JUDGMENT No. 12.-UPPER SILESIA (MINORITY SCHOOLS) 23 the Statute, in its first paragraph, establishes this principle in the following terms : "The jurisdiction of the Court comprises al1 cases which the Parties refer to i t and al1 matters specially provided for in treaties and conventions in force." / L ~ h i sprinciple only becomes inoperative in those exceptional cases in which the dispute which States might desire to refer to the Court would fa11 within the exclusive jurisdiction reserved to some other authorityj That, however, is not the position in the present suit; for the jurisdiction possessed by the Council of the League of Nations under Articles 147 and 149 of the Geneva Convention to decide upon individual or collective petitions, is entirely distinct from, and in no respect restricts, the Court's jurisdiction to hear and determine disputes between States. This is shown by the fact that the jurisdiction derived by the Council from these articles also covers the articles of Division 1 of this Part of, the Convention in regard to which Article 72, paragraph 3, expressly confers jurisdiction upon the Court in the case of d_iSputes between the States therein mentioned. \ The Court's position, in regard to jurisdiction, cannot be cwpared to the position of municipal courts, amongst which jurisdiction is apportioned by the State, either ratione materiæ or in accordance with a hierarchical system. This division of jurisdiction is, generally speaking, binding upon the Parties and implies an obligation on the part of the Courts e x ogicio to ensure its observance. Since in such cases the raising of an objection by one Party merely draws the attention of the Court to an objection to the jurisdiction which it must ex ogicio consider, a Party may take this step a t any stage of the proceedingsl t h e acceptange by a State of the Court's jurisdiction in a particular case is not, under the Statute, subordinated to the observance of certain forms, such as, for instance, the previous conclusion of a special agreement Thus, in Judgment No. 5 the Court has accepted as sufficient for the purpose of establishing its jurisdiction a mere declaration made by the Respondent in the course of the proceedings agreeing that the Court should decide a point which, in the - 1 '