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The attempt to resolve a dispute by having it examined in depth by an independent commission of inquiry or ‘conciliation commission’; this then offers its recommendation for a settlement, which, in contrast to a decision arrived at by arbitration, is non-binding. Following elaboration of the procedures involved in conciliation by the General Act on the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes in 1928, a normal conciliation commission would have five members, one from each side and the rest (by agreement) from third states. The commission would meet in private and report within six months. Inspired by a somewhat sanguine doctrine concerning the force of an ‘objective’ analysis of the causes of international conflict, the technique of conciliation had a relatively short heyday in the inter-war period. Nevertheless, there are circumstances where it has proved to be of value, and some treaties still provide for it, as in the case of the Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982).
In the European Union, the use since 1975 of negotiation in a joint ‘conciliation committee’ to resolve legislative disagreements between the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers. See also good offices; mediation. |
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