The rise of new states in the Indian realm is an outstanding development of the postwar era. India, Pakistan, Burma, and Ceylon have gained independence, and Nepal in the Himalayas is emerging from isolation. The United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union have extended diplomatic recognition to some or all of the five states of the Indian realm. India, Pakistan, and Burma are now Members of the United Nations, but the applications of Ceylon and Nepal have been vetoed by the Soviet Union. Another consequence of the emergence of new states in the Indian realm is the creation of complex international boundaries with subsequent territorial disputes for the agenda of the Security Council of the United Nations.

The national status of an individual is a matter of importance at all times, and is becoming increasingly so. It assumes special significance during hostilities between states. An extreme case is that of the dual national of two states that are at war with each other.

The need for an international criminal jurisdiction was recognized by the General Assembly of the United tjations in a resolution adopted in 1948, in which it was stated in the preamble thalt “in the course of development of the international community, there will be an increasing need of an international judicial organ for the trial of certain crimes under international law.”

Private property of enemies lost its absolute inviolability when at the end of World War I it was subjected to the claims of Allied nationals against Germany. After World War II enemy exterior assets became the object of reparations at the Potsdam Conference between the Governments of the United States, the Union of Soviet Socialist Eepublics, and the United Kingdom. To implement the Potsdam Agreement the Allied Control Council for Germany on October 30, 1945, enacted Law No. 5 which, inter alia, purported to vest in the Council title to German private assets in the neutral countries. In Switzerland this action eventually culminated in the Swiss-Allied Accord of May 25,1946, between France, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Switzerland, which provided for the liquidation of German property in Switzerland4 valued at approximately 150 million dollars. The proceeds of liquidation are to go fifty percent to Switzerland and fifty percent to the several governments signatory to the Paris Reparations Agreement of December 21, 1945.

The International Law Commission of the United Nations held its third session at Geneva, Switzerland, from May 16 to July 27, 1951. In the course of fifty-three meetings, the Commission completed its work on the following items: (1) reservations to multilateral conventions; (2) question of defining aggression; and (3) preparation of a draft code of offenses against the peace and security of mankind. It also concluded the first phase of a review of its Statute. In the field of the codification of international law, the Commission undertook further consideration of the topics of (1) law of treaties and (2) regime of the high seas. It also decided to initiate work on the topics of “nationality, including statelessness” and “regime of territorial waters,” and appointed Judge Manley 0. Hudson and Professor J. P. A. Frangois special rapporteurs, respectively, for these topics. The actions (including some of an administrative character) taken by the Commission are set forth in a report to the General Assembly.

The purpose of this note is to survey the proceedings of the Security Council in regard to the Anglo-Iranian dispute brought before it, with particular reference to the question of domestic jurisdiction. For this purpose, only a brief account is given of the events which led to the submission of the dispute to the Council, as it is not intended to study the merits of the dispute.