Convention (XIII) Concerning the Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers in Naval War

Convention (XIII) Concerning the Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers in Naval War in United States

Convention (XIII) Concerning the Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers in Naval War

Signed at The Hague, 18 October 1907

ENTRY INTO FORCE: 26 January 1910

With a view to harmonizing the divergent views which, in the event of naval
war, are still held on the relations between neutral Powers and belligerent
Powers, and to anticipating the difficulties to which such divergence of
views might give rise;

Seeing that, even if it is not possible at present to concert measures
applicable to all circumstances which may in practice occur, it is
nevertheless undeniably advantageous to frame, as far as possible, rules of
general application to meet the case where war has unfortunately broken
out;

Seeing that, in cases not covered by the present Convention, it is
expedient to take into consideration the general principles of the law of
nations;

Seeing that it is desirable that the Powers should issue detailed
enactments to regulate the results of the attitude of neutrality when
adopted by them;

Seeing that it is, for neutral Powers, an admitted duty to apply these
rules impartially to the several belligerents;

Seeing that, in this category of ideas, these rules should not, in
principle, be altered, in the course of the war, by a neutral Power, except
in a case where experience has shown the necessity for such change for the
protection of the rights of that Power;

Have agreed to observe the following common rules, which cannot however
modify provisions laid down in existing general treaties, and have
appointed as their Plenipotentiaries, namely:

(Here follow the names of Plenipotentiaries)

Who, after having deposited their full powers, found in good and due form,
have agreed upon the following provisions:

Article 1. Belligerents are bound to respect the sovereign rights of
neutral Powers and to abstain, in neutral territory or neutral waters, from
any act which would, if knowingly permitted by any Power, constitute a
violation of neutrality.

Art. 2. Any act of hostility, including capture and the exercise of the
right of search, committed by belligerent war-ships in the territorial
waters of a neutral Power, constitutes a violation of neutrality and is
strictly forbidden.

Art. 3. When a ship has been captured in the territorial waters of a
neutral Power, this Power must employ, if the prize is still within its
jurisdiction, the means at its disposal to release the prize with its
officers and crew, and to intern the prize crew.

If the prize is not in the jurisdiction of the neutral Power, the captor
Government, on the demand of that Power, must liberate the prize with its
officers and crew.

Art. 4. A prize court cannot be set up by a belligerent on neutral
territory or on a vessel in neutral waters.

Art. 5. Belligerents are forbidden to use neutral ports and waters as a
base of naval operations against their adversaries, and in particular to
erect wireless telegraphy stations or any apparatus for the purpose of
communicating with the belligerent forces on land or sea.

Art. 6. The supply, in any manner, directly or indirectly, by a neutral
Power to a belligerent Power, of war-ships, ammunition, or war material of
any kind whatever, is forbidden.

Art. 7. A neutral Power is not bound to prevent the export or transit, for
the use of either belligerent, of arms, ammunition, or, in general, of
anything which could be of use to an army or fleet.

Art. 8. A neutral Government is bound to employ the means at its disposal
to prevent the fitting out or arming of any vessel within its jurisdiction
which it has reason to believe is intended to cruise, or engage in hostile
operations, against a Power with which that Government is at peace. It is
also bound to display the same vigilance to prevent the departure from its
jurisdiction of any vessel intended to cruise, or engage in hostile
operations, which had been adapted entirely or partly within the said
jurisdiction for use in war.

Art. 9. A neutral Power must apply impartially to the two belligerents the
conditions, restrictions, or prohibitions made by it in regard to the
admission into its ports, roadsteads, or territorial waters, of belligerent
war-ships or of their prizes.

Nevertheless, a neutral Power may forbid a belligerent vessel which has
failed to conform to the orders and regulations made by it, or which has
violated neutrality, to enter its ports or roadsteads.

Art. 10. The neutrality of a Power is not affected by the mere passage
through its territorial waters of war-ships or prizes belonging to
belligerents.

Art. 11. A neutral Power may allow belligerent war-ships to employ its
licensed pilots.

Art. 12. In the absence of special provisions to the contrary in the
legislation of a neutral Power, belligerent war-ships are not permitted to
remain in the ports, roadsteads, or territorial waters of the said Power
for more than twenty-four hours, except in the cases covered by the present
Convention.

Art. 13. If a Power which has been informed of the outbreak of hostilities
learns that a belligerent war-ship is in one of its ports or roadsteads, or
in its territorial waters, it must notify the said ship to depart within
twenty-four hours or within the time prescribed by local regulations.

Art. 14. A belligerent war-ship may not prolong its stay in a neutral port
beyond the permissible time except on account of damage or stress of
weather. It must depart as soon as the cause of the delay is at an end.

The regulations as to the question of the length of time which these
vessels may remain in neutral ports, roadsteads, or waters, do not apply to
war-ships devoted exclusively to religious, scientific, or philanthropic
purposes.

Art. 15. In the absence of special provisions to the contrary in the
legislation of a neutral Power, the maximum number of warships belonging to
a belligerent which may be in one of the ports or roadsteads of that Power
simultaneously shall be three.

Art. 16. When war-ships belonging to both belligerents are present
simultaneously in a neutral port or roadstead, a period of not less than
twenty-four hours must elapse between the departure of the ship belonging
to one belligerent and the departure of the ship belonging to the other.

The order of departure is determined by the order of arrival, unless the
ship which arrived first is so circumstanced that an extension of its stay
is permissible.

A belligerent war-ship may not leave a neutral port or roadstead until
twenty-four hours after the departure of a merchant ship flying the flag of
its adversary.

Art. 17. In neutral ports and roadsteads belligerent war-ships may only
carry out such repairs as are absolutely necessary to render them
seaworthy, and may not add in any manner whatsoever to their fighting
force. The local authorities of the neutral Power shall decide what repairs
are necessary, and these must be carried out with the least possible delay.

Art. 18. Belligerent war-ships may not make use of neutral ports,
roadsteads, or territorial waters for replenishing or increasing their
supplies of war material or their armament, or for completing their crews.

Art. 19. Belligerent war-ships may only revictual in neutral ports or
roadsteads to bring up their supplies to the peace standard.

Similarly these vessels may only ship sufficient fuel to enable them to
reach the nearest port in their own country. They may, on the other hand,
fill up their bunkers built to carry fuel, when in neutral countries which
have adopted this method of determining the amount of fuel to be supplied.

If, in accordance with the law of the neutral Power, the ships are not
supplied with coal within twenty-four hours of their arrival, the
permissible duration of their stay is extended by twenty-four hours.

Art. 20. Belligerent war-ships which have shipped fuel in a port belonging
to a neutral Power may not within the succeeding three months replenish
their supply in a port of the same Power.

Art. 21. A prize may only be brought into a neutral port on account of
unseaworthiness, stress of weather, or want of fuel or provisions.

It must leave as soon as the circumstances which justified its entry are at
an end. If it does not, the neutral Power must order it to leave at once;
should it fail to obey, the neutral Power must employ the means at its
disposal to release it with its officers and crew and to intern the prize
crew.

Art. 22. A neutral Power must, similarly, release a prize brought into one
of its ports under circumstances other than those referred to in Article
21.

Art. 23. A neutral Power may allow prizes to enter its ports and
roadsteads, whether under convoy or not, when they are brought there to be
sequestrated pending the decision of a Prize Court. It may have the prize
taken to another of its ports.

If the prize is convoyed by a war-ship, the prize crew may go on board the
convoying ship.

If the prize is not under convoy, the prize crew are left at liberty.

Art. 24. If, notwithstanding the notification of the neutral Power, a
belligerent ship of war does not leave a port where it is not entitled to
remain, the neutral Power is entitled to take such measures as it considers
necessary to render the ship incapable of taking the sea during the war,
and the commanding officer of the ship must facilitate the execution of
such measures.

When a belligerent ship is detained by a neutral Power, the officers and
crew are likewise detained.

The officers and crew thus detained may be left in the ship or kept either
on another vessel or on land, and may be subjected to the measures of
restriction which it may appear necessary to impose upon them. A sufficient
number of men for looking after the vessel must, however, be always left on
board.

The officers may be left at liberty on giving their word not to quit the
neutral territory without permission.

Art. 25. A neutral Power is bound to exercise such surveillance as the
means at its disposal allow to prevent any violation of the provisions of
the above Articles occurring in its ports or roadsteads or in its waters.

Art. 26. The exercise by a neutral Power of the rights laid down in the
present Convention can under no circumstances be considered as an
unfriendly act by one or other belligerent who has accepted the articles
relating thereto.

Art. 27. The Contracting Powers shall communicate to each other in due
course all laws, proclamations, and other enactments regulating in their
respective countries the status of belligerent war-ships in their ports and
waters, by means of a communication addressed to the Government of the
Netherlands, and forwarded immediately by that Government to the other
Contracting Powers.

Art. 28. The provisions of the present Convention do not apply except
between Contracting Powers, and then only if all the belligerents are
parties to the Convention.

Art. 29. The present Convention shall be ratified as soon as possible.
The ratifications shall be deposited at The Hague.

The first deposit of ratifications shall be recorded in a procŠs-verbal
signed by the representatives of the Powers which take part therein and by
the Netherlands Minister for Foreign Affairs.

The subsequent deposits of ratifications shall be made by means of a
written notification addressed to the Netherlands Government and
accompanied by the instrument of ratification.

A duly certified copy of the procŠs-verbal relative to the first deposit of
ratifications, of the ratifications mentioned in the preceding paragraph,
as well as of the instruments of ratification, shall be at once sent by the
Netherlands Government, through the diplomatic channel, to the Powers
invited to the Second Peace Conference, as well as to the other Powers
which have adhered to the Convention. In the cases contemplated in the
preceding paragraph, the said Government shall inform them at the same time
of the date on which it received the notification.

Art. 30. Non-Signatory Powers may adhere to the present Convention.
The Power which desires to adhere notifies in writing its intention to the
Netherlands Government, forwarding to it the act of adhesion, which shall
be deposited in the archives of the said Government.

That Government shall at once transmit to all the other Powers a duly
certified copy of the notification as well as of the act of adhesion,
mentioning the date on which it received the notification.

Art. 31. The present Convention shall come into force in the case of the
Powers which were a party to the first deposit of the ratifications, sixty
days after the date of the procŠs-verbal of that deposit, and, in the case
of the Powers who ratify subsequently or who adhere, sixty days after the
notification of their ratification or of their decision has been received
by the Netherlands Government.

Art. 32. In the event of one of the Contracting Powers wishing to denounce
the present Convention, the denunciation shall be notified in writing to
the Netherlands Government, who shall at once communicate a duly certified
copy of the notification to all the other Powers, informing them of the
date on which it was received.

The denunciation shall only have effect in regard to the notifying Power,
and one year after the notification has been made to the Netherlands
Government.

Art. 33. A register kept by the Netherlands Ministry for Foreign Affairs
shall give the date of the deposit of ratifications made by Article 29,
paragraphs 3 and 4, as well as the date on which the notifications of
adhesion (Article 30, paragraph 2) or of denunciation (Article 32,
paragraph 1) have been received.

Each Contracting Power is entitled to have access to this register and to
be supplied with duly certified extracts.

In faith whereof the Plenipotentiaries have appended their signatures to
the present Convention.

Done at The Hague, 18 October 1907, in a single copy, which shall remain
deposited in the archives of the Netherlands Government, and duly certified
copies of which shall be sent, through the diplomatic channel, to the
Powers which have been invited to the Second Peace Conference.


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