315.3/11–1953: Telegram
The Chargé in the United Kingdom to the Department of State
2011. Department pass USUN as London’s 31. Assistant Under-Secretary Mason called on Embassy officer to Foreign Office re administration tribunal problem (Embtel 1956 November 5 to Department repeated USUN 30 and previous).
He said Eden wanted us to know that question had been carefully reviewed but that no grounds found for reversing British legal position that tribunal acting within its authority. In light this position it would be practical impossibility for British Government to support before Parliament and country favorable British vote to throw out tribunal’s findings unless decisions could be shown to be clearly in bad faith. Mason emphasized however, that British were fully aware gravity of problem from US viewpoint and were again authorizing Selwyn Lloyd make every possible effort in consultation USUN to find some way out of impasse.1
- In telegram 2522, to London, Nov. 9, 7:25 p.m., the Department of State responded: “… request you renew representations FonOff particularly regarding legal issue, making use summary of memorandum of law in Deptel 1779 Nov. 9 to Paris, rptd London 2523, and full memorandum of law airpouched to London Nov. 6. …” (315.3/11–953) For telegram 1779 to Paris, see infra; this includes text of the summary of memorandum of law referred to herein. The full memorandum of law is a lengthy document and is not printed; a complete text is in the files of the Reference and Documents Section of the Bureau of International Organization Affairs (IO files), Doc. SD/A/CN.5/3; it is dated simply “November 1953” and is entitled “Memorandum detailing legal reasons which underlie the United States position concerning certain judgments rendered in 1953 by the United Nations Administrative Tribunal”.↩