The Geneva Protocol, by David Hunter Miller

CHAPTER XX. 123
(b) The elimination of the case in which all parties would be practically free to abstain from any action. The
introduction of a system of arbitration and of provisional measures which permits of the determination in
every case of the aggressor.
(c) No decision is taken as to the strength of the military, naval and air forces, and no details are given as to
the measures which are to be adopted in a particular case. None the less, objective criteria are supplied which
define the obligation of each signatory; it is bound, in resistance to an act of aggression, to collaborate loyally
and effectively in applying the sanctions in accordance with its geographical situation and its particular
situation as regards armaments.
That is why I said that the great omission in the Covenant has been made good.
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It is true that no burden has been imposed on States beyond the sanctions already provided for in the
Covenant. But, at present, a State seeking to elude the obligations of the Covenant can reckon on two means
of escape:
(1) The Council's recommendations need not be followed.
(2) The Council may fail to obtain unanimity, making impossible any declaration of aggression, so that no
obligation to apply military sanctions will be imposed and everyone will remain free to act as he chooses.
We have abandoned the above system and both these loopholes are now closed.
Article 11, paragraphs 3 and 4.
Paragraph 3 of Article 11 has been drafted with a view to giving greater precision to certain provisions of
Article 11, paragraph 3, of the Covenant. Article 16, paragraph 3, refers to mutual support in the application
of financial and economic measures. Article 11, paragraph 3, of the present Protocol establishes real economic
and financial co-operation between a State which has been attacked and the various States which come to its
assistance.
As, under Article 10 of the Protocol, it may happen that both States involved in a dispute are declared to be
aggressors, the question arose as to what would be the best method of settling this problem. There were three
alternatives: to apply the principle contained in paragraph 1, which is practically equivalent to making a sort
of police war on both parties--or to leave the matter to pursue its course, or, finally, to compel States which
disturb the peace of the world to desist from acts of war by the employment of means less severe than those
indicated in paragraph 1. It is the last method which has been chosen. Only economic measures will be taken
against such States, and naturally they will not be entitled to receive the assistance referred to in Article 11,
paragraph 3.
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Article 12.
Article 16, paragraph 1, of the Covenant provides for the immediate severance of all trade or financial
relations with the aggressor State, and paragraph 3 of the same Article provides, inter alia, for economic and
financial co-operation between the State attacked and the various States coming to its assistance.
As has already been pointed out, these engagements have been confirmed and made more definite in Article
11 of the Protocol.