The Mavrommatis Concessions Cases

Extract

The Permanent Court of International Justice, in two of the most exhaustive judgments it has thus far rendered, has recently decided, mainly against the claimant, the bitterly contested case of Mavrommatis (Greece) v. Great Britain (Judgments No. 2 and No. 5). It took two hearings and two decisions to dispose of the case, the first (August 30, 1924) on the question of the court's jurisdiction, asserted by a majority of seven judges to five, and the second (March 6, 1925) on the merits. The majority in favor of the jurisdiction were Judges Loder, Weiss, Nyholm, Altamira, Anzilotti, Huber, and the Greek national judge, Caloyanni. The dissenting judges, each of whom prepared a separate opinion, were Judges Finlay, Moore, de Bustamante, Oda and Pessoa. Under the court's practice, it is not possible to tell which judge or judges wrote the majority opinion; there is some evidence that several judges participated in drafting it. The second judgment practically dismissing the claim on the merits, was nearly unanimous, only Judge Altamira dissenting.