The Palestine Mandate
The Council of the League of Nations:
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originally made on November 2nd, 1917, by the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 organist 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.