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Conferred upon Great Britain by the Supreme Council of the
Principal Allied
Powers on April 25, 1920 at the San Remo Peace Conference;
Confirmed on July 24, 1922 by the Council of the League of
Nations;
Came into force on September 29, 1923.
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declaration originally made on November 2nd, 1917, by the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
Brittanic 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 aforementioned 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.
Article 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.
Article 3
The Mandatory shall, so far as circumstances permit, encourage
local autonomy.
Article 4
An appropriate Jewish agency shall be recognized 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 recognized as such agency. It shall take steps in
consultation with His Britannic Majesty’s Government to secure
the cooperation of all Jews who are willing to assist in the
establishment of the Jewish national home.
Article 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.
Article 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 cooperation 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.
Article 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.
Article 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 aforementioned
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 he Mandate, be immediately re-established in their entirety
or which such modifications as may have been agreed upon between
the Parties concerned.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 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 utilized by it for the benefit of the country in a manner
approved by the Administration.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 17
The Administration of Palestine may organize on a voluntary
basis the forces necessary for the preservation of peace and
order, and also for the defense 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.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 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 P.D.
(2) The law for the protection of antiquities shall proceed by
encouragement rather than be threat.
Any person who, have 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 license
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 authorized 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.
Article 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.
Article 23
The Administration of Palestine shall recognize the holy days of
the respective communities of Palestine as legal days of rest
for the members of such communities.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 27
The consent of the Council of the League of Nations is required
for any modification of the terms of this mandate.
Article 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 honor 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.
Certified true copy:
FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL,
William E. Rappard,
Director of the Mandates Section.
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