Supplement to the American Journal of International Law: Official Documents

The Government of the Republic of the United States of Brazil and the Government of the Argentine Republic, desiring to establish upon firm, permanent bases the relations of ancient friendship and good neighborliness that happily exist between the two countries, have determined to celebrate a general Treaty of Arbitration, and, for this end, have nominated plenipotentiaries, to wit:

His Excellency Mr. Francisco de Paula Rodrigues Alves, President of the Republic of the United States of Brazil, Mr. José Maria da Silva Paranhos do Rio-Branco, Minister of State for Foreign Relations of the same Republic; and

His Excellency Mr. Manoel Quintana, President of the Argentine Republic, Mr. Manoel Gorostiaga, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary in Brazil;

Who, duly authorized, have agreed upon the following articles :

ARTICLE I. The High Contracting Parties bind themselves to submit to arbitration the controversies that may arise between them and that they are unable to settle by direct negotiations or by any other way of deciding amicable international disputes, in so far as such controversies do not turn upon questions involving constitutional rules of the one or the other of the two countries.

ARTICLE II. The consideration of past questions, that have been the object of definite agreements between the two parties, will not by virtue of this treaty, be reopened, it being possible to submit to arbitration only the questions regarding the interpretation and execution of the same.

ARTICLE III. The High Contracting Parties will sign a special agreement for each case that occurs.

ARTICLE IV. The points agreed upon will be fixed with due clearness by the High Contracting Parties, who should also determine the scope of the powers of the arbitrator or abitrators and the procedure governing them.

ARTICLE V. In the absence of special stipulations between the parties, it is the duty of the arbitrator or arbitrators to designate the time and the place of the sessions, outside of the territories of the Contracting States, selecting the language that must be used, determining the manner of presentation of the case, the formalities and periods of time to which the parties should adhere to, the procedure to follow, and, in general, take all the necessary steps to fulfill their duties and solve all the difficulties that may arise in the course of the discussion.

The two Governments bind themselves to place at the disposition of the arbitrator or arbitrators all the sources of information at their disposal.

ARTICLE VI. The designation of the arbitrator or arbitrators will be made in the special agreement or in a separate instrument, after the nominee or nominees declare that they accept the mission.

ARTICLE VII. If it is agreed that the question shall be submitted to an arbitral tribunal, each of the High Contracting Parties will nominate an arbitrator and they will try .to agree upon a third, who will be, by right, president of the tribunal. In the case of disagreement over the election of a third, the two Governments will request the President of the Swiss Confederation to nominate the president of the tribunal.

ARTICLE VIII. Each one of the parties may appoint one or more representatives to defend their cause before the arbitrator or arbitrators.

ARTICLE IX. The arbitrator, or the arbitral tribunal, is competent to decide as to the validity of the agreement and the interpretation of the same. Consequently, it is also competent to decide the controversies between the parties as to whether certain questions that arise are or are not proper

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Supplement to the American Journal of International Law: Official ..., Volume 3