§ 21. Sir Patrick Hannonasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has considered the resolution passed at the recent congress of the International Chamber of Commerce in Berlin on the subject of commercial arbitration, approving the scheme submitted in the name of the International Institute at Rome for the unification of private law as a preliminary to such scheme being submitted at the approaching congress of the League of Nations at Geneva; whether such scheme differs materially from the Anglo-American system of arbitration operating in English-speaking countries; and whether he will cause a committee to be constituted to examine and report on such scheme before authorising or instructing the British delegates at Geneva to approve the scheme itself as supplementing the Geneva Convention of 1927 for the enforcement of foreign awards?
§ Mr. EdenThe resolution on the subject of commercial arbitration which was adopted at the Berlin Congress of the International Chamber of Commerce has only recently been brought to the notice of my Department, and I have not yet had an opportunity of examining the International Institute's scheme in detail. 3069 It would obviously be impossible at present to indicate the precise method which will be adopted with a view to the full examination of the scheme, but His Majesty's Government will certainly not commit themselves to the support of it without taking into full account the views of the United Kingdom trade interests.
§ Sir P. HannonHaving examined the pros and cons of the case, will my right hon. Friend give the suggestion sympathetic consideration?