In its November 1964 message to the Bahá'ís of the world, The Universal House of Justice announced that “after study of the sacred texts and hearing the views of the Hands of the Cause themselves, has arrived at the following decisions:
a. There is no way to appoint, or to legislate to make it possible to appoint, Hands of the Cause of God.
b. Responsibility for decisions on matters of general policy affecting the Institution of the Hands of the Cause, which was formerly exercised by the beloved Guardian, now devolves upon the Universal House of Justice as the supreme and central institution of the Faith to which all must turn.
(The Universal House of Justice, Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963 to 1986, p. 44)