International Law. A Treatise. Volume 2 (of 2): War and Neutrality. Second EditionOppenheim, L. (Lassa)
History
International Law. A Treatise. Volume 2 (of 2): War and Neutrality. Second Edition
Oppenheim, L. (Lassa)
International law
§ 193. As soon as a vessel is seized she must be conducted to a port
where a Prize Court is sitting. As a rule the officer and the crew sent
on board the prize by the captor will navigate the prize to the port.
This officer can ask the master and crew of the vessel to assist him,
but, if they refuse, they may not be compelled thereto. The captor need
not accompany the prize to the port. In the exceptional case, however,
where an officer and crew cannot be sent on board and the captured
vessel is ordered to lower her flag and to steer according to orders,
the captor must conduct the prize to the port. To which port a prize is
to be taken is not for International Law to determine; the latter says
only that the prize must be taken straight to a port of a Prize Court,
and only in case of distress or necessity is delay allowed. If the
neutral State concerned gives permission,[386] the prize may, in case
of distress or in case she is in such bad condition as prevents her from
being taken to a port of a Prize Court, be taken to a near neutral port,
and, if admitted, the capturing man-of-war as well as the prize enjoy
there the privilege of exterritoriality. But as soon as circumstances
allow, the prize must be conducted from the neutral port to that of the
Prize Court, and only if the condition of the prize does not at all
allow this, may the Prize Court give its verdict in the absence of the
prize after the ship papers of the prize and witnesses have been
produced before it.
[Footnote 386: See below, § 328, and articles 21-23 of Convention XIII.
of the Second Peace Conference.]
The whole of the crew of the prize are, as a rule, to be kept on board
and to be brought before the Prize Court. But if this is impracticable,
several important members of the crew, such as the master, mate, or
supercargo, must be kept on board, whereas the others may be removed and
forwarded to the port of the Prize Court by other means of transport.
The whole of the cargo is, as a rule, also to remain on board the prize.
But if the whole or part of the cargo is in a condition which prevents
it from being sent to the port of the Prize Court, it may, according to
the needs of the case, either be destroyed or sold in the nearest port,
and in the latter case an account of the sale has to be sent to the
Prize Court. All neutral goods amongst the cargo are also to be taken to
the port of adjudication, although they have now, according to the
Declaration of Paris, to be restored to their neutral owners. But if
such neutral goods are not in a condition to be taken to the port of
adjudication, they may likewise be sold or destroyed, as the case may
require.
[Sidenote: Destruction of Prize.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account