500.C Covenant/62
The Department of State to the British Embassy
Aide-Mémoire
With reference to the inquiry which you made during your call on May 22, 1930, at the time the United States Senate reservations of January 27, 1926,30 were formulated, there existed no provision in the Covenant specifically empowering the Council to request an advisory opinion from the Court by other than unanimous vote. The adoption of an amendment to the Covenant specifically providing that the Council may request an advisory opinion from the Court by majority rather than unanimous vote in cases arising under Article 15, would effect a fundamental change in the situation which existed at the time the Senate reservations were formulated, as well as at the time the Protocol of Accession of the United States to the Protocol of Signature of the Statute of the Permanent Court of International Justice was signed.