On this day in ...... 1907, as we've posted, was concluded the 2d International Peace Conference that, as also posted, had convened in June at The Hague. What we've not mentioned, however, is that this conference ended with the adoption not just of Hague IV, the treaty mentioned in our 2007 post, but rather with the adoption of 13 treaties on a variety of laws-of-war issues. Today we focus on Hague I, entitled Pacific Settlement of International Disputes. It provided in Article 2:
In case of serious disagreement or dispute, before an appeal to arms, the Contracting Powers agree to have recourse, as far as circumstances allow, to the good offices or mediation of one or more friendly Powers.As explained at EISIL, an online research service provided by the American Society of International Law, the 1907 treaty came about in an effort by which a similar 1899 treaty
that established the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) was expanded and opened to a greater number of signatories, including Latin American states.
The Philippines became a member just last month, having acceded to the 1907 treaty on July 14, 2010.
