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Rh At meetings duly summoned, the presence of nine members is sufficient to render valid the discussions of the Council. The decisions are taken by a majority of votes.

The Council communicates to the Contracting Powers without delay the regulations adopted by it. It furnishes them with an annual report on the labors of the Court, the working of the administration, and the expenditure. The report likewise contains a résumé of what is important in the documents communicated to the Bureau by the powers in virtue of article 43, paragraphs 3 and 4.

The expenses of the Bureau shall be borne by the Contracting Powers in the proportion fixed for the International Bureau of the Universal Postal Union.

The expenses to be charged to the adhering powers shall be reckoned from the date on which their adhesion comes into force.

With a view to encouraging the development of arbitration, the Contracting Powers have agreed on the following rules, which are applicable to arbitration procedure, unless other rules have been agreed on by the parties.

The powers which have recourse to arbitration sign a compromis, in which the subject of the dispute is clearly defined, the time allowed for appointing arbitrators, the form, order, and time in which the communication referred to in article 63 must be made, and the amount of the sum which each party must deposit in advance to defray the expenses.

The compromis likewise defines, if there is occasion, the manner of appointing arbitrators, any special powers which may eventually belong to the tribunal, where it shall meet, the language it shall use, and the languages the employment of which shall be authorized before it, and, generally speaking, all the conditions on which the parties are agreed.

The Permanent Court is competent to settle the compromis, if the parties are agreed to have recourse to it for the purpose.