Many of the basic issues in that region - the future of Germany, the type of government to be established in Poland, the peace treaties with the East European states, and so on - never came up in the UN at all. This was partly because it had always been accepted that matters resulting directly from the war were to be discussed among the victorious powers and not within the organisation; and it was partly because there was, anyway, little hope of resolving them within the propaganda-laden, declamatory environment of the UN at this time. But there were a number of peripheral questions, resulting directly or indirectly from the cold war, which were discussed in the organisation during its early years.
The first of these concerned an incident in the Corfu Channel off the coast of Albania. On 22 October 1946 two British destroyers passing through the channel struck mines and were severely damaged. Forty-four British soldiers were killed and forty-two injured, and one of the ships became a total loss. Albania was not then a member of the UN. Britain therefore first approached her direct, asking for an apology and for compensation for the loss of lives and property. The Albanian Government, however, refused to accept any responsibility. Britain therefore, in January 1947, approached the Security Council on the matter.
There was provision in the Charter for the discussion of disputes with non-members. Albania was invited, under these arrangements, to take part in the discussion without a vote. The discussion was conducted, as the Charter permitted (indeed, encouraged) in the form of a 'dispute', in which each party presented its case and the Council then reached a judgement.
On 18 February the British representative presented the British compliant against Albania, alleging that the mining of these waters, which were a commonly used maritime channel, without warning to other shipping, violated the rules of the Hague Convention of 1907 and was a 'crime against humanity'. The channel had been swept for mines only a few months previously by the British Navy, so that those which struck the ships had clearly been newly laid. The Albanian Government should be censured and should pay compensation for the losses. The Albanian Government claimed that it had not been responsible for laying the mines, did not know who had laid them, and was not responsible for the safety of navigation of ships which sailed in its territorial waters.
The Council decided to set up a small sub-committee, consisting of Australia, Colombia and Poland, to examine the evidence. This found that after the incident a minefield had been found in the area and swept by British naval vessels, though according to the Polish representative this did not prove that the mines which damaged the British vessels were part ofthe same field. On 25 March, on the basis of this report, the British representative put forward a resolution stating that an unnotified minefield had been laid in the channel with the knowledge of the Albanian Government. This received seven favourable votes from other members, but was vetoed by the Soviet Union and so was not carried (as a 'party to the dispute' , Britain did not herself vote - one of the rare occasions when this provision was applied). Britain thereupon asked that the Council should recommend the two parties to take the dispute to the International Court of Justice. A resolution to this effect was carried, and this time the Soviet Union, with Poland, merely abstained.
In the following month Britain filed an application against Albania with the Court. There was some dispute about jurisdiction. Albania agreed to appear before the Court, though not a party to it; but she complained that Britain had not, as she should have done, reached an understanding about the conditions under which the dispute was to be
The Search for a Final Settlement
