The Reminiscences of Zafrulla Khan — Page 207
191 REMINISCENCES OF SIR MUHAMMAD ZAFRULLA KHAN then differences arose and the commission could not carry on. These differences were referred to the arbitration of King Alfonso XIII, who gave an award in 1906, which was by and large in favour of Honduras. Nicaragua expressed its gratitude to the King for having graciously taken the trouble to settle a dispute between two neighbouring friendly states. The President of Nicaragua sent a telegram to the President of Honduras congratulating him on his victory and added, "What is a tract of land as compared with the maintenance of friendly relations between two neighbouring states. " The Nicaraguan Parliament also approved of the award, so that the matter appeared to have been settled. But later, Nicaragua began to have second thoughts, and in 1912 it repudiated the award and had raised questions with regard to the validity of the appointment of the King as arbitrator and the validity of the award. The United States tried to intervene in the dispute but it did not succeed in bringing about a settlement. Finally, the Organization of the American States persuaded the two parties to submit the dispute to the International Court of Justice. As the matter was taken to the Court by agreement of the two States, no question as to the jurisdiction of the Court arose. The Court went through the usual procedure of receiving detailed written pleadings and hearing oral arguments, and finally handed down its judgment. It held that the appointment of the King as arbitrator was validly made in accordance with the terms of the relevant treaty; and, having been accepted by both parties, who had submitted their cases in detail to the King, was no longer open to question on the ground of alleged failure to comply with the terms of the treaty. Had there been any such failure it would have been cured by the subsequent presentation of the case before the King and by the acceptance of the King's award. On the second question, it held that the award was valid, that none of the objections taken to the award had been established; that the award was not, as Nicaragua had contended, incapable of being put into effect on the spot and that, in any case, having accepted the award, it was not now open to Nicaragua to question its validity. That judgment again cleared up two important points with regard to international arbitration. First, when a state becomes a party to arbitration and submits its case and pleads before the arbitrator, it cannot subsequently take advantage of any irregularity in the