Organisations of the League of Nations

The League had a number of important organisations:

• Mandates Commission- made up of teams of expert advisors who report on how people in mandates are being treated and ensure that Britain and France act in the people's interests

• Refugees Committee- focused on helping prisoners of war and refugees

• Slavery Commission- abolish slavery and help slaves and workers who are treated like slaves. 200,000 slaves were freed.

• Court of International Justice- made up of judges from member countries who settle disputes between countries peacefully, and if asked, decide on border disputes. However, they had no way of ensuring that countries followed their rulings.

• Health Committee- they brought experts together to collect health statistics, spread new ideas and deal with dangerous diseases and educate people on health and sanitation.

• International Labour Organisation- improve the conditions of working people by speaking to employers, governments and workers representatives

• Council- consists of the permanent members; UK, France, Italy and Japan who had the power of Veto and temporary members who were elected by the assembly for 3 year periods. They met about five times each year or in an emergency with the aim of resolving issues peacefully.

• Assembly- representatives of each country met annually in Switzerland to recommend actions for the council to take, such as admitting new members or agreeing the budget.

• Secretariat- 

  1. Agenda Preparation

  2. Publishing Reports

  3. Dealing with vital routine matters

  4. Based in Geneva

  5. Directed by Secretary-General