… the question of universal peace, about which Bahá’u’lláh
says that the Supreme Tribunal must be established: although the League of
Nations has been brought into existence, yet
it is incapable of establishing universal peace. But the Supreme
Tribunal which Bahá’u’lláh has described will fulfil this sacred task with the
utmost might and power. And His plan is this: that the national assemblies of
each country and nation—that is to say parliaments—should elect two or three
persons who are the choicest of that nation, and are well informed concerning
international laws and the relations between governments and aware of the
essential needs of the world of humanity in this day. The number of these
representatives should be in proportion to the number of inhabitants of that
country. The election of these souls who are chosen by the national assembly,
that is, the parliament, must be confirmed by the upper house, the congress and
the cabinet and also by the president or monarch so these persons may be the
elected ones of all the nation and the government. The Supreme Tribunal will be
composed of these people, and all mankind will thus have a share therein, for
every one of these delegates is fully representative of his nation. When the
Supreme Tribunal gives a ruling on any international question, either
unanimously or by majority rule, there will no longer be any pretext for the
plaintiff or ground of objection for the defendant. In case any of the
governments or nations, in the execution of the irrefutable decision of the
Supreme Tribunal, be negligent or dilatory, the rest of the nations will rise
up against it, because all the governments and nations of the world are the
supporters of this Supreme Tribunal.- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From the First Tablet to the
Hague, 17 December 1919; revised translation under the direction of the
Universal House of Justice, available at the online ‘Baha’i Reference Library’
site of the Baha’i World Center)
