LEAGUE OF
NATIONS
Mandate for
Palestine
QUESTIONNAIRE
INTENDED TO ASSIST THE PREPARATION OF THE ANNUAL
REPORTS
OF THE
MANDATORY POWERS.
I. -- JEWISH NATIONAL HOME (Article 2 of
the Mandate).
1. What measures have been
taken to place the country under such political, administrative and economic
conditions as will secure the establishment of the national home for the Jewish
people?
What are the effects of these measures?
2. What measures
have been taken to place the country under such political, administrative and
economic conditions as will secure the development of self-governing
institutions?
What are the effects of these measures?
3. What
measures have been taken to place the country under such political,
administrative and economic conditions as will safeguard the civil and religious
rights of all the inhabitants of Palestine, irrespective of race and
religion?
What are the effects of these measures?
II. -- AUTONOMOUS ADMINISTRATION (Article
3).
What measures have been taken to
encourage local autonomy?
What are the effects of these
measures?
III. -- JEWISH AGENCY (Article
4).
1. When and in what manner has the Jewish
agency been officially recognised?
2. Has this agency given any advice to
the Administration in the past year?
If so, in what form and in what
connection?
3. What is the nature and extent of the co-operation of this
agency with the Administration of Palestine in economic, social and other
matters?
4. In what manner has this agency taken part in the development
of the country (statistics of the results obtained)?
5. What steps have
been taken in consultation with His Britannic Majesty's Government to secure the
co-operation of all Jews who are willing to assist in the establishment of the
Jewish national home?
IV. -- IMMIGRATION AND EMIGRATION (Article
6).
1. What measures have been taken to
facilitate Jewish immigration?
2. What measures have been taken to
safeguard the rights and position of other sections of the population?
3.
What measures have been taken in co-operation with the Jewish agency to
encourage the close settlement by Jews on the land (give figures)?
4.
What are the effects of these measures?
Statistics of immigration (country of origin,
religion, race, profession, age and sex). Geographical distribution within
the country in the urban centres and in the rural
districts.
Some statistics for
emigration.
V. -- LAND REGIME (Article
6).
1. How have State lands been defined and
delimited?
2. How have waste lands been defined and delimited?
3.
What measures have been taken for the registration of real
property?
VI. -- NATIONALITY (Article
7).
1. What is the text of the nationality
law?
2. Have special provisions been enacted, framed so as to facilitate
the acquisition of Palestinian citizenship by Jews?
VII. -- JUDICIAL SYSTEM (Articles 8, 9 and
10).
1. When did the new judicial
organisation begin to operate?
2. What special features does it include
with a view to assuring to foreigners as well as to natives a complete guarantee
of their rights as laid down in Article 9?
3. What special measures have
been taken to assure respect for the personal status of the various peoples and
communities and for their religious interests?
4. How have the control
and administration of Wakfs been assured?
5. What extradition agreements
have been made between the Mandatory and other foreign Powers since the coming
into force of the mandate?
VIII. -- ECONOMIC EQUALITY (Articles 11 and
18).
1. How have the interests of the
community been safeguarded in the execution of measures taken to secure the
development of the country in respect of public ownership or control of any of
the natural resources of the country or of the public works, services and
utilities?
2. Has it been found necessary to arrange with the Jewish
agency to construct or operate any public works, services and utilities or to
develop any of the natural resources of the country -- and if so, under what
circumstances?
3. Give a complete list of concessions and the names and
nationalities of the concession holders.
4. Give the reports submitted to
the company meetings and the balance sheets of these undertakings, or, when such
reports and balance sheets are not available, give all information relating to
the subject, particularly the rate of interest and the uses made of
profits.
5. What provisions are made to secure economic equality as
regards:
(a) Concessions?
(b) Land tenure?
(c) Mining rights (in
particular, rules in regard to prospecting)?
(d) Fiscal regime (direct and
indirect taxation)?
(e) Customs regulations (imports, exports,
transit)?
6. What regulations has the mandatory Power made for the
application of the clause providing "freedom of transit under equitable
conditions"?
7. Have any customs agreements been made by virtue of
Article 18?
If so, give the text of such agreements.
IX. -- HOLY PLACES (Articles 13 and
14).
1. What measures have been taken for the
assumption by the Mandatory of responsibility in connection with the Holy Places
and religious buildings or sites, including the responsibility of preserving
existing rights and of securing free access to the Holy Places, religious
buildings and sites, and the free exercise of worship?1/
2. Which are the
purely Moslem sacred shrines the immunities of which are guaranteed?
X. -- FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE (Articles
15 and 16).
1. What measures have been taken
to assure freedom of conscience and religion?
2. Have any restrictions
been made upon the free exercise of any form of worship in the interest of the
maintenance of public order and morals?
What are the effects of such
restrictions?
3. What measures have been taken to assure the rights of
communities to maintain their own schools for the education of their own
members?
What educational requirements of a general nature are imposed by
the Administration?
What measures have been taken to assure the exercise
of such supervision over religious or any charitable bodies of all faiths or
nationalities in Palestine as may be required for the maintenance of public
order and good government?
XI. -- MILITARY CLAUSES (Article
17).
1. What is the form of military
organisation and training?
2. Are there any police forces independent of
the military charged with the defence of the territory?
What is the
respective importance of these two forces and the amount spent on
each?
Racial and religious composition of these two forces.
3. Has
there been any occasion for the Administration of Palestine to contribute to the
cost of the maintenance of the military forces of the mandatory Power?
If
so, to what extent?
4. Has the Mandatory exercised its right to use the
roads, railways and ports of Palestine for the movement of armed forces and the
carriage of fuel and supplies?
If so, to what budget has the expenditure
been charged?
XII. -- INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS
(Articles 19 and 20).
1. To what
international conventions has the Mandatory adhered on behalf of the Palestine
Administration?
2. What steps have been taken by the Mandatory to
co-operate with the League of Nations in the struggle against disease, including
diseases of plants and animals?
XIII. -- ANTIQUITIES (Article
21).
Has the Mandatory enacted a law of
antiquities according to the provisions laid down in Art. 21 of the
mandate?
Give the text.
XIV. -- OFFICIAL LANGUAGES (Article
22).
1. Have the three official languages
been used simultaneously and on an equal footing in
legislative and
administrative documents and in the courts?
If not, what languages are
used?
2. To what observations does the application of this system give
rise?
XV. -- HOLY DAYS (Article
23).
What days are recognised as holy days by
the various communities?
XVI. -- TRANS-JORDANIA (Article
25).
1. Has the territory lying beyond the
Jordan been finally delimited and organised?
2. In what way does the
political and administrative regime established in this territory differ from
the regulations laid down for Palestine?
XVII. -- LABOUR.
1. Have measures been taken to ensure, in accordance with Part XIII
of the Treaty of Versailles, the consideration of conventions or recommendations
of International Labour Conferences?
2. Are these conventions or
recommendations being carried into effect?
3. What other regulations are
in force in regard to labour?
4. What powers has the Administration for
controlling labour contracts in order to ensure their loyal fulfilment both on
the part of employer and employed, and what powers does it possess to prevent
any abuses in this respect?
5. What is the competent authority in regard
to labour legislation and what authority is responsible for the application of
such legislation?
XVIII. -- TRADE IN AND MANUFACTURE OF
DRUGS.
Have measures been taken to secure the
prohibition or the control of the importation, of the production, and the
consumption of poisonous or narcotic drugs?
XIX. -- EDUCATION.
1. What is the general system of elementary education (organisation
and statistics)?
Is this education free for all, and if not, in what cases is
it free?
2. What measures have been taken for higher education, for
example, medical, veterinary and technical education?
3. In what
languages is instruction given in the various categories of schools?
XX. -- PUBLIC
HEALTH.
1. What steps are being taken to
ensure public health and sanitation and to combat endemic and epidemic
diseases?
2. What is the regime for medical assistance?
3. What is
the actual situation as regard prostitution and what measures have been taken in
this matter?
XXI. -- PUBLIC
FINANCE.
A general schedule of the revenue
and expenditure of the territory, the budgetary system, and indication of the
nature and the assessment of taxes.
XXII. -- DEMOGRAPHIC
STATISTICS.
Statistics of births, marriages
(polygamy), deaths, emigration and immigration.
_______
The Permanent Mandates Commission would be grateful to the
mandatory Powers if they would be good enough to add to the annual reports the
text of all the legislative and administrative decisions taken with regard to
each mandated territory in the course of the past year.
_______
Notes
1/
This question has been drafted in general terms and will be defined in detail
when the Council has taken the decision provided for in Article 14 of the
Mandate.