The American Journal of International Law

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

material to be submitted to the arbitral jurisdiction according to the terms of the agreement.

The arbitral tribunal is competent to decide as to the regularity of its own formation.

ARTICLE X.

The arbitrator or the arbitral tribunal should decide according to the special rules that the two parties may have established, or ex æquo et bono, in accordance with the powers that may have been conferred upon them by the agreement.

ARTICLE XI.

The decisions of the tribunal will be taken in the presence of the three arbitrators and by unanimity or majority of votes.

The concordant votes of the two arbitrators first chosen will decide the question or questions submitted to the tribunal. If there is a difference between the two, the president, or third arbitrator, will adopt one of the votes or will give his own, which will decide the question.

In the absence of one of the arbitrators, the session will be postponed until his appearance or while he is absent for sufficient reason. If, however, after having been duly summoned, the absentee without just reason does not care to take part in the decisions or in other acts of the tribunal, the tribunal may continue with the two present, inserting upon the minutes that the absence of the other is voluntary and without justification.

ARTICLE XII.

The sentence must decide finally all the points in litigation, and will be made in duplicate, signed by the single arbitrator or by the three members of the arbitral tribunal. If any of these refuse to sign, the the other two shall make mention of this in a special statement signed by them.

The decisions will or will not give the reasons therefor according to the provisions of each special agreement.

ARTICLE XIII.

The arbitrator or the arbitral tribunal must notify the representative of each of the two parties of the sentence.

ARTICLE XIV.

The sentence legally pronounced will decide, within the limits of its application, the litigation between the parties. It will indicate the time within which it must be executed.

ARTICLE XV.

Each one of the Contracting States binds itself to observe and carry out loyally the arbitral decision.

ARTICLE XVI.

The questions that arise regarding the execution of the sentence will be decided by arbitration and, whenever it may be possible, by the same arbitrator who gave it.

ARTICLE XVII.

If, before the cxecution of the sentence, either of the two parties interested have knowledge of the falsity or forgery of any document upon which the sentence was based, or can prove that this, in whole or in part, was caused by an error as to fact, he may appeal for a rehearing to same arbitral tribunal.

ARTICLE XVIII.

Each one of the parties will pay the expenses of its representation and half of the general expenses of the arbitration.

ARTICLE XIX.

After the approval by the legislative power of each one of the two Republics, this treaty will be ratified by the respective Governments and the ratifications will be exchanged in the city of Rio de Janeiro or in Buenos Aires in the shortest possible time.

ARTICLE XX.

The present treaty will be in force for ten years, counting from the day upon which the ratifications are exchanged. If it is not denounced. six months before the end of this time, it will be continued for another period of ten years, and so on.

In faith whereof, we, the Plenipotentiaries above nominated, sign the present instrument in duplicate, one in the Portuguese and the other in. the Castillian languages, and affix thereto our seals.

Done in the city of Rio de Janeiro, on the seventh day of the month. of September, in the year nineteen hundred and five.

[L. S.] RIO-BRANCO.

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The American Journal of International Law, Том 3