Convention (I) for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field. Geneva, 12 August 1949.

ARTICLE 10 -- NOMINATION OF MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSIONS

As we have seen above, neither the Convention nor the Draft Agreement lays down the procedure for the setting up of the Special Commissions and the nomination of their members. Article 10 of the Draft Agreement merely gives general directions which cannot be applied by the belligerents as they stand. The Agreements concluded should therefore lay down the exact procedure in regard to these two matters.

The following is a brief review of the solutions envisaged in the earlier drafts.

The Monaco Draft proposed a Commission whose members, appointed by a specified authority (the Permanent Court of International Justice or a specially constituted international body), "must be approved by the Government concerned".

The draft submitted to the XVIth International Red Cross Conference in 1938 provided for two distinct Special Commissions, viz.:

[p.427] (a) a Commission composed of neutral nationals nominated by the Protecting Powers and agreed to by the Powers concerned, which had to carry out its duties from the time the hospital zones were brought into actual use;

(b) an International Commission of Enquiry composed of neutrals and set up in time of peace for the purpose of intervening on the request of a belligerent or of the Commission of control.

The 1938 Draft merely proposed having a single Commission of control for each country; it was to be composed of three neutral members appointed by the International Committee of the Red Cross and approved by the State concerned.

The Draft Agreement submitted to the XVIIth International Red Cross Conference in 1948, entrusted inspection of the zones to the Protecting Powers; the inspection was to be carried out when requested by the adverse Party.