IO Files: SD/A/198
Department of State Position Paper Prepared for the United States Delegation to the General Assembly
United States Slate for the International Court of Justice
the problem
It will be necessary to decide which five nominees to the International Court of Justice should be supported by the United States [Page 119] Delegation to the General Assembly and the United States Representative on the Security Council.
recommendations
1. The United State Delegation to the General Assembly and the United States Representative on the Security Council should vote for the following five candidates:
| Primary Slate | Secondary Candidates |
| John E. Read (Canada) | Jean Spyropoulos (Greece) |
| Hsu Mo (China) | Bogdan Winiarski (Poland) |
| Abdel Hamid Badawi Pasha (Egypt) | |
| B. N. Rau (India) | |
| Milovan Zoricic (Yugoslavia) |
2. After consideration of the distribution of votes in the initial balloting in the Security Council and General Assembly, it should be decided whether it is appropriate to shift the vote of the United State to alternative candidates or to continue to vote for the original slate.
3. In the event the Delegation decides it is appropriate to shift its vote in the light of the outcome of the first or several successive ballots, the vote of the United States should be cast for the secondary candidates or for other candidates after consultation with the advisors of the Delegation.
comment
1. The present composition of the International Court of Justice includes:
| Term Expires 1955: | M. Jules Basdevant (France) |
| H. E. Dr. José Gustavo Guerrero (El Salvador) | |
| Sir Arnold Duncan McNair (United Kingdom) | |
| Dr. Alejandro Alvarez (Chile) | |
| Dr. José Philadelpho do Barros Azevedo (Brazil) | |
| Term Expires 1952: | Lic. Isidro Fabela Alfaro (Mexico) |
| Dr. Helge Klaestad (Norway) | |
| M. Charles de Visscher (Belgium) | |
| Mr. Green Hackworth (United States) | |
| Prof. Sergei Borisovich Krylov (USSR) | |
| Term Expires 1949: | Dr. Milovan Zoricic (Yugoslavia) |
| Mr. John E. Read (Canada) | |
| Dr. Bogdan Winiarski (Poland) | |
| H. E. Dr. Abdel Hamid Badawi Pasha (Egypt) | |
| Dr. Hsu Mo (China) |
2. The United States national group of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, acting in accordance with Article 5 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, nominated four of the five retiring judges: Hsu Mo (China); Badawi Pasha (Egypt); J. E. Read (Canada); and Bogdan Winiarski (Poland). Since it could make only four nominations, it is presumed that the four judges nominated were, in the opinion of the panel, the best qualified.
3. It will be noted that the present geographic distribution of the Court includes the five major powers, four Latin American states, two Western European states, one British Dominion, two Eastern European states, and one Near Eastern state. The choice of B. N. Rau (India), who is not an international lawyer, is based both upon his other outstanding personal qualifications (including the holding of high judicial offices in India) and the desirability of having the Middle Eastern and Near Eastern area more equitably represented on the Court.
4. The choice of the Yugoslav judge is based in part on the present situation in Yugoslavia. It is not believed that the Polish candidate has substantially better qualifications which would indicate his choice. The second Eastern European judge has been dropped from the slate in the interest of more equitable geographic distribution; none of the other preferred United States candidates come from areas with disproportionate representation on the Court.