THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, FEBRUARY 18, 1921. 51
(b) If the Tribunal should be of opinion that under the provisions of the Treaty its jurisdiction may be excluded, or if a Respondent objects to the jurisdiction of the Tribunal to entertain the claim or any part thereof, the Tribunal may, if it thinks fit require the party raising this objection to satisfy the Tribunal that its jurisdiction is, excluded, or may require evidence on the point to be forthcoming from an expert of the law of the country concerned, or may make such other order as may seem just, and may, if it thinks fit, adjourn the case until such evidence has been obtained or until the order has been carried out.
(e) It shall be the duty of the respective Government Agents to inform the Tribunal if they have grounds for believing that the jurisdiction of the Tribunal is excluded.
REPLY AND REJOINDER.
15. If the Claimant desires merely to deny the facts alleged in the response it is not necessary for him to present a reply, but, if the Claimant desires to answer the facts alleged in the response otherwise than by way of denial, a reply must be sent to the Tribunal within thirty days from the receipt of the response by the Claimant, who shall with the reply supply six copies thereof to the Tribunal. The Secretariat will acknow- leage receipt thereof to the Claimant and will transmit one copy of the reply to the Respondent, who shall acknowledge the receipt thereof to the Secretariat, and one copy to each of the Government Agents. Except in such cases, no reply shall be allowed.
If the Respondent desires merely to deny the facts alleged in the reply it is not necessary for him to present a rejoinder, but if the Respondent wishes to answer the facts alleged in the reply otherwise than by way of denial, a rejoinder must be presented to the Tribunal within thirty days from the receipt of the reply by the Respondent, who shall with the rejoinder supply six copies to the Tribunal. The Secretariat will acknow- ledge the receipt thereof to the Respondent and will transmit one copy of the rejoinder to the Claimant and one copy to each of the Government Agents.
Except in such cases no rejoinder shall be allowed and no further written proceed- ings after the rejoinder shall be allowed, other than the written argument provided for by Rule 28, except by special leave of the Tribunal.
The provisions of Rule 6 shall apply to the reply and to the rejoinder.
JOINT CLAIMS AND JOINDER OF PARTIES.
16. Where two or more persons are jointly interested in the same claim, they shall present a joint claim, and where the relief sought is sought against two or more persons jointly, the claim shall be made against them jointly.
17. (a) If the Respondent contends that any person not joined as Claimant ought to be so joined in accordance with the preceding rule, he may within twenty days of receipt of the memorial send in, in duplicate, a notice to the Secretariat naming such person and requiring the Claimant to join such person as Claimant and stating the reason why he requires such joinder. The Secretariat will forward such notice to the Claimant, who shall within thirty days from the receipt thereof state whether he consents to and will effect such joinder, in which case all proceedings shall be stayed until it is effected, or whether he refuses or is unable to effect such joinder, stating his reasons for such refusal or inability.
(b) If the Claimant consents to and is willing to effect such joinder, the written consent of the person to be joined shall be sent to the Tribunal within twenty-one days, and the Secretariat shall thereupon amend the memorial by adding the names of such person as Claimant, and notice of such joinder will be sent to the Respondent and the Government Agent of the Claimant and Respondent, and all further proceedings shall be continued as if such joinder had been made from the commencement.
(c) If the Claimant fails to answer the notice as provided by Rule 17 (a) or refuses or states that he is unable to effect such joinder or if the written consent is not sent as provided by Rule 17 (b), notice thereof shall be given by the Secretariat to the Respon- dent, who may within ten days apply to the Tribunal to stay all proceedings until such joinder be effected. The Secretariat shall give notice of such application to the Claimant, and such application shall be heard by the Tribunal on a date to be fixed by the Tribunal not less than fourteen days after notice of such application has been sent to the Claimant.