Text of the Mandate on
Council of the
Whereas the Principal Allied Powers have agreed, for the purpose
of giving effect to the provisions of Article 22 of the Covenant of the League
of Nations, to entrust to a Mandatory selected by the said Powers the
administration of the territory of Palestine, which formerly belonged to the
Turkish Empire, within such boundaries as may be fixed by them; and
Whereas the Principal Allied Powers have also agreed that the Mandatory
should be responsible for putting into effect the declaration originally made
on November 2nd, 1917, by the Government of His Britannic Majesty, and adopted
by the said Powers, in favour of the establishment in
Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, it being clearly understood
that nothing should be done which might prejudice the civil and religious
rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and
political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country ; and
Whereas recognition has thereby been given to the historical
connection of the Jewish people with
Whereas the Principal Allied Powers have selected His Britannic
Majesty as the Mandatory for Palestine; and
Whereas the mandate in respect of Palestine has been formulated in
the following terms and submitted to the Council of the League for approval;
and
Whereas His Britannic Majesty has accepted the mandate in respect
of Palestine and undertaken to exercise it on behalf of the League of Nations
in conformity with the following provisions; and
Whereas by the afore-mentioned Article 22 (paragraph 8), it is
provided that the degree of authority, control or administration to be exercised
by the Mandatory, not having been previously agreed upon by the Members of the
League, shall be explicitly defined by the Council of the League of Nations;
Confirming the said mandate, defines its terms as follows:
Article 1.
The Mandatory shall have full powers of legislation and of
administration, save as they may be limited by the terms of this mandate.
Article 2.
The Mandatory shall be responsible for placing the country under
such political, administrative and economic conditions as will secure the
establishment of the Jewish national home, as laid down in the preamble, and
the development of self -governing institutions, and also for safeguarding the
civil and religious rights of all the inhabitants of Palestine, irrespective of
race and religion.
Article 3.
The Mandatory shall, so far as circumstances permit, encourage
local autonomy.
Article 4.
An appropriate Jewish agency shall be recognised
as a public body for the purpose of advising and co-operating with the
Administration of Palestine in such economic, social and other matters as may
affect the establishment of the Jewish national home and the interests of the
Jewish population in Palestine, and, subject always to the control of the
Administration, to assist and take part in the development of the country.
The Zionist organisation, so long as its
organisation and constitution are in the opinion of
the Mandatory appropriate, shall be recognised as
such agency. It shall take steps in consultation with His Britannic Majesty's
Government to secure the cooperation of all Jews who are willing to assist in
the establishment of the Jewish national home.
Article 5.
The Mandatory shall be responsible for seeing that no Palestine
territory shall be ceded or leased to, or in any way placed under the control
of, the Government of any foreign Power.
Article 6.
The Administration of Palestine, while ensuring that the rights
and position of other sections of the population are not prejudiced, shall
facilitate Jewish immigration under suitable conditions and shall encourage, in
co-operation with the Jewish agency. Referred to in Article 4, close settlement
by Jews, on the land, including State lands and waste lands not required for
public purposes.
Article 7.
The Administration of Palestine shall be responsible for enacting
a nationality law. There shall be included in this law provisions framed so as
to facilitate the acquisition of Palestinian citizenship by Jews who take up
their permanent residence in Palestine.
Article 8.
The privileges and immunities of foreigners, including the
benefits of consular jurisdiction and protection as formerly enjoyed by
Capitulation or usage in the Ottoman Empire, shall not be applicable in
Palestine.
Unless the Powers whose nationals enjoyed the afore-mentioned
privileges and immunities on August 1st, 1914, shall have previously renounced
the right to their re-establishment, or shall have agreed to their
non-application for a specified period, these privileges and immunities shall,
at the expiration of the mandate, be immediately re-established in their
entirety or with such modifications as may have been agreed upon between the
Powers concerned.
Article 9.
The Mandatory shall be responsible for seeing that the judicial
system established in Palestine shall assure to foreigners, as well as to
natives, a complete guarantee of their rights.
Respect for the personal status of the various peoples and
communities and for their religious interests shall be fully guaranteed. In
particular, the control and administration of Wakfs
shall be exercised in accordance with religious law and the dispositions of the
founders.
Article 10.
Pending the making of special extradition agreements relating to
Palestine, the extradition treaties in force between the Mandatory and other
foreign Powers shall apply to Palestine.
Article 11.
The Administration of Palestine shall take all necessary measures
to safeguard the interests of the community in connection with the development
of the country, and, subject to any international obligations accepted by the
Mandatory, shall have full power to provide for public ownership or control of
any of the natural resources of the country or of the public works, services
and utilities established or to be established therein. It shall introduce a
land system appropriate to the needs of the country, having regard, among other
things, to the desirability of promoting the close settlement and intensive
cultivation of the land.
The Administration may arrange with the Jewish agency mentioned in
Article 4 to construct or operate, upon fair and equitable terms, any public
works, services and utilities, and to develop any of the natural resources of
the country, in so far as these matters are not directly undertaken by the
Administration. Any such arrangements shall provide that no profits distributed
by such agency, directly or indirectly, shall exceed a reasonable rate of
interest on the capital, and any further profits shall be utilised
by it for the benefit of the country in a manner approved by the
Administration.
Article 12.
The Mandatory shall be entrusted with the control of the foreign
relations of Palestine and the right to issue exequaturs to consuls appointed
by foreign Powers. He shall also be entitled to afford diplomatic and consular
protection to citizens of Palestine when outside its territorial limits.
Article 13.
All responsibility in connection with the Holy Places and
religious buildings or sites in Palestine, including that of preserving
existing rights and of securing free access to the Holy Places, religious
buildings and sites and the free exercise of worship, while ensuring the
requirements of public order and decorum, is assumed by the Mandatory, who
shall be responsible solely to the League of Nations. in all matters connected
herewith, provided that nothing in this article shall prevent the Mandatory
from entering into such arrangements as he may deem reasonable with the
Administration for the purpose of carrying the provisions of this article into
effect; and provided also that nothing in this mandate shall be construed as
conferring upon the Mandatory authority to interfere with the fabric or the
management of purely Moslem sacred shrines, the immunities of which are
guaranteed.
Article 14.
A special Commission shall be appointed by the Mandatory to study,
define and determine the rights and claims in connection with the Holy Places
and the rights and claims relating to the different religious communities in
Palestine. The method of nomination, the composition and the functions of this
Commission shall be submitted to the Council of the League for its approval,
and the Commission shall not be appointed or enter upon its functions without
the approval of the Council.
Article 15.
The Mandatory shall see that complete freedom of conscience and
the free exercise of all forms of worship, subject only to the maintenance of
public order and morals, are ensured to all. No discrimination of any kind
shall be made between the inhabitants of Palestine on the ground of race,
religion or language. No person shall be excluded from Palestine on the sole
ground of his religious belief.
The right of each community to maintain its own schools for the
education of its own members in its own language, while conforming to such
educational requirements of a general nature as the Administration may impose,
shall not be denied or impaired.
Article 16.
The Mandatory shall be responsible for exercising such supervision
over religious or eleemosynary bodies of all faiths in Palestine as may be
required for the maintenance of public order and good government. Subject to
such supervision, no measures shall be taken in Palestine to obstruct or
interfere with the enterprise of such bodies or to discriminate against any
representative or member of them on the ground of his religion or nationality.
Article 17.
The Administration of Palestine may organise
on a voluntary basis the forces necessary for the preservation of peace and
order, and also for the defence of the country,
subject, however, to the supervision of the Mandatory, but shall not use them
for purposes other than those above specified save with the consent of the
Mandatory, Except for such purposes, no military, naval or air forces shall be
raised or maintained by the Administration of Palestine.
Nothing in this article shall preclude the Administration of
Palestine from contributing to the cost of the maintenance of the forces of the
Mandatory in Palestine.
The Mandatory shall be entitled at all times to use the roads,
railways and ports of Palestine for the movement of armed f forces and the
carriage of fuel and supplies.
Article 18.
The Mandatory shall see that there is no discrimination in
Palestine against the nationals of any State Member of the League of Nations
(including companies incorporated under its laws) as compared with those of the
Mandatory or of any foreign State in matters concerning taxation, commerce or
navigation, the exercise of industries or professions, or in the treatment of
merchant vessels or civil aircraft. Similarly, there shall be no discrimination
in Palestine against goods originating in or destined for any of the said
States, and there shall be freedom of transit under equitable conditions across
the mandated area.
Subject as aforesaid and to the other provisions of this mandate,
the Administration of Palestine may, on the advice of the Mandatory, impose
such taxes and customs duties as it may consider necessary, and take such steps
as it may think best to promote the development of the natural resources of the
country and to safeguard the interests of the population. It may also, on the
advice of the Mandatory, conclude a special customs agreement with any State
the territory of which in 1914 was wholly included in Asiatic Turkey or Arabia.
Article 19.
The Mandatory shall adhere on behalf of the Administration of
Palestine to any general international conventions already existing, or which
may be concluded hereafter with the approval of the League of Nations,
respecting the slave traffic, the traffic in arms and ammunition, or the
traffic in drugs, or relating to commercial equality, freedom of transit and
navigation, aerial navigation and postal, telegraphic and wireless
communication or literary, artistic or industrial property.
Article 20.
The Mandatory shall co-operate on behalf of the Administration of
Palestine, so far as religious, social and other conditions may permit, in the
execution of any common policy adopted by the League of Nations for preventing
and combating disease, including diseases of plants and animals.
Article 21.
The Mandatory shall secure the enactment within twelve months from
this date, and shall ensure the execution of a Law of Antiquities based on the
following rules. This law shall ensure equality of treatment in the matter of
excavations and archaeological research to the nations of all States Members of
the League of Nations.
(1) 'Antiquity' means any construction or any product of human
activity earlier than the year A.D. 1700.
(2) The law for the protection of antiquities shall proceed by
encouragement rather than by threat.
Any person who, having discovered an antiquity without being
furnished with the authorisation referred to in
paragraph 5, reports the same to an official of the competent Department, shall
be rewarded according to the value of the discovery.
(3) No antiquity may be disposed of except to the competent
Department, unless this Department renounces the acquisition of any such
antiquity.
No antiquity may leave the country without an export licence from the said Department.
(4) Any person who maliciously or negligently destroys or damages
an antiquity shall be liable to a penalty to be fixed.
(5) No clearing of ground or digging with the object of finding
antiquities shall be permitted, under penalty of fine, except to
persons authorised by the competent Department.
(6) Equitable terms shall be fixed for expropriation, temporary or
permanent, of lands which might be of historical or archaeological interest.
(7) Authorisation to excavate shall only
be granted to persons who show sufficient guarantees of archaeological
experience. The Administration of Palestine shall not, in granting these authorisations, act in such a way as to exclude scholars of
any nation without good grounds.
(8) The proceeds of excavations may be divided between the
excavator and the competent Department in a proportion fixed by that
Department. If division seems impossible for scientific reasons, the excavator
shall receive a fair indemnity in lieu of a part of the find.
Article 22.
English, Arabic and Hebrew shall be the official languages of
Palestine. Any statement or inscription in Arabic on stamps or money in
Palestine shall be repeated in Hebrew, and any statement or inscription in
Hebrew shall be repeated in Arabic.
Article 23.
The Administration of Palestine shall recognise
the holy days of the respective communities in Palestine as legal days of rest
for the members of such communities.
Article 24.
The Mandatory shall make to the Council of the League of Nations
an annual report to the satisfaction of the Council as to the measures taken
during the year to carry out the provisions of the mandate. Copies of all laws
and regulations promulgated or issued during the year shall be communicated
with the report.
Article 25.
In the territories lying between the Jordan and the eastern
boundary of Palestine as ultimately determined, the Mandatory shall be
entitled, with the consent of the Council of the League of Nations, to postpone
or withhold application of such provisions of this mandate as he may consider
inapplicable to the existing local conditions, and to make such provision for
the administration of the territories as he may consider suitable to those
conditions, provided that no action shall be taken which is inconsistent with
the provisions of Articles 15, 16 and 18.
Article 26.
The Mandatory agrees that, if any dispute whatever should arise
between the Mandatory and another Member of the League of Nations relating to
the interpretation or the application of the provisions of the mandate, such
dispute, if it cannot be settled by negotiation, shall be submitted to the
Permanent Court of International Justice provided for by Article 14 of the
Covenant of the League of Nations.
Article 27.
The consent of the Council of the League of Nations is required
for any modification of the terms of this mandate.
Article 28.
In the event of the termination of the mandate hereby conferred
upon the Mandatory, the Council of the League of Nations shall make such
arrangements as may be deemed necessary for safeguarding in perpetuity, under
guarantee of the League, the rights secured by Articles 13 and 14, and shall
use its influence for securing, under the guarantee of the League, that the
Government of Palestine will fully honour the
financial obligations legitimately incurred by the Administration of Palestine
during the period of the mandate, including the rights of public servants ,to
pensions or gratuities.
The present instrument shall be deposited in original in the
archives of the League of Nations and certified copies shall be forwarded by
the Secretary-General of the League of Nations to all Members of the League.