranteed. In
particular, the control and administration of Wakfs shall be exercised
in accordance with religious law and the dispositions of the founders.
ART. 10. Pending the making of special extradition agreements relating
to Palestine, the extradition treaties in force between the Mandatory
and other foreign Powers shall apply to Palestine.
ART. 11. The Administration of Palestine shall take all necessary
measures to safeguard the interests of the community in connection with
the development of the country, and, subject to any international
obligations accepted by the Mandatory, shall have full power to provide
for public ownership or control of any of the natural resources of the
country or of the public works, services and utilities established or
to be established therein. It shall introduce a land system appropriate
to the needs of the country, having regard, among other things, to the
desirability of promoting the close settlement and
intensive cultivation of the land.
The Administration may arrange with the Jewish agency mentioned in
Article 4 to construct or operate, upon fair and equitable terms, any
public works, services and utilities, and to develop any of the natural
resources of the country, in so far as these matters are not directly
undertaken by the Administration. Any such arrangements shall provide
that no profits distributed by such agency, directly or indirectly,
shall exceed a reasonable rate of interest on the capital, and any
further profits shall be utilised by it for the benefit
of the country in a manner approved by the Administration.
ART. 12. The Mandatory shall be entrusted with the control of the
foreign relations of Palestine and the right to issue exequaturs to
consuls appointed by foreign Powers. He shall also be entitled to
afford diplomatic and consular protection to citizens of Palestine when
outside its territorial limits.
ART. 13. All responsibility in connection with the Holy Places and
religious buildings or sites in Palestine, including that of preserving
existing rights and of securing free access to the Holy Places,
religious buildings and sites and the free exercise of worship, while
ensuring the requirements of public order and decorum, is assumed by
the Mandatory, who shall be responsible solely to the League of Nations
in all matters connected herewith, provided that nothing in this
article shall prevent the Mandatory from entering into such
arrangements as he may deem reasonable with the Administration for the
purpose of carrying the provisions of this article into effect; and
provided also that nothing in this mandate shall be construed as
conferring upon the Mandatory authority to interfere with the fabric or
the management of purely Moslem sacred shrines, the immunities of which
are guaranteed.
ART. 14. A special commission shall be appointed by the Mandatory to
study, define and determine the rights and claims in connection with
the
Holy Places and the rights and claims relating to the different
religious
communities in Palestine. The method of nomination, the composition and
the functions of this Commission shall be submitted to the Council of
the
League for its approval, and the Commission shall not be appointed or
enter
upon its functions without the approval of the Council.
ART. 15. The Mandatory shall see that complete freedom of conscience
and the free exercise of all forms of worship, subject only to the
maintenance of public order and morals, are ensured to all. No
discrimination of any kind shall be made between the inhabitants of
Palestine on the ground of race,
religion or language. No person shall be excluded from Palestine on the
sole
ground of his religious belief.
The right of each community to maintain its own schools for the
education of its own members in its own language, while conforming to
such educational requirements of a general nature as the Administration
may impose, shall not be denied or impaired.
ART. 16. The Mandatory shall be responsible for exercising such
supervision over religious or eleemosynary bodies of all faiths in
Palestine as may be required for the maintenance of public order and
good government. Subject to such supervision, no measures shall be
taken in Palestine to obstruct or interfere with the enterprise of such
bodies or to discriminate against any representative or member of them
on the ground of his religion or nationality.
ART. 17. The Administration of Palestine may organise on a voluntary
basis the forces necessary for the preservation of peace and order, and
also for the defence of the country, subject, however, to the
supervision
of the Mandatory, but shall not use them for purposes other than those
above
specified save with the consent of the Mandatory. Except for such
purposes,
no military, naval or air forces shall be raised or maintained by the
Administration of Palestine.
Nothing in this article shall preclude the Administration of Palestine
from contributing to the cost of the maintenance of the forces of the
Mandatory in Palestine.
The Mandatory shall be entitled at all times to use the roads, railways
and ports of Palestine for the movement of armed forces and the
carriage
of fuel and supplies.
ART. 18. The Mandatory shall see that there is no discrimination in
Palestine against the nationals of any State Member of the League of
Nations (including companies incorporated under its laws) as compared
with those of the Mandatory or of any foreign State in matters
concerning taxation, commerce or navigation, the exercise of industries
or professions, or in the treatment of merchant vessels or civil
aircraft. Similarly, there shall be no discrimination in Palestine
against goods originating in or destined for any of the said States,
and there shall be freedom of transit under equitable conditions across
the mandated area.
Subject as aforesaid and to the other provisions of this mandate, the
Administration of Palestine may, on the advice of the Mandatory, impose
such
taxes and customs duties as it may consider necessary, and take such
steps
as it may think best to promote the development of the natural
resources of
the country and to safeguard the interests of the population. It may
also, on the advice of the Mandatory, conclude a special customs
agreement with any State the territory of which in 1914 was wholly
included in Asiatic Turkey or Arabia.
ART. 19. The Mandatory shall adhere on behalf of the Administration of
Palestine to any general international conventions already existing, or
which
may be concluded hereafter with the approval of the League of Nations,
respecting the slave traffic, the traffic in arms and ammunition, or
the traffic in
drugs, or relating to commercial equality, freedom of transit and
navigation,
aerial navigation and postal, telegraphic and wireless communication or
literary, artistic or industrial property.
ART. 20. The Mandatory shall co-operate on behalf of the Administration
of Palestine, so far as religious, social and other conditions may
permit, in the execution of any common policy adopted by the League of
Nations for preventing and combating disease, including diseases of
plants and animals.
ART. 21. The Mandatory shall secure the enactment within twelve months
from this date, and shall ensure the execution of a Law of Antiquities
based on the following rules. This law shall ensure equality of
treatment in the matter of excavations and archaeological research to
the nationals of all States Members of the League of Nations.
(1) "Antiquity" means any construction or any product of human activity
earlier than the year 1700 A. D.
(2) The law for the protection of antiquities shall proceed by
encouragement rather than by threat.
Any person who, having discovered an antiquity without being furnished
with the authorization referred to in paragraph 5, reports the same to
an official of the competent Department, shall be rewarded according to
the value of the discovery.
(3) No antiquity may be disposed of except to the competent Department,
unless this Department renounces the acquisition of any such antiquity.
No antiquity may leave the country without an export licence from the
said Department.
(4) Any person who maliciously or negligently destroys or damages an
antiquity shall be liable to a penalty to be fixed.
(5) No clearing of ground or digging with the object of finding
antiquities shall be permitted, under penalty of fine, except to
persons authorised by the competent Department.
(6) Equitable terms shall be fixed for expropriation, temporary or
permanent, of lands which might be of historical or archaeological
interest.
(7) Authorization to excavate shall only be granted to persons who show
sufficient guarantees of archaeological experience. The Administration
of Palestine shall not, in granting these authorizations, act in such a
way
as to exclude scholars of any nation without good grounds.
(8) The proceeds of excavations may be divided between the excavator
and the competent Department in a proportion fixed by that Department.
If
division seems impossible for scientific reasons, the excavator shall
receive
a fair indemnity in lieu of a part of the find.
ART. 22. English, Arabic and Hebrew shall be the official languages of
Palestine. Any statement or inscription in Arabic on stamps or money in
Palestine
shall be repeated in Hebrew and any statement or inscription in Hebrew
shall
be repeated in Arabic.
ART. 23. The Administration of Palestine shall recognise the holy days
of the respective communities in Palestine as legal days of rest for
the members of such communities.
ART. 24. The Mandatory shall make to the Council of the League of
Nations an annual report to the satisfaction of the Council as to the
measures taken during the year to carry out the provisions of the
mandate. Copies of all laws and regulations promulgated or issued
during the year shall be communicated with the report.
ART. 25. In the territories lying between the Jordan and the eastern
boundary of Palestine as ultimately determined, the Mandatory shall be
entitled, with the consent of the Council of the League of Nations, to
postpone or withhold application of such provisions of this mandate as
he may consider inapplicable to the existing local conditions, and to
make such provision for the administration of the territories as he may
consider suitable to those conditions, provided that no action shall be
taken which is inconsistent with the provisions of Articles 15, 16 and
18.
ART. 26. The Mandatory agrees that, if any dispute whatever should
arise between the Mandatory and another member of the League of Nations
relating to the interpretation or the application of the provisions of
the mandate, such dispute, if it cannot be settled by negotiation,
shall be submitted to the Permanent Court of International Justice
provided for by Article 14 of the Covenant of the League of Nations.
ART. 27. The consent of the Council of the League of Nations is
required for any modification of the terms of this mandate.
ART. 28. In the event of the termination of the mandate hereby
conferred upon the Mandatory, the Council of the League of Nations
shall make such arrangements as may be deemed necessary for
safeguarding in perpetuity, under guarantee of the League, the rights
secured by Articles 13 and 14, and shall use its influence for
securing, under the guarantee of the League, that the Government of
Palestine will fully honour the financial obligations legitimately
incurred by the Administration of Palestine during the period of the
mandate, including the rights of public servants to pensions or
gratuities.
The present instrument shall be deposited in original in the archives
of the League of Nations and certified copies shall be forwarded by the
Secretary-General of the League of Nations to all members of the
League.
Done at London the twenty-fourth day of July, one thousand nine hundred
and twenty-two.