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J U DIC I A L DE C I SIONS ON T H E L AW
OF I N T E R NAT IONA L ORG A N I Z AT IONS
Judicial Decisions on the Law
of International Organizations
Edited by
C E DR IC RY NG A E RT
IGE F DE K K E R
R A M SE S A W E S SE L
and
JA N WOU T E R S

1
1
Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP,
United Kingdom
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford.
It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship,
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© the several contributors 2016
The moral rights of the authors have been asserted
First Edition published in 2016
Impression: 1
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You must not circulate this work in any other form
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Crown copyright material is reproduced under Class Licence
Number C01P0000148 with the permission of OPSI
and the Queen’s Printer for Scotland
Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press
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Data available
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Links to third party websites are provided by Oxford in good faith and
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contained in any third party website referenced in this work.
Contents

List of Abbreviations ix
Table of Cases xi
List of Contributors xxi

General Introduction 1

1. Legal Status (Personality) 7


1.1 Reparation for Injuries Suffered in the Service of the United Nations,
Advisory Opinion, [1949] ICJ Rep 174 11
Ramses A. Wessel
1.2 Case 22/​70, Commission v Council (European Road Transport
Agreement), Court of Justice of the EC, [1971] ECR 263 19
Jan Klabbers
1.3 Maclaine Watson & Co. Ltd v International Tin Council,
26 October 1989, United Kingdom House of Lords, 81 ILR 670 28
Paolo Palchetti
1.4 Arab Monetary Fund v Hashim and others, 21 February 1991,
United Kingdom House of Lords, 85 ILR 1 38
Kirsten Schmalenbach
1.5 Cases 7/​56 and 3/​57–​7/​57, Algera, Court of Justice of the EC, [1957–​8]
ECR 39 and Case C-​327/​91, France v Commission, Court of Justice of
the EC, [1994] ECR I-​3641 48
Jan Klabbers
1.6 Application of the Interim Accord of 13 September 1995 (The Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia v Greece), Judgment, [2011] ICJ Rep 644 56
Ana Sofia Barros

2. Legal Powers 67
2.1 Interpretation of the Greco-​Turkish Agreement of 1 December 1926,
Permanent Court of International Justice, Advisory Opinion, [1926]
Publ. PCIJ, Series B, No. 16 71
Blanca Montejo
2.2 Effect of Awards of Compensation Made by the United Nations
Administrative Tribunal Advisory Opinion [1954] ICJ Rep 47 80
Kenneth Keith
2.3 Certain Expenses of the United Nations (Article 17, paragraph 2, of
the Charter), International Court of Justice, Advisory Opinion,
[1962] ICJ Rep 151 91
Jan Wouters and Jed Odermatt
2.4 Legality of the Use by a State of Nuclear Weapons in Armed Conflict
International Court of Justice, Advisory Opinion of 8 July 1996, [1996]
ICJ Rep 66 102
Gian Luca Burci and Jakob Quirin
vi Contents

3. Institutional Structure and the Position of Members 113


3.1 Case Concerning Questions of Interpretation and Application of
the 1971 Montreal Convention Arising from the Aerial Incident
at Lockerbie (Libya Arab Jamahiriya v United States of America),
Request for the Indication of Provisional Measures, Order of 14 April
1992, [1992] ICJ Rep 114 117
Lydia Davies-​Bright and Nigel D. White
3.2 Prosecutor v Duško Tadić, Decision on the defence motion
for interlocutory appeal on jurisdiction, IT-​94-​1-​AR72,
Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for
the former Yugoslavia, 2 October 1995 127
Ige F. Dekker and Ramses A. Wessel
3.3 Conditions of Admission of a State to Membership in the United
Nations (Article 4 of the Charter), Advisory Opinion, [1948] ICJ Rep 57;
Competence of the General Assembly for the Admission of a State to
the United Nations, Advisory Opinion, [1950] ICJ Rep 4 138
James D. Fry and Agnes Chong

4. Legal Acts 157


4.1 Legal Consequences for States of the Continued Presence of South Africa
in Namibia (South West Africa) notwithstanding Security Council
Resolution 276 (1970), Advisory Opinion, [1971] ICJ Rep 16 159
Brianne McGonigle Leyh
4.2 Solange I, BverfGE 37, 291, 29 May 1974; Solange II, BverfGE 73,
339, 22 October 1986; Solange III, BverfGE 89, 155 12 October 1993;
and Solange IV, BverfGE 102, 147, 7 June 2000 170
Peter Hilpold
4.3 Military and Paramilitary Activities in and Against Nicaragua (Nicaragua
v United States of America), Merits, Judgment, [1986] ICJ Rep 14 183
Laurence Boisson de Chazournes and Andrzej Gadkowski
4.4 Youssef Nada v State Secretariat for Economic Affairs and Federal
Department of Economic Affairs, Administrative Appeal Judgment,
Case No. 1A 45/​2007, Switzerland, Federal Tribunal,
14 November 2007, 133 BGE II 450; ILDC 461 (CH2007) 193
Antonios Tzanakopoulos
4.5 Case T-315/01, Yassin Abdullah Kadi v Council of the European Union
and Commission of the European Communities, 21 September 2005,
[2005] ECR II-3649 (Kadi I CFI) Cases C-​402/​05 P and C-​415/​05
P, Yassin Abdullah Kadi and Al Barakaat International Foundation v
Council and Commission, Court of Justice of the EC [2008] ECR I-​6351
(Kadi I ECJ); Case T-​85/​09, Kadi v Commission [2010] ECR II-​5177
(Kadi II GCEU); Joined Cases C-​584/​10 P, C-​593/​10 P, and C-​595/​10 P,
Commission and United Kingdom v Kadi, Judgment of the Court
(Grand Chamber) of 18 July 2013 (Kadi II CJEU) 204
Antonios Tzanakopoulos
Contents vii

5. Obligations of International Organizations 233


5.1 Case 21-​24/​72, International Fruit Company v Produktschap
voor Siergewassen, Court of Justice of the EC, [1972] ECR 1219 235
Pieter Jan Kuijper
5.2 Interpretation of the Agreement of 25 March 1951 between the WHO
and Egypt, Advisory Opinion, [1980] ICJ Rep 73 245
Catherine Brölmann
5.3 Case No. IT-​95-​9-​PT, Decision on the Motion for a Judicial Assistance to
be Provided by SFOR and Others, Trial Chamber of the International
Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, 18 October 2000 255
Harmen van der Wilt

6. Responsibility 265
6.1 Westland Helicopters Ltd v Arab Organization for Industrialization,
United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, State of Qatar, Arab
Republic of Egypt, and Arab British Helicopter Company, Arbitration,
5 March 1984, 80 ILR 600 268
Christiane Ahlborn
6.2 Arab Organization for Industrialization and others v Westland
Helicopters Ltd, Swiss Federal Supreme Court (First Civil Court),
19 July 1988, 80 ILR 652 277
Christiane Ahlborn
6.3 Matthews v United Kingdom, ECtHR, App. No. 24833/​94,
18 February 1999 286
Ana Sofia Barros
6.4 Admissibility of the Application by Vlastimir and Borka Banković,
Živana Stojanović, Mirjana Stoimenovski, Dragana Koksimović, and Dragan
Suković against Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany,
Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, European Court
of Human Rights, Grand Chamber Decision, [2001] 300
Tullio Scovazzi
6.5 Bosphorus Hava Yollari Turizm veTicaret Anonim Sirketi v Ireland,
App. No. 45036/​98, European Court of Human Rights, 30 June 2005 309
Tobias Lock
6.6 Agim Behrami and Bekir Behrami v France, App. No. 71412/​01
and Ruzhdi Saramati v France, Germany, and Norway,
App. No. 78166/​01, European Court of Human Rights, 2 May 2007 319
Santiago Villalpando
6.7 Gasparini v Italy and Belgium, App. No. 10750/​03, Admissibility
Decision, European Court of Human Rights, 12 May 2009 328
Tobias Lock
6.8 Mukeshimana-​Nguilinzira and ors. v Belgium and ors.,
Brussels Court of First Instance, ILDC 1604 (BE 2010),
8 December 2010 336
Cedric Ryngaert
viii Contents

6.9 Nuhanović v Netherlands, Judgment, BZ9225, and Mustafić v


Netherlands, Judgment, BZ9228, Supreme Court of The Netherlands,
6 September 2013 342
Otto Spijkers
Al-​Jedda v United Kingdom, App. No. 27021/​08, European Court
6.10 
of Human Rights, 7 July 2011  351
Aurel Sari

7. Immunity 361
7.1 Manderlier v Organisation des Nations Unies and Etat Belge (Ministre
des Affaires Etrangères), Tribunal Civil de Bruxelles, 11 May 1966,
Journal des Tribunaux, 10 December 1966, No. 4553, 121 364
Pierre Schmitt
7.2 Abdi Hosh Askir v Boutros Boutros-​Ghali, Joseph E. Connor et al., US
District Court SDNY, 29 July 1996, 933 F. Suppl. 368 (SDNY 1996) 375
Tom Ruys
7.3 Difference relating to Immunity from Legal Process of a Special
Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights, Advisory Opinion,
[1999] ICJ Rep 62 385
Chanaka Wickremasinghe
7.4 Beer and Regan v Germany, App. No. 28934/​95 and Waite and Kennedy
v Germany, App. No. 26083/​94, European Court of Human Rights,
18 February 1999 392
Thore Neumann and Anne Peters
7.5 League of Arab States v T M., Belgian Court of Cassation,
ILDC 42 (BE 2001), 12 March 2001 406
Cedric Ryngaert
7.6 Prewitt Enterprises, Inc. v Org. of Petroleum Exporting Countries,
353 F.3d 916 (11th Cir. 2003) 412
Kirsten Boon
7.7 Entico Corporation Ltd v UNESCO, 18 March 2008, [2008]
EWHC 531 (Comm), [2008] 2 All ER (Comm) 97 418
Chanaka Wickremasinghe
7.8 Western European Union v Siedler, Belgian Court of Cassation,
21 December 2009 424
Pierre Schmitt
7.9 OSS Nokalva, Inc. v European Space Agency, United States
Third Circuit decision, 617 F.3d 756 (3d Cir. 2010) 432
Kirsten Boon
Mothers of Srebrenica v The Netherlands and the UN, LJN:
7.10 
BW1999, Dutch Supreme Court, 13 April 2012 and Stichting Mothers
of Srebrenica and Others against The Netherlands, App. No. 65542/​12,
European Court of Human Rights, 11 June 2013  439
Aleksandar Momirov

Index 451
List of Abbreviations

ABH Arab British Helicopter Company


ACHR American Convention on Human Rights
ACP Group African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States
ALQ Arab Law Quarterly
AMF Arab Monetary Fund
AOI Arab Organization for Industrialization
ARE Arab Republic of Egypt
ARIO Articles on the Responsibility of International Organizations
ARS Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts
ASDI Annuaire Suisse de Droit International
CAP Common Agricultural Policy
CBB College van Beroep voor het Bedrijfsleven
CFI Court of First Instance
CJEU Court of Justice of the European Union
CPIUN Convention on Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations
Dutchbat Dutch battalion under the command of the United Nations in operation
United Nations Protection Force
EC European Community
ECHR European Convention on Human Rights
ECJ European Court of Justice
ECOSOC United Nations Economic and Social Council
ECR European Court Reports
ECSC European Coal and Steel Community
ECtHR European Court of Human Rights
EEC European Economic Community
EMRO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office
ESA European Space Agency
EU European Union
EUI European University Institute
FPR Rwandan Patriotic Front
FRCP Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
FRY Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
FSIA Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act
FYROM Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (Macedonia)
GA General Assembly
GCEU General Court of the European Union
ICC International Criminal Court
ICC International Chamber of Commerce
ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
ICJ International Court of Justice
ICJ Rep Reports of the International Court of Justice
ICTR International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
ICTY International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
IDI Institut de Droit international
IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development
x List of Abbreviations

IFOR Implementation Force


ILC International Law Commission
ILM International Legal Materials
ILO International Labour Organisations
ILR International Law Reports
IO International organization
IOIA International Organizations Immunities Act
IOs International organizations
IPGRI International Plant Genetic Resources Institute
ITC International Tin Council
KFOR Kosovo Force
MINUAR United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda
MNF Multinational Force in Iraq
MOU Memorandum of Understanding
NAB NATO Appeal Board
NAC North Atlantic Council
NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization
OJ Official Journal (of the European Union)
ONUC United Nations Operation in the Congo
OPEC Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
PCIJ Permanent Court of International Justice
Publ. Publication(s)
R2P Responsibility to protect
SC Security Council of the United Nations
SFOR Stabilization Force
S/​R ES Resolution of the UN Security Council
TEU Treaty on European Union
TFEU Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
TRIPS Trade-​Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (Agreement on)
UAE United Arab Emirates
UK United Kingdom
UN United Nations
UNAT United Nations Administrative Tribunal
UNEF United Nations Emergency Force (for the Middle East)
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
UNGA United Nations General Assembly
UNICITRAL United Nations Commission on International Trade Law
UNITAF Unified Task Force
UNMIK United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo
UNOSOM United Nations Operation in Somalia
UNPROFOR United Nations Protection Force
UNRRA United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
UNSC United Nations Security Council
US(A) United States (of America)
VCLT Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties
WEU Western European Union
WHA Assembly of the WHO
WHL Westland Helicopters Ltd
WHO World Health Organization
WLR Weekly Law Reports
Table of Cases

Page numbers in bold refer to the pages where the cases have been discussed in detail

PER M A N EN T COU RT OF I N T ER NAT IONA L J UST ICE (PCIJ)


Competence of the ILO to Regulate the Conditions of Labour of Persons Employed in
Agriculture [1922] PCIJ, Series B, No. 2 ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 77
Competence of the ILO to Examine Proposals for the Organization and Development of
Methods of Agricultural Production [1922] PCIJ, Series B, No. 3������������������������������������������������� 77
Competence of the International Labour Organization to Regulate, Incidentally, the
Personal Work of the Employer [1926] PCIJ, Series B, No. 13 ������������������������������������������������������� 77
Interpretation of the Greco-​Turkish Agreement of 1 December 1926, Advisory Opinion
[1926] PCIJ, Series B, No. 16���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 24, 70, 71–​9
Jurisdiction of the European Commission of the Danube between Galatz and Braila [1927]
PCIJ, Series B, No. 14�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������71, 77, 79, 104, 108
SS Lotus, Case of The (France v Turkey) [1927] PCIJ, Series A, No. 10������������������������������������������� 69, 70
Status of Eastern Carelia, Advisory Opinion [1923] PCIJ, Series B, No. 5����������������������������������������� 106

I N T ER NAT IONA L COU RT OF J UST ICE (ICJ)


Accordance with International Law of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in
Respect of Kosovo, Advisory Opinion [2010] ICJ Rep 403�����������������������������������������������������90, 253
Admissibility of Hearings of Petitioners by the Committee on South West Africa, Advisory
Opinion [1956] ICJ Rep 23������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 90
Application for Review of Judgment No. 158 of the United Nations Administrative
Tribunal, Advisory Opinion [1973] ICJ Rep 166��������������������������������������������������������������������������� 115
Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v Serbia and Montenegro) [2007] ICJ Rep 15�����������358, 439
Application of the Interim Accord of 13 September 1995 (The Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia v Greece) [2011] ICJ Rep 644�������������������������������������������������������������36, 56–​66, 276, 299
Barcelona Traction, Light and Power Company, Limited (Belgium v Spain)
[1970] ICJ Rep 3������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 272, 276, 285
Border and Transborder Armed Actions (Nicaragua v Honduras) [1988] ICJ Rep 95����������������������� 124
Certain Expenses of the United Nations (Article 17, paragraph 2, of the Charter), Advisory
Opinion [1962] ICJ Rep 151��������������������������������������� 3, 70, 71, 91–​101, 106, 108, 109, 114, 249, 253
Competence of the General Assembly for the Admission of a State to the United Nations,
Advisory Opinion [1950] ICJ Rep 3���������������������������������������������������������������������������93, 115, 138, 253
Conditions of Admission of a State to Membership in the United Nations (Article 4 of
Charter), Advisory Opinion [1948] ICJ Rep 57����������������������������������������������� 63, 115, 138–​56, 253
Constitution of the Maritime Safety Committee of the Inter-​Governmental Maritime
Consultative Organization, Advisory Opinion [1960] ICJ Rep 150, 8 June 1960��������������������� 106
Difference Relating to Immunity from Legal Process of a Special Rapporteur of the
Commission on Human Rights, Advisory Opinion [1999] ICJ Rep 62������� 363, 371, 385–​91, 443
Effect of Awards of Compensation Made by the United Nations Administrative Tribunal,
Advisory Opinion [1954] ICJ Rep 47�������������������������������������������70, 80–​90, 108, 115, 127, 132, 135
Interpretation of Peace Treaties with Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania, First Phase,
Advisory Opinion [1950] ICJ Rep 71���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������106, 391
Interpretation of Peace Treaties with Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania, Advisory
Opinion [1950] ICJ Rep 65, 71, 30 March 1950���������������������������������������������������������������������106, 391
Interpretation of the Agreement of 25 March 1951 between the WHO and Egypt, Advisory
Opinion [1980] ICJ Rep 73 ������������������������������������������������������������������ 11, 73, 106, 233, 245–​54, 345
xii Table of Cases

Judgment No. 2867 of the Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour


Organization upon a Complaint Filed against the International Fund for
Agricultural Development, Advisory Opinion [2012] ICJ Rep 10�����������������������������������������89, 106
Judgments of the Administrative Tribunal of the ILO upon Complaints Made against
UNESCO, Advisory Opinion [1956] ICJ Rep 77 ��������������������������������������������������������������������������� 106
Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Germany v Italy: Greece intervening)
[2012] ICJ Rep 99������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 383, 384, 397, 442, 443, 444, 449
Legal Consequences for States of the Continued Presence of South Africa in Namibia
(South West Africa) notwithstanding Security Council Resolution 276 (1970),
Advisory Opinion [1971] ICJ Rep 16������������������������������ 2, 55, 69, 106, 115, 158, 159–​69, 177, 354
Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
Advisory Opinion [2004] ICJ Rep 136 �������������������������������������������������������������������������� 166, 249, 253
Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons, Advisory Opinion on Request of the
General Assembly of the UN [1996] ICJ Rep 226���������������������������������������������������������103, 190, 253
Legality of the Use by a State of Nuclear Weapons in Armed Conflict, Advisory Opinion
on Request of the Assembly of the WHO [1996] ICJ Rep 66����������������������������������70, 102–​12, 275
Legality of Use of Force (Yugoslavia v United States of America) [1999] ICJ Rep 927���������������108, 307
Legality of Use of Force (Serbia and Montenegro v Belgium), Preliminary Objections
[2004] ICJ Rep 279 ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 60
Lockerbie (Libya v United States of America), Request for the Indication of Provisional
Measures, Order of 14 April 1992 [1992] ICJ Rep 114�����������������������������������������������������114, 117–​26
Lockerbie (Libya v United Kingdom; Libya v United States of America) [1998] ICJ Rep 115����������� 124
Military and Paramilitary Activities in and Against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v United States
of America) [1986] ICJ Rep 14��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������158, 183–​92
North Sea Continental Shelf [1969] ICJ Rep 3����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 192
Pulp Mills on the River Uruguay, Argentina v Uruguay [2010] ICJ Rep 14����������������������������������������� 109
Reparation for Injuries Suffered in the Service of the United Nations, Advisory Opinion
[1949] ICJ Rep 174����������������������������������������� 3, 11–​18, 25, 27, 67, 69, 70, 71, 108, 251, 253, 370, 387
South-​West Africa, re International Status of, Advisory Opinion [1950] ICJ Rep 128��������������������� 166
Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v Japan, New Zealand Intervening)
[2014] ICJ Rep 226������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 191

EU ROPE A N COU RT OF H U M A N R IGH TS (EC T H R)


Al-​Adsani v the United Kingdom [2002] Application No. 35763/​97 ��������������������� 420, 441–​2, 446, 449
Al-​Dulimi and Montana Management Inc. v Switzerland [2013]
Application No. 5809/​08������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 203, 223, 231, 332
Al-​Jedda v United Kingdom [2011] Application No. 27021/​08�������������������� 200, 266, 326, 346, 351–​60
Al-​Skeini v United Kingdom [2011] Application No. 55721/​07��������������� 306, 344, 349, 351, 356–​7, 359
Banković and others v Belgium [2001] Application No. 52207/​99���������������������������������266, 300–​8, 349
Beer and Regan v Germany [1999] Application No. 28934/​95����������������� 362, 373, 392–​405, 427, 438,
441, 443–​4, 448
Behrami v France [2007] Application No. 71412/​01����������������������� 60, 200, 266, 284, 306, 307, 319–​27,
328, 334, 340, 346, 351, 352, 353, 354, 355, 358, 359, 441, 443
Berić v Bosnia and Herzegovina [2007] Application No. 36357/​04����������������������������������������������������� 325
Beygo v 46 Member States of the Council of Europe [2009] Application No. 36099/​06 ������������������� 334
Boivin v 34 Member States of the Council of Europe [2008] Application No. 73250/​01 ����������329, 333–​4
Bosphorus Hava Yollari Turizm ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi v Ireland [2005]
Application No. 45036/98����������������������������181, 197, 201–​2, 222, 241, 267, 291, 295, 297, 309–​18,
324–​5, 328–​9, 331–​2, 333, 335, 357, 446
Cantoni v France [1996] Application No. 17862/​91������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 315
Chapman v Belgium [2001] Application No. 39619/​06��������������334–​5, 362, 396, 400–​1, 405, 429, 431
Confedération Française Démocratique du Travail v The European Communities [1978]
Application No. 8030/​77����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 291, 316
Table of Cases xiii

Connolly v 15 Member States of the EU [2009] Application No. 73274/​01���������������������������� 329, 333–​4
Coopérative des agriculteurs de la mayenne et la cooperative laitière Maine-​Anjou v
France [2006] Application No. 16931/​04��������������������������������������������������������������������������� 315–​16, 318
Etahlissements Biret et CIE S.A. and Société Biret International v 15 EU Member States
[2008] Application No. 13762/​04��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 318, 334
Gajic v Germany [2007] Application No. 31446/​02������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 325
Galić v Netherlands [2009] Application No. 22617/​07��������������������������������������������������������������������������� 335
Gasparini v Italy and Belgium [2009] Application No. 10750/​03 �����������������������267, 291, 325, 328–​35,
404, 429–​31
Ilaşcu v Moldova and Russia [2004] Application No. 48787/​99���������������������������������������������������353, 357
Ilse Hess v United Kingdom (Admissibility) [1975] Application No. 6231/​73�������������������������������������360
Jones and others v The United Kingdom [2014] Application Nos. 34356/​06
and 40528/​06������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 423, 449
Kasumaj v Greece [2007] Application No. 6974/​05������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 325
Kokkelvisserij v Netherlands [2009] Application No. 13645/​05��������������������������������������������������� 318, 335
Loizidou v Turkey [1995] Application No. 15318/​89��������������������������������������������������289, 305–​6, 311, 357
M. & Co. v Germany [1990] Application No. 13258/​87, Decisions and Reports, vol. 64��������� 291, 357
M.S.S. v Belgium and Greece [2011] Application No. 30696/​09��������������������������������������������������� 267, 316
Matthews v United Kingdom [1999] Application No. 24833/​94���������������������� 60, 267, 286–​99, 310–​11,
313, 332, 334
Medvedyev v France [2010] Application No. 3394/​03 ���������������������������������������������������������������������������306
Michaud v France [2012] Application No. 12323/​11 �����������������������������������������������������������������314–​8, 331
Mothers of Srebrenica and others v The Netherlands [2013] Application No. 65542/​12����������347, 362,
374, 401, 402, 403, 404, 423, 439–​50
Nada v Switzerland [2012] Application No. 10593/​08�����������������������������193–​4, 202–​3, 221–​2, 227, 357
Povse v Austria [2013] Application No. 3890/​11���������������������������������������������������������������������������������316–​8
Prince Hans-​Adam II of Lichtenstein v Germany [2001] Application No. 42527/​98�������������������������400
Procola v Luxembourg [1993] Application No. 14570/​89 ��������������������������������������������������������������������� 315
Rambus Inc. v Germany [2009] Application No. 40382/​04 ����������������������������������������������������������������� 334
Saramati v France, Germany and Norway [2007] Application No. 78166/​01 �����������������200, 284, 306,
319–​27, 328, 334, 340, 346, 351, 354–​6, 358–​9, 441, 443
Senator Lines v Austria , Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland,
Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United
Kingdom [2004] Application No. 56672/​0 0 ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 298
Société Guerin Automobiles c. 15 Etats de l’Union Européenne [2000]
Application No. 51717/​99������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 298
Waite and Kennedy v Germany [1999] Application No. 26083/​94 ���������������������������202, 325, 362, 371,
373–​4, 392–​405, 418, 420–​5, 427, 429, 438, 441, 443–​6, 448
X v the FRG [1958] Application No. 235/56��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 291

EU ROPE A N COU RT OF J UST ICE (ECJ)


Court of Justice (formerly European Court of Justice) and General Court
(formerly Court of First Instance (CFI))
Accession to the European Convention on Human Rights, re, Opinion 2/​94 [1996]
ECR I-​1759�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������109, 241
AETR (Commission v Council) (European Road Transport Agreement), Case C-​22/​70
[1971] ECR 263 �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������19–​27
Algera, Cases C-​7/​56 and 3/​57–​7/​57 [1957–​8] ECR 39������������������������������������������������������������������ 9, 48–​55
American Airlines Association, Case C-​366/​10 [2011] ECR I-​13755���������������������������������������������������242
BASF v Commission, Case C-​137/92 [1994] ECR I-​2555����������������������������������������������������������������������� 239
Bosphorus v Minister for Transport, Case C-​84/​95 [1996] ECR I-​3953�������������������������241, 310, 316–17
Commission and others v Yassin Abdullah Kadi, Joined Cases C-​584/​10 P, C-​593/​10 P,
and C-​595/​10 P [2013] electronic Reports of Cases������������������������������������������������������������������ 200–​1
xiv Table of Cases

Connolly v Commission, Case T-​203/​95 [1999] ECR II-​4 43����������������������������������������������������������������� 333


Connolly v Commission, Case C-​273/​99 P [2001] ECR I-​1575������������������������������������������������������������� 333
Creation of a unified patent litigation system, re, Opinion 1/​09 [2011] ECR I-​1137������������������������� 317
Dior and others, Joined Cases C-​300/​98 and C-​393/​98 [2000] ECR I-​11307�������������������������������������243
Dürbeck v Hauptzollamt Frankfurt am Main-​Flughafen, Case C-​112/​80 [1981] ECR 1095 �����������236
Ebony Maritime SA and Loten Navigation Co. Ltd v Prefetto della Provincia di Brindisi
and others (Loten Navigation), Case C-​177/95 [1997] ECR I-​1111 ��������������������������������������������� 241
France v Commission, Case C-​327/91 [1994] ECR I-​3641������������������������������������������������������������ 9, 48–​55
Gencor Ltd v Commission, Case T-​102/​96 [1999] ECR II-​753��������������������������������������������������������������� 239
Germany v European Parliament and Council, Case C-​376/​98 [2000] ECR I-​841��������������������������� 109
Greece v Commission, Case C-​30/​88 [1989] ECR 3711�������������������������������������������������������������������������� 238
Haegeman, Case C-​181/73 [1974] ECR 449��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 238
Hermès, Case C-​53/​96 [1998] ECR I-​3603�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������243
ICI v Commission (Dyestuffs), Case C-​48/​69 [1972] ECR 619��������������������������������������������������������������� 239
International Fruit Company v Produktschap voor Siergewassen, Case C-​21-​24/​72
[1972] ECR 1219 ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������234, 235–​4 4
Intertanko (International Association of Independent Tanker Owners) and others v
Secretary of State for Transport, Case C-​308/​06 [2008] ECR I-​4057 ���������������������������������243, 251
Kadi (Yassin Abdullah) v Council and Commission, Case T-​315/​01 [2005]
ECR II-​3649���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 200–​1, 241
Kadi (Yassin Abdullah) and Al Barakaat International Foundation v Council and the
Commission, Joined Cases C-​402/​05 and C-​415/​05 P [2008] ECR I-​6351 ���������������������� 158, 181,
200–​1, 204–​32, 241, 324, 446–​7
Kadi (Yassin Abdullah) v Commission, Case T-​85/​09 [2010] ECR II-​5177������������������������158, 181, 194,
197, 200–​1, 204–​32
Liselotte Hauer v Land Rheinland-​Pfalz, Case C-​4 4/​79 [1979] ECR I-​3727 ������������������������������������� 241
Organisation des Modjahedines du peuple d’ Iran v Council of the European Union,
Case T-​228/​02 [2006] ECR II-​4665 �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������224
Portuguese Republic v EU Council, Case C-​268/​94 [1996] ECR I-​6207 ��������������������������������������������� 241
Poulsen v Anklagemyndigheden, Case C-​286/​90 [1992] ECR I-​6019������������������������������������������� 238–​40
Racke v Hauptzollamt Mainz, Case C-​162/​96 [1998] ECR I-​503������������������������������������������238–​40, 242
Schieving-​Nystad v Groeneveld, Case C-​89/​99 [2001] ECR I-​5851 �����������������������������������������������������243
Sevince, Case C-​192/​89 [1990] ECR I-​3461��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 238
TNT v AXA Versicherungen, Case C-​533/​08 [2010] ECR I-​4107���������������������������������������������������������243
Understanding on a Local Cost Standard, re, Opinion 1/​75 [1975] ECR 1355�������������������������� 238, 240
Van Gend & Loos, Case C-​26/​62 [1963] ECR 1������������������������������������������������������������������ 19, 26, 179, 204
WTO Agreement, re, Opinion 1/​94 [1994] ECR I-​5267������������������������������������������������������������������������� 109

I N T ER NAT IONA L CR I M I NA L T R I BU NA L FOR


T H E FOR M ER Y UG OSL AV I A (IC T Y)
Prosecutor v Blaskić, Case No. IT-​95-​14-​AR108bis, Judgment on the Request of the
Republic of Croatia for Review of the Decision of Trial Chamber II of 18 July 1997,
Appeals Chamber, 29 October 1997 �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������256–​7, 261
Prosecutor v Dokmanović, Case No. IT-​95-​13a-​PT, Decision on the Motion for Release by
the Accused Slavko Dokmanović, Trial Chamber, 22 October 1997����������������������������������������� 261
Prosecutor v Dragan Nikolić, Case No. IT-​94-​2-​AR72, Decision on Defence Motion
Challenging the Exercise of Jurisdiction by the Tribunal, Trial Chamber,
9 October 2002 ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 261
Prosecutor v Krstić, Case No. IT-​98-​33, Judgment, Appeals Chamber, 19 April 2004��������������������� 439
Prosecutor v Nicolić, Case No. IT-​94-​2-​AR73, Decision on Interlocutory Appeal
Concerning Legality of Arrest, Appeals Chamber, 5 June 2003������������������������������������������������� 261
Table of Cases xv

Prosecutor v Simić et al, Case No. IT-​95-​9-​PT, Decision on the Motion for a Judicial
Assistance to be Provided by SFOR and Others, Trial Chamber,
18 October 2000 ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 234, 255–​6 4
Prosecutor v Simić et al., Case No. IT-​95-​9, Order, Judge Jorda, 5 February 1996���������������������������260
Prosecutor v Tadić, Case No. IT-​94-​1-​T, Decision on the Defence Motion on the
Jurisdiction of the Tribunal, Case No. IT-​94-​1-​T, 10 August 1995�������������������������������������128, 136
Prosecutor v Tadić, Case No. IT-​94-​1-​AR72, Decision on the Defence Motion for
Interlocutory Appeal on Jurisdiction, Appeals Chamber, 2 October 1995������������������������ 127–​37
Prosecutor v Todorović, Case No. IT-​95-​9/​1-​S, Sentencing Judgment, Trial Chamber,
31 July 2001 �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������264

I N T ER NAT IONA L CR I M I NA L T R I BU NA L FOR RWA N DA (IC T R)


Prosecutor v Barayagwiza, Case No. ICTR-​97-​19-​AR72, Decision, Appeals Chamber,
3 November 1999 �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������264
Prosecutor v Kanyabashi, Case No. ICTR-​96-​15-​T, Decision on the Defence Motion on
Jurisdiction, Trial Chamber, 18 June 1997������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 134

WOR L D BA N K A DM I N IST R AT I V E T R I BU NA L
De Merode v World Bank, WBAT No. 1, Judgment of 5 June 1981������������������������������������������������������� 54

W TO A PPEL L AT E BODY A N D W TO PA N EL
EEC-​Restrictions on Imports of Apples from Chile—​Report of the Panel adopted
10 November 1980 (L/5047-​BISD 27S/98)���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������236

A R BI T R A L AWA R DS
S.P.P. (Middle East) Ltd and Southern Pacific Properties Ltd v The Arab Republic of Egypt
and the Egyptian General Organization for Tourism and Hotels [1983] 22 ILM 752��������������� 283
Westland Helicopters Ltd v Arab Organization for Industrialization, United Arab
Emirates, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, State of Qatar, Arab Republic of Egypt, and
Arab British Helicopter Company, Arbitration, 5 March 1984, 80 ILR 600 268����������������32, 266,
268–​76, 278, 281, 284–​5

NAT IONA L COU RTS


Austria
Firma Baumeister Ing. Richard L. v O, Austrian Supreme Court, 14 December 2004,
ILDC 362 (AT 2004)���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������438
N. K. v Austria (1979) 77 ILR 470�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������360
OPEC-​Fonds Case, Austrian Supreme Court, 10 Ob 53/​04y, Judgment of 14 December 2004 ������� 44

Belgium
Centre pour le développement industriel v X, Civil Tribunal Brussels, Judgment of 13
March 1992 [1992] Actulité du droit 1377 ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 44
General Secretariat of the ACP Group v Lutchmaya, Belgian Court of Cassation, Cass.
Nr. C.03.0328.F, ILDC 1573 (BE 2009)�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������373, 426
League of Arab States v T., Belgian Court of Cassation, 127 ILR (2005) 94,
12 March 2001��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������361, 406–​11, 426
xvi Table of Cases

Manderlier v Organisation des Nations Unies et l’État Belge (Ministre des Affaires
Etrangères), Court of Appeal of Brussels, 15 September 1969 (1969) 69 ILR 139��������������������� 373
Manderlier v Organisation des Nations Unies and Etat Belge (Ministre des Affaires
Etrangères), Tribunal Civil de Bruxelles, 11 May 1966, Journal des Tribunaux,
10 December 1966, No. 4553��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 44, 362, 364–​74
Mukeshimana-​Nguilinzira and ors. v Belgium and ors., Brussels Court of First Instance,
ILDC 1604 (BE 2010), 8 December 2010������������������������������������������������������������������������� 266, 336–​41
SA Energies Nouvelles et Environnement v European Space Agency, Brussels Court of
Appeals, 23 March 2011, Appeal Judgment, No. 2011/​2013, 2006/​AR/​1480, ILDC
1729 (BE 2011)�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 428–​9
Siedler v Western European Union, Brussels Labour Court of Appeals, 17 September
2003, Journal des Tribunaux, 2004 �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������425, 427
Western European Union v Siedler, Belgian Court of Cassation, 21 December 2009,
Appeal Judgment, Cass. No. S 04 0129 F, ILDC 1625 (BE 2009)������������������������� 362, 373, 424–​31

Canada
Abdelrazik v Canada (Foreign Affairs), 2009 FC 580; ILDC 1332 (CA 2009)�����������������������������������222
Rapports de Pratique du Québec, Superior Court Montreal, 2 December 1952 (1954)
158–​60; (1954) 48 AJIL 668; (1958 II) 26 ILR 622������������������������������������������������������������������������� 370

Cyprus
Stavrinou v United Nations and Commander of the United Nations Force in Cyprus,
Supreme Court of Cyprus, ILDC 929 (CY 1992)���������������������������������������������������������������������������430

France
CEDAO v BCCI, 13 January 1993, Court of Appeals of Paris, 120 JDI 353 (1993) ��������������������������� 410
La Banque Africaine de Développement v Mr X, 04-​41012, Court of Cassation,
25 January 2005, ILDC 778���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������446

Germany
European Arrest Warrant, BVerfGE, 2 BvR 2236/​04, Judgment of 18 July 2005 ����������������������������� 179
Eurocontrol II, German Federal Constitutional Court, 2 BvR 1107, 1124/77 and 195/79,
Decision of 10 November 1981, BVerfGE 59, 63 ��������������������������������������������������������������������������� 397
Honeywell, BVerfGE 12b, 286������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 180
Kunduz, 26 K 5534/10, ILDC 1858 (DE 2012), 9 February 2012���������������������������������������������������������360
Lisbon Judgment, BVerfGE 30 June 2009–​2 BvE 2/​08 et al. �������������������������������������������������������������������180
Solange I, BverfGE 37, 291, 29 May 1974 �������������������������������������������������������������������������170–​82, 202, 228
Solange II, BverfGE 73, 339, 22 October 1986�����������������������������������������������������������������170–​82, 202, 228
Solange III, BverfGE 89, 155, 12 October 1993���������������������������������������������������������������170–​82, 228, 446
Solange IV, BverfGE 102, 147, 7 June 2000 170������������������������������������������������������������������������170–​82, 180
W. and K. v European Space Agency, German Federal Labour Court, 7 AZR 600/92,
Judgment of 10 November 1993������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 397

Italy
Branno v Ministry of War, Italian Court of Cassation, decision of 14 June 1954
[1955] 22 ILR 756����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 43
Drago v IPGRI, Italian Court of Cassation, 19 February 2007, No. 3718, ILDC 827 (IT 2007) ���������428
Fragd, Cort. Cost 232/​1989 ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 181
Frontini, Cort. Cost. 183/​1973������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 181
Granital, Cort. Cost. 170/​1984������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 181

Japan
Shigeko Ui v United Nations University, Tokyo District Court, Judgment of
21 September 1976 ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 44
Table of Cases xvii

New Zealand
Mareva Compania Naviera SA v International Bulkcarriers SA (1975) Court of Appeal,
Civil Division����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 39

South Africa
State v Ebrahim, South African Supreme Court (Appellate Division), Opinion,
16 February 1991, Int. Leg. Mat., Vol. 31, n. 4, July 1992������������������������������������������������������������� 261

Switzerland
A.SA et consorts v Conseil Fédéral, Swiss Federal Supreme Court, 4A.1/2004/​ech,
Judgment of 2 July 2004, ATF 130 I 312, ILDC 344 (CH 2004) ������������������������������������������������� 401
Arab Organization for Industrialization and others v Westland Helicopters Ltd, Court of
Justice of Geneva, 23 October 1987, 80 ILR 622����������������������������������������������������������������������������� 278
Arab Organization for Industrialization and others v Westland Helicopters Ltd, Swiss
Federal Supreme Court (First Civil Court), 19 July 1988, 80 ILR 652������������������������32, 273, 275,
277–​85, 294, 401
Consortium X v Switzerland, Federal Supreme Court, BGE 130 I 312, 2 July 2004,
ILDC 344 ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 438, 446
In re Poncet, Swiss Federal Tribunal, Judgment of 12 January 1984 [1948] 15 ILR 346�������������������� 45
Libya (The Arab Republic of) v Wetco Ltd (published in part in SJ 1980)������������������������������������������� 282
NML Capital Ltd et al. v. BIS and Debt Enforcement Office Basel-​Stadt, 5A_​360/201,
Swiss Federal Supreme Court, Judgment of 12 July 2010, ATF 136 III 379, ILDC
1547 (CH 2010) �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������401–​2
Republique italienne, Ministère italien des transports et Chemins de fer de l’Etât italian v
Beta Holding et Autorité de sequester de Bâle Ville, Swiss Federal Court, 1966������������������������� 43
Youssef Nada v State Secretariat for Economic Affairs and Federal Department of
Economic Affairs, Administrative Appeal Judgment, Case No. 1A 45/2007,
Switzerland, Federal Tribunal, 14 November 2007, 133 BGE II 450; ILDC 461
(CH2007)����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������193–​203, 222

The Netherlands
Bertrand v European Patent Organization, Dutch Court of Appeals of The Hague,
28 September 2007, No. BB5865, 06/​1390���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������430
HN v Netherlands (Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Foreign Affairs), First instance
Judgment, LJN: BF0181/​265615; ILDC 1092 (NL 2008), 10 September 2008���������������������������340
Mothers of Srebrenica v The Netherlands & the UN (Incidental Proceedings), The Hague
District Court, 295247/​HA ZA 07-​2973, 10 July 2008 ����������������������������������������������������373–​4, 447
Mothers of Srebrenica v The Netherlands and United Nations, Case No. 200.022.151/01,
Hague Court of Appeals, Judgment of 30 March 2010, LJN: BL8979 ������������������267, 373–​4, 402
Mothers of Srebrenica v The Netherlands & the UN, LJN: BW1999, Dutch Supreme
Court, 13 April 2012������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 347, 439–​50, 362, 373, 440–​2
Mothers of Srebrenica v Netherlands, Judgment, The Hague District Court, 16 July 2014,
ECLI:NL:RBDHA:2014:8748������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 345, 347–​9
Mustafić v Netherlands, Supreme Court of the Netherlands, 6 September 2013, ECLI
NL:HR:2013:BZ9228 �������������������������������������������������������������������� 60, 265–​6, 284, 340, 342–​50, 444
Nuhanović v Netherlands, Supreme Court of the Netherlands, 6 September 2013, ECLI
NL:HR:2013:BZ9225�������������������������������������������������60, 260, 266, 284, 336, 340, 342–​50, 360, 444
Spaans v Iran-​United States Claims Tribunal, Final Appeal Judgment, Case No. 12627,
Decision No LJN: AC9158, NJ 1986, 438 (1987) 18 NYIL 357, ILDC 1759 (NL 1985),
20 December 1985, Supreme Court [HR]���������������������������������������������������������������������� 406, 409, 411
UNRRA v Daan, Cantonal Court Amersfoort, 16 June 1948�������������������������������������������������������������� 369
UNRRA v Daan, District Court Utrecht, 23 February 1949��������������������������������������������������������������� 369
UNRRA v Daan, District Court Utrecht, Judgment of 16 June 1948 [1949] 16 ILR 337�������������� 43–​4
xviii Table of Cases

UNRRA v Daan, Supreme Court (Hoge Raad) of the Netherlands, 19 May 1950��������������������������� 369
Vakbondsunie van het Europees Octrooibureau (‘VEOB, The Hague Department) &
SUEPO (Staff Union of the European Patent Office) v European Patent Organization,
Court of Appeal in The Hague, Case No. 200.020.173/​01, 17 February 2015��������������������������� 431

Turkey
Kadi v Prime Ministry and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, ILDC 311 (TR 2007)�����������������204

United Kingdom
Arab Monetary Fund (No. 3), High Court, Judgment 14 November 1989 [1990]
3 WLR 139�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������39, 45–​7
Arab Monetary Fund v Hashim and others, 21 February 1991,
UKHL 85 ILR 1�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 9, 38–​47
Attorney-​General v Nissan [1970] AC 179����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 358
Entico v UNESCO [2008] EWHC 531 (Comm), UK High Court of Justice, Judgment of
18 March 2008��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������362, 402, 418–​23
Hay v Her Majesty’s Treasury and Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth
Affairs [2009] EWHC 1677 (Admin); ILDC 1367 (UK 2009)�����������������������������������������������������222
Her Majesty’s Treasury (Respondent) v Mohammed Jabar Ahmed and Others (FC)
(Appellants) [2010] UKSC 2����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������200, 222, 228
Holland v Lampen-​Wolfe [2000] 1 WLR 157���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 420, 423
International Tin Council, re, Court of Appeal, Judgment of 27 April 1988
[1989] 80 ILR 181–​90 ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 38
International Tin Council, re, High Court, Chancery Division, Judgment of 22 January
1987 [1988] 77 ILR 18–​41������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 38, 44, 266
JH Rayner (Mincing Lane) Ltd v Department of Trade and Industry [1989] 3 WLR 969
(CA) [1990] 2 AC 418 (HL) [1989] 3 All ER 523 [1990] BCLC 102���������������������������������������28, 266
Maclaine Watson & Co. Ltd v International Tin Council, 26 October 1989,
UKHL 81 ILR 670����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 28–​37, 266, 283–​4
Miliangos v George Frank (Textiles) Ltd, House of Lords, Judgment of 1 January 1975
[1976] AC 443 [1975] 1 WLR 758������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 47
R. (Al-Jedda) v Secretary of State for Defence [2007] UKHL 58 (House of Lords) ��������������������������� 353
R. (Al-Jedda) v Secretary of State for Defence [2005] EWHC 1809
(Administrative Court)��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 352
R. (Al-Jedda) v Secretary of State for Defence [2006] EWCA Civ 327 (Court of Appeal)����������������� 352
Regina v Horseferry Road Magistrates’ Court, Ex parte Bennett, House of Lords,
25 June 1993 [1994] 1 AC 42������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 261
Serdar Mohammed v Ministry of Defence [2014] EWHC 1369 (QB)��������������������������������������������������� 359
Westland Helicopters Ltd v. Arab Organization for Industrialization, English High
Court, Queen’s Bench Division, 3 August 1994, 108 ILR 564���������������������������������������47, 273, 285

US Supreme Court Cases


Alfred Dunhill of London v Republic of Cuba, 425 US 682 (1976)�������������������������������������������������������380
International Tin Council v Amalgamet Inc., Supreme Court New York City, Judgment of
25 January 1988, 524 NYS 2d 971 (NY Supp. Ct) ������������������������������������������������������������������� 45, 417
Marbury v Madison, 5 US 137 (1803)������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 123
Price v Unisea, Inc., 289 P.3d 914, 920 (Alaska 2012)�����������������������������������������������������������������������������438
Republic of Mexico v Hoffman, 324 US 30 (1945)����������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 437
Saudi Arabia v Nelson, 507 US 349 (1993)���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������376, 380
The Schooner Exchange v McFaddon, 7 Cranch 116 (1812)�������������������������������������������������������������������438
United States v Alvarez Machain (1992) 504 US 655��������������������������������������������������������������������� 157, 261
Table of Cases xix

US Federal Appeals Court Cases


Atkinson v Inter-​American Development Bank and Kestell, Appeal Judgment, 156 F. 3d
1335 (D.C. Cir. 1998), No. 97-​7181 [1998] USCADC 237, 332 U.S.Application
D.C. 307, ILDC 1766 (US 1998), 9 October 1998, Court of Appeals (D.C. Cir.)
[D.C. Cir.], Section III ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 382, 434–​6, 438
Broadbent v Organization of American States, 628 F.2d 27, 32–​33
(D.C. Cir. 1980)�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������377, 380, 436
Brzak v United Nations, 2 March 2010, 597 F.3d 107������������������������������������������������������������ 379, 382, 438
OSS Nokalva, Inc. v European Space Agency, United States Third Circuit decision,
617 F.3d 756 (3d Cir. 2010)����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������362, 432–​8
Prewitt Enterprises, Inc. v Org. of Petroleum Exporting Countries, 353 F.3d 916
(11th Cir. 2003) �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������363, 412–​7
Toscanino, 500 F.2d 267 (2d Cir. 1974)�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������263
Vila v Inter-American Investment Corp., 570 F.3d 274 (D.C. Cir. 2009)���������������������������������������������436

US Federal District Court Cases


Abdi Hosh Askir v Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Joseph E. Connor et al., US District Court
SDNY, 29 July 1996, 933 F. Suppl. 368 (SDNY 1996) ��������������������������������������������������� 362, 375–​84
Balfour, Gutherie & Co. et al. v United States et al., US District Court N. D.
California, Judgment of 5 May 1950 [1950] 17 ILR 323����������������������������������������������������������������� 44
De Luca v United Nations Organization, Perez de Cuellar, Gomez, Duque, Annan et al.,
US District Court SDNY, 10 January 1994, 841 F. Supp. 531 (1994) ������������������������ 377–​8, 381–​3
Delama Georges v United Nations, US District Court, Southern District of New York,
9 January 2015, 13-CV-7146 (JPO)������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������379, 382
Dupree Associates Inc v US, US District Court DC, 31 May 1977, 22 June 1977 (1982)
63 ILR 95����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 381
Freedom Watch, Inc. v Org. of Petroleum Exporting Countries, 288 F.R.D. 230
(D.D.C. 2013)��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 417
Garcia v Sebelius, 867 F. Supp. 2d 125, 141 (D.D.C. 2012)���������������������������������������������������������������������438
In Re Jawad Mahmoud Hashim et al., United States Bankruptcy Court, District of
Arizona, Judgment of 15 August 1995 [1997] 107 ILR 405 �����������������������������������������������38, 45, 47
International Association of Machinists v OPEC, District Court of California, Judgment
of 18 September 1979, 477 F. Supp. 553 (C.D. Cal. 1979)��������������������������������������������������������������� 44
John Kamya v the United Nations, Statement of interest of the United States of America,
US District Court, Civil No. 1:02CV01176(TFH)������������������������������������������������������������������������� 382
Lempert v Rice, 956 F. Supp. 2d 17, 25 (D.D.C. 2013)�����������������������������������������������������������������������������438
Margo Rendall-Speranza v Edward A. Nassim and the International Finance Corp
US District Court DC, 18 March 1996, 3 July 1996 ��������������������������������������������������������������������� 381
Marvin R. Broadbent et al. v OAS et al., US Court of Appeals DC Cir., 8 January 1980�����������������380
Marvin R. Broadbent et al. v OAS et al., US District Court DC, 25 January 1978,
28 March 1978�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������380
Mendaro v World Bank, US Court of Appeals, 27 September 1983, DC Cir., 717 F.2d 610
(D.C. Cir. 1983)������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 372, 434, 436
Morgan v IBRD, US District Court DC, 17 November 1980, US Court of Appeals DC
Cir., 13 November 1981�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������380–​1
Tuck v Pan American Health Organization, US District Court DC, 13 September 1990,
752 F. Supp. 492 at 494 (DDC 1990)������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 377–​8, 380
Weidner v International Telecommunications Satellite Organization, DC Court of
Appeals, 21 September 1978�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������380
List of Contributors

Christiane Ahlborn is a researcher at the Amsterdam Centre for International Law,


University of Amsterdam.
Ana Sofia Barros is a Ph.D. candidate at the Leuven Centre for Global Governance
Studies, University of Leuven.
Laurence Boisson de Chazournes is Professor of International Law and International
Organization at the University of Geneva.
Kristen Boon is Professor of Law and Director of International Programs at Seton
Hall University.
Catherine Brölmann is Associate Professor of Law at the University of Amsterdam.
Gian Luca Burci is Legal Counsel at the World Health Organization.
Agnes Chong is a Ph.D. candidate at Stanford Law School.
Lydia Davies-​Bright is a researcher at the University of Nottingham.
Ige Dekker is Head of the Utrecht University School of Law and Vice-​Dean of the
Faculty of Law, Economics, and Governance at Utrecht University.
James D. Fry is Associate Professor of Law and Director of the LLM Programme at the
University of Hong Kong.
Andrzej Gadkowski Ph.D. in international law, researcher at the Public International
Law and International Organization Department of the Faculty of Law at the
University of Geneva.
Peter Hilpold is Professor of Law at the University of Innsbruck.
Kenneth Keith is professor emeritus, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
Jan Klabbers is Martti Ahtisaari Academy Professor at the University of Helsinki.
Pieter-​Jan Kuijper is Professor of the Law of International (Economic) Organizations
at the University of Amsterdam.
Tobias Lock is a Lecturer in EU Law at the University of Edinburgh.
Brianne McGonigle Leyh is Associate Professor of Law at Utrecht University.
Aleksandar Momirov is Senior Policy Advisor on the Rule of Law at the Embassy of
the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Belgrade, Serbia.
Blanca Montejo is a Political Affairs Officer at the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs.
Thore Neumann, University of Basel.
Jed Odermatt is a Ph.D. candidate at the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies
at the University of Leuven.
xxii List of Contributors

Paolo Palchetti is Professor of International Law at the University of Macerata.


Anne Peters is Professor of Public International Law and Constitutional Law at the
University of Basel.
Jakob Quirin is an Associate Legal Officer at the World Health Organization Office
of the Legal Counsel.
Tom Ruys is Professor of Public International Law at Ghent University.
Cedric Ryngaert is Professor of Public International Law at Utrecht University.
Aurel Sari is Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Exeter.
Kirsten Schmalenbach is Professor of Public International Law and European Union
Law at the University of Salzburg.
Pierre Schmitt is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Leuven Centre for Global Governance
Studies, University of Leuven.
Tulio Scovazzi is Professor of International Law at the University of Milano-​Bicocca.
Otto Spijkers is Assistant Professor of Public International Law at Utrecht University.
Antonios Tzanakopoulos is Associate Professor of Public International Law and
Fellow in Law at St. Anne’s College, University of Oxford.
Harmen Van der Wilt is Professor of International Criminal Law at the University of
Amsterdam.
Santiago Villalpando is Legal Officer in the Codification Division of the Office of
Legal Affairs of the United Nations in New York and Adjunct Professor at New York
University.
Ramses Wessel is Professor of International and European Law and Governance at
the University of Twente.
Nigel D. White is Professor of Public International Law at the University of
Nottingham.
Chanaka Wickremasinghe is Legal Counsellor at the Foreign Commonwealth Office.
Jan Wouters is Director of the Leuven Centre for Global Governance and the Institute
for International Law, Professor of International Law and the Law of International
Organizations at the University of Leuven.
General Introduction
Cedric Ryngaert, Ige F Dekker, Ramses A Wessel, and Jan Wouters

Concomitant with the rising relevance of international organizations in international


affairs, and the general turn to litigation to settle disputes, international institutional law
issues have increasingly become the subject of litigation, before both international and
domestic courts.
While there are a number of textbooks introducing the law of international organ­
izations, the judicial treatment of this sub-​field of international law has not been given
the attention due to it. This book aims to fill that gap. Specifically, it contains excerpts
of the most prominent international and domestic judicial decisions that are relevant
to the law of international organizations, as well as—​most importantly—​comments
thereto. The book does not seek to replace relevant textbooks; rather, it complements
them by providing in-​depth analysis of judicial decisions, which often receive only
cursory, non-​systematic treatment in textbooks.
Methodologically speaking, the book contains case-​notes regarding about fifty
judicial decisions of international and domestic courts. Each case-​note consists of five
sections, discussing (1) the relevance of the case, (2) the facts, and (3) the legal ques­
tion; giving (4) a relevant excerpt of the judicial decision; and (5) commenting on the
decision. The commentaries are written by leading experts in the field, both schol­
ars and practitioners. They are opinionated and critically engage with the decision in
question, with commentators’ and stakeholders’ reactions thereto, and with later deci­
sions, codifications, or reports. The commentaries have been reviewed by the editors.
While the cases typically address different topics rendering any categorization
somewhat arbitrary, the book is divided into seven parts, which correspond to clas­
sic categories of international institutional law: (1) legal status (personality), (2) legal
powers, (3) institutional structures and position of members, (4) legal acts, (5) obliga­
tions, (6) responsibility and accountability, and (7) immunity. Per part, the editors
have written an introductory section that presents and contextualizes the legal issues.
This allows for a better and more coherent understanding of the bundle of case-​notes
per part.
Judicial decisions from a variety of courts have been selected: the International
Court of Justice and its predecessor, the Permanent Court of International Justice,
the Court of Justice of the European Union, the international criminal tribunals, and
assorted domestic courts. Although the need to ensure a sufficient degree of diversity
of courts and tribunals was taken into account, the selection of cases is ultimately
mainly based on the innovative character of the judicial decisions for the law of inter­
national organizations in general, regardless of the specific organizational context
2 General Introduction

which formed the factual background for the decision. Every decision is included
for the significance of its contribution to the development of the law of international
organizations, and thus for marking, to a greater or lesser extent, an advancement
in international institutional law thinking. The editors have decided not to include
international staff cases before assorted international tribunals, as such cases concern
rather specific issues of international labour and administrative law rather than inter­
national institutional law.1
Despite the important role which courts play in advancing international institu­
tional law, the editors consider it appropriate to add a caveat: one has to admit that
this legal area has predominantly been developed ‘out of court’, and more particularly
on the basis of institutional and state practice2 and advisory practice of legal counsel
of international organizations.3 But even then, courts may play a role as an arbiter of
the legality of certain developments and interpretations, and as a provider of legal cer­
tainty. For instance, art. 27(3) of the UN Charter—​the provision dealing with the UN
Security Council’s decision-​making procedure—​has been interpreted by the members
of the UN Security Council itself as not requiring affirmative votes by the permanent
members for a resolution in non-​procedural matters to be adopted; voluntary absten­
tions would suffice. This institutional practice was later confirmed by the International
Court of Justice,4 thereby dispelling any lingering doubts as to its lawfulness.
However this may be, there is no denying that the body of judicial rulings with
respect to the law of international organizations is eventually rather limited. This is
a consequence of the incomplete character of international law, which lacks a com­
pulsory mechanism to settle disputes between international actors. In international
institutional law, this incompleteness is brought into even starker relief, as at the inter­
national level international organizations do not—​as a general rule—​have access to
dispute settlement mechanisms, nor are there venues where affected actors can sue
organizations. In contentious cases, the International Court of Justice only has juris­
diction over inter-​state disputes, whereas the jurisdiction of the European Court of
Human Rights extends only to—​again—​inter-​state disputes, and applications brought

1 See for further reading: O. Elias (ed.), The Development and Effectiveness of International
Administrative Law (Brill 2012); F.C. Amerasinghe, ‘International Administrative Tribunals’, in
C.P.R. Romano, K.J. Alter, and Y. Shany (eds), The Oxford Handbook of International Adjudication
(Oxford, Oxford University Press 2014), pp. 316–​38; O. Elias and M. Thomas, ‘Administrative
Tribunals of International Organizations’, in C. Giorgetti, The Rules, Practice, and Jurisprudence of
International Courts and Tribunals (Brill 2012), pp. 159–​9 0.
2 See in respect of the United Nations, the travaux préparatoires of the San Francisco Conference
establishing the United Nations, UNCIO Vol. 13, at 831 et seq. (‘in the course of the operations from day
to day of the various organs of the Organization, it is inevitable that each organ will interpret such parts
of the Charter as are applicable to its particular functions’).
3 See inter alia H.C.L. Merillat (ed.), Legal Advisers and International Organizations (Oceana
Publications 1966); United Nations Office of Legal Affairs (ed.), Collection of Essays by Legal Advisers of
States, Legal Advisers of International Organizations and Practitioners in the Field of International Law
(United Nations Publications 1999); J. Wouters and J. Odermatt (eds), Legal Advisers in International
Organizations (Elgar Publishers, forthcoming); R. Zacklin, ‘The Role of the International Lawyer in
an International Organization’, in C. Wickremasinghe (ed.), The International Lawyer as Practitioner
(British Inst of Intl & Comparative 2000), pp. 57–​68.
4 ICJ, Legal Consequences for States of the Continued Presence of South Africa in Namibia (South West
Africa) notwithstanding Security Council Resolution 276 (1970), Advisory Opinion, [1971] ICJ Rep 16, 22.
General Introduction 3

by individuals against states. At the level of domestic courts, international organ­


izations are often shielded by immunities from jurisdiction and enforcement; these
obstacles may render domestic litigation a non-​starter for injured parties.
In spite of these—​often inherent—​procedural limitations, issues of international
institutional law have come up before courts, both domestic and international.
Notably, the International Court of Justice, while not having jurisdiction over organ­
izations in contentious matters, has the competence to ‘give an advisory opinion on
any legal question at the request of whatever body may be authorized by or in accord­
ance with the Charter of the United Nations to make such a request’.5 Many, if not
most advisory opinions pertain to legal issues of internal institutional organization of
the UN (system), or the relations between an organization belonging to the UN sys­
tem and its member states. Some of these decisions have been extremely important
to ensure the proper functioning of the UN, for example, the 1962 advisory opinion
in Certain Expenses, which declared that UN peacekeeping operations are lawful and
that their costs are part of the regular expenses of the organization, and to be borne
by all the member states.6 Other decisions have set the terms of the debate in gen­
eral international law: thus, for instance, the International Court of Justice’s landmark
ruling on the international legal personality of the UN in its 1949 advisory opinion
Reparation for Injuries has had a profound impact on debates regarding the legal sta­
tus of international organizations, and even of non-​state actors in general, where it
held that ‘[t]‌he subjects of law in any legal system are not necessarily identical in their
nature or in the extent of their rights, and their nature depends upon the needs of the
community’7 and further developed the doctrine of implied powers.
Judicial decisions on issues of international institutional law may also emanate
from international organizations which have a constitutional structure that allows
an independent judicial body to review acts of other organs of the organization. The
UN and its specialized agencies do not have such a structure, but the European Union
(EU) does. Its Court of Justice (CJEU) has developed an intricate body of case-​law, in
particular on the division of competences between the organization and its member
states, and between different institutions of the organization. Insofar as these CJEU
cases have seminal importance for general institutional law, they have been included
in this book.
Relevant judicial decisions have also been rendered by international dispute settle­
ment mechanisms in inter-​state disputes, to the extent that such disputes concern the
relationship between a state and an organization of which it is a member. The court
will then be called upon to pronounce itself on whether the claim really concerns an
act attributable to a state, or rather to an international organization on which this state

5 United Nations, Statute of the International Court of Justice, 18 April 1946, art. 65(1).
6 ICJ, Certain Expenses of the United Nations (Article 17, paragraph 2, of the Charter), Advisory
Opinion, [1962] ICJ Rep 151. Not all ICJ opinions have been followed, however. See for an early assessment:
K.L. Penegar, ‘Relationship of Advisory Opinions of the International Court of Justice to the Maintenance
of World Minimum Order’, (1965) 113 University of Pennsylvania Law Review 529 (discussing,
inter alia, the Admissions Cases).
7 ICJ, Reparation for Injuries Suffered in the Service of the United Nations, Advisory Opinion, [1949]
ICJ Rep 174, 178.
4 General Introduction

has conferred competences—​in which case it will have to decline jurisdiction. A num­
ber of such cases, often pertaining to responsibility questions, have been decided by
the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights.
Finally, regardless of the immunities which international organizations may be said
to enjoy before domestic courts, there is a substantial amount of domestic case-​law
relevant to the law of international organizations. Plaintiffs and accountability advo­
cates have continued to exert pressure on domestic courts to decline the immunity
of international organizations on the ground that such immunity is not functionally
necessary for the organization, or violates the plaintiffs’ right of access to a remedy.
These pressures have obviously generated their own case-​law, which, given the variety
of courts involved, shoots in various directions. A body of domestic case-​law has also
been generated as a result of plaintiffs targeting state action taken in an international
institutional context, for example, member state implementation of international sanc­
tions, or wrongful action committed by national troop contingents in the context of
UN peacekeeping or peace-​enforcement operations. To determine whether domestic
courts have jurisdiction over such cases, just like the international courts mentioned
earlier, these courts have to ascertain whether the impugned acts are attributable to
a state or rather an international organization. In so doing, they touch on issues of
institutional or operational division of competences between states and organizations.
Ultimately, many of the judicial decisions discussed in this book pertain to the
scope and limitations of the powers of international organizations. The legal status of
an organization may be considered to be a function of the powers it actually exercises,
its institutional structure, and the allocation of powers to and between various organs.
International organizations, as is well-​k nown, can only perform legal acts that fall
within their powers; they have international obligations that dovetail with the powers
conferred on them, they are responsible for action committed in the exercise of their
competences, and they enjoy immunities insofar as these are necessary for the per­
formance of their functions as they flow from the powers given to them. The central­
ity of the concept of ‘powers’ is by no means coincidental. This concept reflects in an
outspoken way the fundamental different visions of the legal nature of international
organizations: as state-​driven entities established on the basis of a conferral of pow­
ers by member states, or as relatively autonomous entities with inherent competences
to realize their purposes and functions. And not unimportantly, these different prin­
ciples at the same time functionally determine all actions of organizations, includ­
ing their limits. Small wonder then that legal disputes often pertain to the question
whether the powers that organizations actually exercise are in keeping with the prin­
ciple of conferral, or whether impugned conduct was carried out within the scope of
an organization’s powers.
Courts have not shirked from ruling on these matters, sometimes affecting the bal­
ance of powers between states and organizations, or between organs of organizations.
States and organizations may not always welcome such judicial decisions, as they may
be viewed as meddling in international and national affairs. But for an international
system to be based on the rule of law, an independent and impartial judicial control
over organizational decisions is called for. This applies with particular force where
General Introduction 5

international organizations and states pass the responsibility buck, and leave third
parties clamouring for accountability in the cold.
This book is aimed at students of the law of international organizations in the broad
sense, not only university and college students, but also legal practitioners—​offices of
legal counsel of the organizations, litigators, judges, diplomats, and national and inter­
national civil servants—​as well as academic researchers. It is hoped that the commen­
taries prove insightful to all of them, and contribute to the solution of extant questions
of international institutional law. The editors would like to extend their thanks to all
contributors, as well as to Ana Sofia Barros for her invaluable editorial assistance.
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“I think so,” Sylvia answered, smiling quietly and mysteriously.
Gay took her chair. “I always thought so!” she said, bravely. “Has it
been settled—long?”
“It isn’t settled now!” Sylvia responded, in a little tone of merry
warning and alarm. “But I have promised”—and her smile was that of
the consciously beloved and courted woman—“I have promised to
think about it!”
When David came down with the suitcases a few minutes later
Sylvia was alone. Gay did not come in until just before dinner, and
then she seemed quiet and grave. David suspected that Sylvia’s
departure and the ending of the happy holidays were depressing her,
but two or three times, catching her serious glance fixed upon
himself during the evening, he was puzzled by something more
serious than this, something almost reproachful, almost accusing.
However, he forgot it in the confusion of the early start the next
morning, and when he returned to Wastewater late that evening,
Gay seemed quite herself. David stayed on comfortably from day to
day, and the three settled to a pleasant, if monotonous and quiet,
life.
Gay worked busily at her music and with her books all morning and
now and then had the additional interest of a postcard from one of
the Montallens, or one of Frank du Spain’s singularly undeveloped
and youthful letters to answer. David was painting a study of the old
sheds and fences on the western side of the house, buried in a
heavy snow, with snow-laden trees bowed about them, and as a
fresh blizzard came along early in the year, and the first study was
extremely successful, he delayed to make a second.
In the cold afternoons he and Gay usually went for long walks,
talking hard all the way, and David found it as often astonishingly
stimulating to get her views of men and affairs and books as it was
pleasant to guide her or influence her. Sometimes, bundled to the
ears, she would rush out to the old cow yard to stand behind him as
he painted, and what she said of his work, he thought, was always
worth hearing. He was to have an exhibition in New York for a week
in the early spring, and it was at Gay’s suggestion that he did some
small water colours for it.
“There!” she said. “Now those things that you call ‘notes’—those are
perfectly delightful! And many a person who couldn’t—or wouldn’t—
spend several hundred dollars for a picture would love one of those.”
“Lots of fellows either throw them out as rubbish or give them away,”
David protested.
“Yes, but yours are so lovely, David! I can’t think that most men
would make such nice ones. This little one—I’ll tell you what it’s like,”
said Gay, with a brightening face, “It’s like a little Diziani in the
Louvre!”
These little touches of familiarity with the field so infinitely interesting
to him were delightful to David. He would spend whole winter
afternoons going over his European catalogues with her and
identifying picture after picture. Gay made him mark the “notes” at a
hundred dollars each.
“Catalogue them separately under ‘notes,’” she suggested one
morning, “and then let’s give each one of them a name.” And
following some line of thought she presently added dreamily, “David,
does the money part matter so tremendously to you?”
“Does—God bless the child!” answered David, with a glance toward
the sketches he was assorting in the big upstairs room in which he
worked at Wastewater. “Of course it does!”
Gay, who had been making some little sketches herself on a large
bare block with a very sharp pencil, laughed at his tone. Outside a
January rain was sleeting roughly against the windows, the
casements rattled. A small oil stove was burning in the cool gray
daylight of the room, the air was faintly scented with the odour of
kerosene and hot metal.
“Why, what would you do if you had more money?” Gay asked.
“Oh, Lord——!” David began. “Well, I’d take a studio near Rucker’s,”
he began. “At least, I might. And probably about once in every three
years I’d go across and study in Europe. I’d buy one of Neil Boone’s
pictures to-morrow,” went on David, warming suddenly, “and I’d buy
one every three months, to keep the poor fellow from committing
suicide before people begin to find out what a marvel he is.”
“Is he so clever, David?”
“Oh——” David said, briefly, almost impatiently. “The uses of
adversity are sweet, Gay,” he added, working busily with an eraser
on a smudged pencil sketch, “but Boone has had a little too much of
a good thing! He idolized his wife, and she died, and I think he feels
that it might have been different if she’d had less want and care.
He’s mad about his kid, and a well-to-do sister has him in
Washington. Boone can’t afford to keep him.”
“I must say that you don’t seem to want money so much for
yourself,” said Gay, laughing. “You might get a studio, and you might
go abroad. I’ll tell you what I think,” finished Gay, “you’d like money
principally because, when a man’s pictures sell, it’s proof that he is
succeeding in his profession!”
“Well, I shouldn’t wonder if you’re right, Gay,” David said, surprised
at the shrewdness of the analysis.
“Because, if you and Sylvia——” the girl was beginning, animatedly.
She stopped. Her face was crimson. “Perhaps I wasn’t supposed to
know that,” she stammered, smiling.
“Not much to know,” David said, also a little red. “It—it’s indefinite
until Sylvia chooses to have it definite,” he added. And then, with
what was suddenly a rough, almost an angry manner, for David, he
went on: “But what were you going to say, Gay? Did you mean that if
Sylvia and I were married I would be rich?”
“Nothing quite so crude, David!” she answered, readily, with an
apologetic smile. “I was contrasting the pleasure you would get from
a—well, from a really sensational success with your exhibition,” Gay
went on, feeling for words, “to the pleasure any amount of money
just put into your hand would give you! You and Sylvia can do
anything you like, I suppose, but I know it won’t make you feel like
working any less!”
It was said with her innocent, sisterly smile, and with her usual
unspoiled earnest interest, but David felt oddly uncomfortable
whenever he thought of it throughout the day. A dozen times he
wondered exactly what the situation would be if Sylvia were in—well,
in Gay’s position, looking to her husband for everything.
He could not be more fond of her, he was glad to think. Indeed,
David thought, Sylvia’s character would probably come out in far
finer colours under these circumstances than it was apt to do as it
was. To receive all that Sylvia was to receive upon coming of age, to
be so clever, so beautiful, and so admired, was sure to prove more
or less upsetting. As for the rest, he wished heartily that it had been
his good fortune to fall in love with a woman who had not a penny!
Not that Sylvia would be anything but charming in her attitude to his
income and her own. She would glide over any conceivable
awkwardness with her own native fineness. She would ask—he
knew exactly how prettily—“David, should I buy a new fur coat, do
you think? David, would another maid be an awful extravagance?”
There would never be a word or a hint to remind him that after all the
safety-deposit box, and the check books, and indeed the very roof
over their heads, were hers.
It was not that that he feared. But he did fear her quite natural
opinion that money was extremely important. It was important to her.
It was important to almost everyone. But it was not important to
David.
If their friends would think him fortunate in winning so clever and
beautiful and charming a wife, well and good. But he knew that they
would go on to the consideration of her wealth, if indeed many of
them did not actually commence there. “Pretty comfortable for him,
she has scads of money!” the world would say, and Sylvia—
unfortunately!—could hardly help having her own convictions upon
that score, too.
Of course dear old David would love to be rich! Sylvia would think.
Here he had been struggling along on a few thousands a year,
making no complaints, happy in his work, travelling, with a keenly
anxious eye on his checkbook, spending nothing on clothes, giving
one odd and curious little presents that yet were so pitifully
inexpensive, anxious about those exhibitions of canvases that as yet
did not sell very fast—what could be more delightful than sudden
riches to David? To buy him a big car, a big fur coat, to entertain their
friends at the finest hotels, to travel, to pick up odd books and
canvases, to have smart luggage, a beautiful home—who wouldn’t
like such a change?
Well, David knew himself that he would not. He realized perfectly
that one of the difficulties of his early married life would be to
persuade his rich young wife that he really preferred his old
corduroys to paint in, that he really liked little restaurants, that he
hated big hotels.
Far happier for him if Gay, for example, had been the heiress. Then
he and Sylvia would have been the poor relations, would have had
the tramping, the little studio in Keyport, the frugal trips abroad so full
of adventures and excitements, and always the beloved old family
homestead to turn to for holidays and special occasions. That would
be a realler sort of living than he was apt to experience with all
Sylvia’s charming responsibilities and exaction upon his shoulders.
There would be a distinct loss of something free and personal,
something far higher and purer and more wonderful than even old
Uncle Roger’s money, in David’s marriage. And he knew now that he
could never expect Sylvia to see that loss. To Sylvia any one who
could be rich, and who saw even the tiniest scrap of advantage
anywhere in remaining poor, was stupid to the point of annoyance.
Well, it would all work out somehow, David thought philosophically,
thinking these things seriously upon a certain bitter night late in
January. A heavy storm was brewing again, for the winter was
unusually severe, but he had resolved to turn his back upon it; he
must get down into the city and arrange matters for the April
exhibition. He would leave Wastewater the next day, after almost six
weeks in which the days had seemed to fly by.
It was almost midnight now; Gay, who had seemed out of spirits to-
night, had gone upstairs early, and Aunt Flora had followed her an
hour ago. But David sat on by the fire, not so much reading the book
he held in his hand, as musing, and occasionally leaning forward to
stir the last of the coals. The passage to bed was a long and chilly
one, the halls were cold, his room would be cold; he felt a deep, lazy
disinclination to stir.

Suddenly and hideously in the darkness and night he heard a wild


scream, followed by other screams, all piercing, high—the shrieks of
a woman in mortal terror. David, with a quick exclamation, started to
his feet, ran to the door, opened it and shouted into the blackness of
the hall, snatched the lamp from the centre table, and, always
shouting, ran up toward the evident source of the confusion; which
was in the direction of his room and Gay’s, on the floor above.
It had all taken place so quickly and was so unspeakably horrifying
and alarming that David had no time to think of his own emotions
until he reached the upper hall and rushed into Gay’s room. He set
the light on a table, and caught the girl, who was blundering blindly
about the doorway, in his arms.
“Gay—for God’s sake—what is it!” he said, drawing her into the hall,
holding her tight, and looking beyond her into the dimness of the
room.
“Oh, David—David!” she sobbed, clinging to him. “Oh, David, it’s that
old woman again! She’s in my room—I saw her! She had a candle in
her hand—I tell you I saw her!”
“You had a dream, dear!” David said, tenderly. “She must have had a
bad dream!” David explained to Flora, who came upstairs carrying a
candle, and with a ghastly face, and to Hedda and Trude, who
appeared from another direction, frightened and pale.
“Oh, no—no—no! I didn’t dream it!” Gabrielle said, still gasping and
clinging tight to David, but in a somewhat quieter tone. “No, I didn’t
dream it! She—I had just put out the light and she—she came into
my room——”
“Now, don’t get excited, dear,” David interrupted the rising tone
reassuringly. “We’re all here, and she can’t hurt you! What did you
think you saw?”
“She came to my door,” Gabrielle whispered, with a heaving breast
and a dry throat. “She was—she was——” Her voice rose on a shrill
note of terror in spite of herself, and she looked into David’s eyes
with a pathetic childish effort to control herself. “She was—smiling at
me!” Gabrielle whispered.
David felt his own flesh creep; it was Flora’s voice that said
somewhat harshly:
“Come down to Sylvia’s room for the rest of the night, Gabrielle.”
They were all in the doorway of Gabrielle’s room; the lamp that
David had carried upstairs he had placed just within it, in a sort of
alcove. Now he picked up the light and said reassuringly:
“Look here, dear, nobody’s gone out of the hall! We’ll go all over your
room, and open the wardrobes, and look under the bed——”
He had gotten so far, turning courageously into the apartment, when
he stopped, and Gabrielle screamed again. For the light now shone
upon the girl’s tumbled bed, her desk, her bureau, her bookshelves.
And standing close to the latter, with bright mad eyes fixed upon
them all, and something of the hunted look of a cornered yet
unfrightened animal, was a small, bent old woman, with gray hair
straggling out upon the gray shawl she wore over her shoulders, and
an extinguished candle in the stick she carried in her hands.
David’s heart came into his mouth with shock; there was an uncanny
and fearful quality about such an apparition in the quiet winter night
and in the shadowy old house. Flora, behind him, made a sound of
despair, and Hedda and Trude moaned together. Afterward, it
seemed to him odd that it was Gabrielle who spoke.
The girl was still shaken badly, but the lights and the voices had
instantly dissipated the horrifying mystery and fear, and although
Gay was pale and spoke with a somewhat dry throat, it was steadily
enough, it was even with a pathetic sort of reassurance in her voice,
and a trembling eagerness to quiet the strange visitor, to restore the
fantastic unnaturalness of the scene to something like the normal.
“You—you frightened me so!” she said to the little old woman, gently,
touching her on the arm, even trying to draw about the shaking little
old figure the big slipping gray shawl. “You—she didn’t mean any
harm, David,” Gay said, with her breath coming easier every second.
“She—I think she’s a little——” A significant lifting of Gay’s eyebrows
finished the sentence. “Margret knows her—Aunt Flora knows who
she is!” she added, appealingly.
“I wanted to see you, dear, and Flora wouldn’t let me!” the old
woman said, tearfully and childishly, catching Gay’s hands and
beginning to mumble kisses over them.
David made a sudden exclamation.
“Is it—I’ve not seen her for twenty years!” he said, with a puzzled
look at his aunt, about whose shaking form he immediately put a
bracing arm. “Isn’t it your mother, Aunt Flora? Is it Aunt John? I
thought she was dead.”
“Yes—just help me take her to her room, David,” Flora said,
feverishly and blindly. “Just—take her arm, Hedda. We’ll get her all
comfortable, and then I’ll explain. I’ll explain to you and Gabrielle—
you needn’t be afraid of this happening again—I’ll—I’ll—— Let Trude
take her, Gabrielle.”
“But she doesn’t want to go, do you, dear?” Gay asked, pitifully. And
David thought her youth and beauty, the hanging rope of glorious
tawny hair, the slim figure outlined in her plain little embroidered
nightgown, and the kimono she had caught up, contrasted to that
shaking old creature’s feebleness and wildness, were the most
extraordinary things he had ever seen in his life. But then the whole
thing was like a crazy dream.
“But she must go,” Flora reiterated, firmly, her voice shaking and raw,
her face streaked with green lines across its pallor.
“Aunt John,” David pleaded, gently, taking an elbow that controlled a
thin old yellow hand like a hanging bird’s claw. For he remembered
the days when “Aunt John” had kept house for them all, when Flora
was a brisk young woman, and Lily only a timid, romantic girl, when
his own mother was mistress of Wastewater, and poor Tom and
himself the idolized small boys of the family.
“What are you calling me ‘Aunt John’ for, David Fleming?” said the
old woman, shrilly and suddenly. “Mamma died years and years ago,
didn’t she, Flora? I’m your Aunt Lily, and I came down to see my
girl!”
Hedda and Trude exclaimed together; but David sensed instantly
that they were not surprised. Flora choked, caught blindly at the back
of a chair, and stood staring; David, in his quick glance, saw that her
lips were moving. But she made no sound.
Then it was at Gabrielle that they all looked; Gabrielle, who stood tall
and young and ashen in the uncertain lamplight, with her
magnificent, pathetically widened eyes, like shadowy gray star
sapphires, moving first to Flora’s face, and then to David’s, and then
back to the little woman beside her, whose hand, or claw, she still
held in her own.
David saw her breast rise and fall suddenly, but there was in her
bearing no sign that she was conscious of his presence, or that of
the maids or Flora. She bent down toward the forlorn little mowing
and mumbling creature, looking into the wandering eyes.
“I’m sorry they wouldn’t let you see me!” Gay said, gently, in just the
essence of her own beautiful voice. To David every syllable seemed
to throb and flower like a falling star in the unearthly silence of the
room. Outside a winter wind whined, branches creaked, the ivy at
Gay’s window crackled as a load of snow slipped from its dry twigs;
they could hear the distant muffled sound of the cold sea, tumbling
and booming among the rocks.
The lamp flared up in a sudden draught, burned steadily again.
Great shadows marched and wheeled on the ceiling. The two maids
stared with dilated eyes. Flora caught at David with fierce fingers.
“Don’t—don’t let her talk! She’s not responsible, David! I tell you it’s
all a mistake—no harm done—I won’t have Gabrielle worried——”
“Don’t worry about me, Aunt Flora!” Gay’s voice said. And again it
sounded strange to David; it had a sad and poignant sweetness that
seemed to have more in common with the icy night, and the
streaming winter moonlight, and the cold sea, than with this troubled
little human group. “I’m glad to know. I never would have been afraid
of you if I had known,” Gay said, to the little bent old woman. “I won’t
be frightened again. You can—you can see me as much as you like.
If you’re Lily, I’m—I’m your little girl, you know—Mother.”
CHAPTER X
The night that followed was one of the strange, abnormal times that
seemed—David thought more than once—so peculiarly appropriate,
so peculiarly in tone with the atmosphere of Wastewater; with the
empty, dusky, decaying rooms, with the shadowy mirrors clouded
with mould, with the memories, the tragedies, the ghosts and echoes
that on a bitter winter night seemed to throng the old place.
Outside there was a sharp frost, and when the massed silent snow
slipped from the branches of the old elms, an occasional crack like a
pistol shot sounded through the night. A cold bright moon moved
over the packed snow, and the sea swelled with booming, sullen
rushes over the rocks. Clocks seemed, to David, to stand still; to
mark strange hours.
When Gabrielle had put her young arm about the shrinking, withered
form of the harmless old feeble-minded woman that David did now
indeed recognize as Aunt Lily, for some reason he had felt his throat
thick, and his eyes blind with tears. The girl was so young, she had
been so full of hope and gaiety and high spirits during the happy
holidays and the weeks that followed; she had tramped beside him
chattering like a sturdy little sister, belted into a big coat, her eager
feet stamping and dancing on the snow, her cheeks glowing with the
tingle of the pure cold air. They had had some contented rainy
mornings together, in the bare upstairs room he called his studio,
and they had sometimes played a sort of double solitaire in the
evenings, Gay as anxiously excited as a child, and saying “Oh,
fudge!” when the cards fell wrong, in a little baffled, furious tone that
always made him laugh. He and she had thought the weak little
mother and the worthless, wandering father long ago vanished from
her problem; the child had quite a sufficient problem left, as it was!
And she had faced it so bravely, faced it cheerfully even with the
constant reminder of Sylvia’s contrasted good fortune, Sylvia’s
wealth, Sylvia’s impeccable parentage, right before her vision.
Now, suddenly, while her heart was thumping with the shock and
terror of awakening from sleep to find this dreadful apparition in her
room, she had had to accept this same mowing, gibbering, weeping
old woman as her mother. And David loved her that she had not
hesitated, where for sheer bewilderment he knew he might have
hesitated.
She had not glanced at Aunt Flora, who was leaning sick and silent
against a chair, nor at the cowed and white-faced old Belgian
servants, nor at him. Quite simply she had put her arm about poor
Aunt Lily, touched her young lips to the yellowed old forehead where
the forlorn wisps of grayish hair hung down, and then turned, steady-
eyed and ashen-cheeked but quite composed, to say quietly:
“Where does she sleep, Aunt Flora? In that room where I saw the
light? I’ll go up with her—she’s shuddering with cold, she’ll be ill. I’ll
—you’ll go with me, won’t you, Margret? We’ll get her to bed.”
For Margret, also pale, in a gray wrapper, and looking anxiously from
one to the other as if to read in their faces what had occurred, had
joined the group from some rear doorway.
“No, that was partly it, Gabrielle,” Flora forced herself to say, with
chattering teeth. “She hasn’t been so bad until lately. And after you
met her, that day, we moved her into the back of the house—
someone was always supposed to be near her. You shouldn’t have
gotten out of bed and come through the halls in your bare feet, Lily!”
Flora mildly reproached her sister. Lily clung stubbornly to Gabrielle’s
arm, but they were all moving slowly in the direction of the rooms
Flora had mentioned now, through the bitter darkness of the halls.
The lamp, carried by David, sent their shadows wheeling about the
angles and corners ahead of them, doors banged, shutters creaked,
and when Lily’s chattering whisper of complacency and exulting
triumph was silent, they could hear Hedda and Trude telling Margret
that the sick lady had wandered into Miss Gabrielle’s rooms in the
night and frightened her.
Lily was really almost sick by the time they reached the homely,
comfortable rooms, which, Gabrielle noted, were well furnished, and
warmed by a still-glowing stove. David built up the fire while they put
the poor little chattering creature to bed, and Gabrielle, without
seeming to be even now conscious of anybody’s presence but that
of her mother, caught up an old ivory-backed brush and massed the
straying gray hair into order, pinning it, David noted pitifully, with the
pins that had held back from her face her own thick, rich braids.
There was a tenderness, an absorbed, gentle, and childish pity
about her whole attitude the while she did so that made his throat
thicken again.
Meanwhile Margret and Hedda, evidently well used to this ministry
and moving about the room with an air of being entirely at home
there, had supplied Lily with hot-water bottles and some sort of milky
hot drink which Lily fretfully complained was bitter.
“It has her sleeping stuff in it,” Margret explained, in an aside. Lily
smiled knowingly at Gabrielle.
“They wouldn’t mind poisoning me a bit, dearie,” she said, in a loud
whisper. “At Crosswicks they used always be trying to poison us.”
However, she took the drink, when Gabrielle held the glass, in short
sips, meanwhile patting the girl’s hand, beaming, and occasionally,
with increasing drowsiness, recalling old memories.
“Gabrielle had a little gray coat and a hat with gray fur on it—beaver,
it was real beaver—it looked so good with her golden curls!” she said
once, complacently. “Roger said she looked like a squirrel. Where is
Roger, Flora? Why don’t he come up some night, so’s we could all
play euchre, like we use’ to?”
And at another time, some moments later, she added, in a sweet and
natural voice: “I was looking all over the place for Tom. He gets my
nasturtium seeds and eats them! But I don’t know where all this
snow’s come from. It was real sunny yesterday when I put them out,
and Roger and Will were in swimming!”
All this time Flora had sat in an armchair by the stove, with one hard,
veiny hand tight over her eyes. Margret lessened the lights, Lily
began to sink into sleep, and Gabrielle sat timidly down near her, still
holding her hand. The servants slipped away, but still Flora did not
stir.
When Lily was so soundly off that their voices did not disturb her,
David touched Gabrielle’s arm, and stiff, and looking a little
bewildered, she rose noiselessly to her feet. Flora started up, pale,
and with a bitten under lip and a look of some deep fright in her
eyes, and they quietly left the room, David carrying the lamp as
before.
“And now,” he said, cheerfully, when they were back in the hall
outside of Gabrielle’s room, “there’s no good worrying ourselves
about all this to-night! You look exhausted, Aunt Flora, and Gay here
has had enough. Jump into bed, Gay, it’s after two, and get off to
sleep. I’ll leave my door open and you leave yours—or if you like I’ll
wheel this couch up against your door and sleep on it myself.”
“No, David, thank you; I’m not afraid now,” the girl said, quietly and
seriously, and David knew that there were more than vague
unnamed terrors to occupy her thoughts now. “I’ll do splendidly, and
to-morrow we’ll talk. I only hope,” she added slowly, “my mother will
not be ill, although”—and there was infinite sadness in her voice
—“perhaps I shouldn’t even hope that, for her! Good-night, Aunt
Flora.”
And with a sudden impulse that seemed to David infinitely fine and
sweet, she stooped and kissed her aunt’s cheek before she turned to
her own door.
“Good-night, Gay dear, don’t worry!” David said, tenderly. And with a
quick emotion as natural as hers had been, he kissed her forehead
as a brother might have done. Flora had already gone, and Gay
smiled at him pathetically as she shut her door.
She would not think to-night, the girl told herself restlessly. But there
was nothing for it but thought. She was bitterly cold, and shuddered
as she snuggled into the covers, and stared out with persistently
wakeful eyes at the blackness of the big room. Gay heard creaks,
crackling, the lisp of falling blots of snow, the detonations of
contracting furniture in distant closed rooms, the reports of breaking
branches outside. And always there was the cold, regular pulse of
the sea.
The girl looked at her watch; twenty minutes of three, and she
seemed to have been tossing here for hours. Her brain seethed;
faces, voices, came and went, problems for the future, speculations
as to the past. She was deathly cold; she wondered if there were any
fuel at her cold fireplace, lighted the candle, and investigated. None.
“Well, these windows at least can be closed!” Gay decided, with
chattering teeth. The night struck through her thin nightgown like a
wall of ice as she struggled with the heavy blinds. Gabrielle
experienced a weary and desperate sensation of discouragement;
the horrible night would never end, her thoughts would never
straighten themselves out into peace and quiet again, there would
never be sunlight, warmth, safety in the world!
Looking down, however, toward the kitchen wing, she saw that a
heartening red light was striking through the shutters, and
immediately she caught up her wrapper and went slippered and
shuddering down the long stairs and passages that led to the
kitchen.
She opened the door upon heartening lamplight and firelight;
Margret, Trude, and Hedda were in comfortable talk beside the
stove, and a boiling coffee-pot sent a delicious fragrance into the
dark old room.
“Margret,” Gay began, piteously, with a suddenly childish feeling of
tears in her voice. “I can’t sleep—I’ve been lying awake——”
And immediately she was on her knees beside Margret, and had her
bright head buried in the old servant’s lap, and Margret’s hand was
stroking her hair.
Gay, after the first tears, did not cry. But as the blessed heat and light
seemed to penetrate to the centre of her chilled being, and as the old
servant’s hands gently stroked her hair, she felt as if she could kneel
here for ever, not facing anything, not thinking, just warm again and
among human voices once more.
Margret’s words, if they were words, were indistinguishable; neither
Hedda nor Trude spoke at all. The Belgian women looked on with
their faded old eyes red with sympathy. Trude put a smoking cup of
coffee, mixed in the French fashion, as Gay liked it, on the table, and
Hedda turned a fresh piece of graham toast on the range, and
Margret coaxed the girl to dispose of the hot drink before there was
any talk.
Afterward, when Gay had dried her eyes upon a towel brought by the
sympathetic Hedda, and rolled herself tight in her wrapper, and had
her feet comfortably extended toward the range, Margret said:
“You mustn’t feel angry at us, Miss Gabrielle. It was to spare you, I’m
sure, that Miss Flora has kept this secret all these years.”
“I’m not angry——” Gabrielle began, and stopped abruptly, biting her
lip, and turned her eyes, brimming again, toward the glow of the
range.
“I know, it seems awful hard, but this has always been a bitter thing
to Miss Flora, and she has taken her own way about it,” Margret
said, kindly, and there was silence again. “You know your mamma,”
the old woman began again, presently, and Gay’s eyes, startled,
fixed themselves for a moment upon Margret’s face, as if the girl
found the term strange. “Your mamma made a silly marriage, dear,”
Margret went on, “and Miss Flora felt very badly about it. Your
mother was such a pretty, gentle girl, too,” she added. “I’d see her
gathering flowers, or maybe hear her singing at the piano, when I’d
come up here to Wastewater to help them out with sickness, or
company, or whatever it was. Very pretty, Miss Lily was. There was
quite a family then. Miss Flora had married Mr. Will Fleming, and
Sylvia was just a little thing, as dark as a gipsy. And of course that
was just the time that poor Mr. Roger’s wife was dying of some
miserable growth she’d had for years, and it was when Tom run
away. Mrs. Roger Fleming had a big couch on the porch in summer,
and she’d be laying there, and perhaps Mr. Roger reading to her, or
talking about some cure; they were for ever trying new cures and
new doctors! And Miss Flora would have Sylvia out there, with her
big rag doll—Sylvia’s father was never much of a success, they used
to say, he was usually away somewhere getting a new job of some
sort,” Margret added, reminiscently.
“Somehow I never think of Aunt Flora as having a husband,” Gay
said, in a sombre, tear-thickened voice. “Her being Sylvia’s mother,
and all that, seems natural enough. But to think of her as Mrs. Will
Fleming always is so queer.”
“I don’t know that she ever loved Mr. Will,” Margret said, with a
glance behind her at Hedda, who was straightening the kitchen as
composedly and indifferently as if the hour had been four o’clock in
the afternoon instead of the morning. Hedda was paying no attention
and Margret went on, with all an old servant’s significance: “It was
well known that Miss Flora loved Roger Fleming all her life, and she
was engaged to him after his first wife, that was David’s and Tom’s
mother, died.”
“Yes, I know,” Gabrielle said, with a long sigh. She had heard all this
before.
“When Roger Fleming married the second time, she took his brother
Will,” Margret resumed, “and for a while they had a little apartment in
Boston, and he was in a bank there, but he died when Miss Sylvia
was only three and Miss Flora was here more than she ever was
there, anyway; Miss Lily stayed here all the time. And then, that
terrible summer when little Tom ran away, if Miss Lily didn’t fall in
love with a man nobody knew anything about——”
There was an old-fashioned little peasant bench beside the stove,
brought from across the seas when Hedda and Trude had come to
America twenty-five years before, and Gabrielle was on this low seat
now, with her arms across Margret’s knees. She looked up into
Margret’s face wistfully as she said:
“But there was nothing against my father? Wasn’t he just a young
man who was staying in Crowchester for a while?”
“He had some sort of agency,” Margret said. “No, dear, for all we
ever knew he was a good enough man. But he was no husband for
Miss Lily, who was Mr. Roger Fleming’s cousin, and had lived here at
Wastewater all her life. And more than that, she married him secretly,
and that’s always a bad thing!” the old woman added, impressively.
“Yes, I know!” Gabrielle murmured, with impatience and pain in her
voice. “But I don’t see anything so terrible in it!” she finished, looking
back at the fire again and half to herself.
“Well, it was such a bad time, when they were all so upset,” Margret
argued. “Miss Flora felt something terrible,” she added, simply,
“when she knew that Miss Lily—her sister that she’d always guarded
and loved so dearly—was secretly married and going to have a
baby. I don’t know that she told Mrs. Roger Fleming, who was so
little and so delicate, anything about it, but I know she talked it over
with Mr. Roger, for he came to me—so kindly! he was a wonderful
man for being kind-hearted—and told me that Miss Lily was going
into Boston to live in Miss Flora’s little apartment for a little while,
while they tried to find this man, Charpentier——”
“That was my father,” Gay interpolated.
“That was your father, dear. I went to Boston with your mother and
got her nicely settled,” Margret resumed. “She was very quiet then,
and pleased with the little things she was making for the baby, but it
was only a few months later—when Mr. Roger was off hunting little
Tom, and Mrs. Roger dying, with this doctor or that quack or dear
knows what always in the house here—that poor Miss Lily got
typhoid fever.”
“Before I was born!” Gay had heard of the typhoid fever, but had
never quite placed it in the succession of events before.
“Just after you were born. Poor Miss Flora was pulled every which
way,” said Margret. “She’d rush into Boston to see Miss Lily, and
she’d rush back here, afraid Mrs. Roger had died while she was
gone. She didn’t dare risk the infection for Miss Sylvia, and so she
sent for me, and I took Miss Sylvia into the rooms where poor Miss
Lily is now, and Miss Sylvia hardly saw her mother for weeks. Miss
Flora went up to see her sister—that was your mother—every week,
and while she did that she’d never risk infection for little Sylvia.
“Well, then poor little Mrs. Roger died—very sudden, at the end.
Miss Lily was convalescent then, but weak as a rag, and she and
you came down here to Wastewater—and you were the most
beautiful child I ever laid my eyes on!” Margret broke off to say,
seriously.
Gabrielle, red-eyed and serious, laughed briefly.
“Well, you were a beautiful child,” Margret persisted. “Miss Flora let
Miss Sylvia and me go on and take a peep at you, in a blanket, the
day you came. Miss Lily was very sick after the trip, and she didn’t
get out of bed for a week, and Hedda and I had you, and didn’t we
make Miss Sylvia jealous with the fuss we made over the new baby!
“I remember one day—they were all in black then for poor Mrs.
Roger, and Mr. Roger came home suddenly from one of his trips,
poor man! We’d not seen him since the day of the funeral——”
“He got here too late to see her again?” Gabrielle asked, knowing
the answer.
“He’d gotten here the very day of the funeral,” Margret nodded. “And
he’d just stood looking at her as she lay there dead—she’d been
more than five years his wife, and she was only twenty-two as she
lay there with the flowers all around her! And he said to poor Miss
Flora, ‘I killed her, Flora!’ And out of the house he walked, and we
never saw him again until this day I’m talking about, six months after
the funeral.
“By this time Miss Lily, your mother, was all over her illness, but the
typhoid had left her very weak and light-headed, and sometimes
she’d talk very queer, or cry, or whatever it was,” Margret went on.
“In fact, that was the beginning of her trouble—she never again was
—quite right—here,” interpolated Margret, significantly, touching her
forehead. “Well, this day she was all in white, and she had an
innocent sort of childish look, and Mr. David was home from school,
and Miss Sylvia was running about, and you were just getting to the
cunning age—my goodness, but you were a beautiful baby!” the old
woman said again, affectionately. “Well, Mr. Will Fleming was home,
he was out of a job again, and they were all out on the lawn—Mr.
David was a fine little fellow of about thirteen then, and he saw Mr.
Roger first, and he went running over. And Roger Fleming came up
to them and asked, as he always did: ‘Any news of Tom? Any letter
from my boy?’ and they told him, No. And then Miss Lily held you out
to him so gently, and her face flushed up and she said: ‘Roger,
you’ve hardly seen my pretty baby!’ and I remember his taking you in
his arms and saying, ‘Well, hello, here’s a yellow-headed Fleming at
last!’”
“Nobody seemed to make much of my Charpentier blood, or my
name,” Gabrielle observed, drily.
“I remember,” Margret resumed, without answering, perhaps
unhearing, “that after a while Mr. Roger said to Miss Flora, so sadly,
‘Look at them, David and Sylvia and this baby! But my own boy will
never be master of Wastewater!’ and she said to him, ‘Roger, he’ll
come home, dear!’
“But indeed he didn’t ever come home,” Margret finished, sighing,
“and Miss Sylvia’s father died a year or two later and never left a son
behind him. And after a while poor Mr. Roger died—he died a broken
man. And then we had to send Miss Lily to Crosswicks, for she got
worse and worse. She was there for fifteen years. But Crosswicks
broke up last year, and Miss Flora didn’t quite know what to do with
her,” Margret added, “and it was only while she was finding some
other good place where she’d be happy that we thought of keeping
her here. Poor, gentle little soul, she’d never hurt you or any one.”
Her voice died away into silence, and Gabrielle sat staring darkly into
the fire, with a clouded face.
For a long time the two sat together, the girl with her young strong
hands locked in Margret’s, and her eyes absently fixed on the dying
fire, and gradually the old woman’s soothing voice had its effect.
Margret gently begged her not to worry, there was no harm done,
and perhaps it would be better, after all, to have her see her mother
daily and naturally, as the poor little mental and physical wreck she
was, and get over the fright and mystery once and for all. And now
Gabrielle must take a bottle of hot water upstairs and get to sleep,
for it was long after four, and they mustn’t keep poor Hedda up all
night.

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