On the Approval of International Commissions of Inquiry according to Results of the Conventions of 1899 and 1907 for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes

the article considers norms of the conventions for the pacific settlement of international disputes adopted on May 6 (18), 1899 and October 5 (18), 1907 in The Hague on the initiative of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II. Attention is drawn to the proposal to establish procedures for the work of international commissions of inquiry in relation to various situations of an interstate nature. It was assumed that they would resolve disputes between states that did not concern honor or essential interests, but only related to differences in the assessment of factual circumstances. The initiators of the proposals, members of the Russian delegation, believed that raising the issue was timely, relevant and would be significant in resolving individual interstate conflicts. Purpose: by studying archival documents, conventions of 1899 and 1907 for the pacific settlement of international disputes, works of researchers of that period, to bring to the legal community the information about origins of the issues of disarmament, rules of warfare, and peaceful settlement of international disputes with a view to their possible use in making individual decisions in the modern period. Methods: content analysis, analysis, comparison, comparative historical, formalization, comparative legal, structural and functional, with a focus on a systematic approach. The results of the study of historical documents, the analysis of individual facts related to the work of international commissions of inquiry for the pacific settlement of international disputes, and the application of the analogy method to modern conditions are also of applied importance. The article reveals legal grounds for concluding agreements between the disputing parties, the timing of the creation of commissions, procedures for their activities – place of residence, conditions of relocation, language of communication, powers of the chairman, members, commissioners, the specifics of preparing final documents, and their role.

Keywords: conventions for the pacific settlement of international disputes; international commissions of inquiry; international law.