3748 THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. [No. 110

Order in Council in relation to Declaration of London.

At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the twentieth day of August, 1914.

Present:

THE KING’S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY IN COUNCIL.

WHEREAS during the present hostilities the Naval Forces of His Majesty will co-operate with the French and Russian Naval Forces: And whereas it is desirable that the Naval operations of the Allied Forces so far as they affect neutral ships and commerce should be conducted on similar principles: And whereas the Governments of France and Russia have informed His Majesty’s Government that during the present hostilities it is their intention to act in accordance with the provisions of the Convention known as the Declaration of London, signed on the twenty-sixth day of February, one thousand nine hundred and nine, so far as may be practicable:

Now, therefore, His Majesty, by and with the advice of His Privy Council, is pleased to order, and it is hereby ordered, that during the present hostilities the Convention known as the Declaration of London shall, subject to the following additions and modifications, be adopted and put in force by His Majesty’s Government as if the same had been ratified by His Majesty.

The additions and modifications are as follows:—

1. The list of absolute and conditional contraband contained in the Proclamation dated August 4th, 1914, shall be substituted for the lists contained in Articles twenty-two and twenty-four of the said Declaration.

2. A neutral vessel which succeeded in carrying contraband to the enemy with false papers may be detained for having carried such contraband if she is encountered before she has completed her return voyage.

3. The destination referred to in Article thirty-three may be inferred from any sufficient evidence, and (in addition to the presumption laid down in Article thirty-four) shall be presumed to exist if the goods are consigned to or for an agent of the enemy State or to or for a merchant or other person under the control of the Authorities of the enemy State.

4. The existence of a blockade shall be presumed to be known (a) to all ships which sailed from or touched at an enemy port a sufficient time after the notification of the blockade to the local authorities to have enabled the enemy Government to make known the existence of the blockade, (b) to all ships which sailed from or touched at a British or allied port after the publication of the declaration of blockade.

5. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article thirty-five of the said Declaration, conditional contraband, if shown to have the destination referred to in Article thirty-three, is liable for capture to whatever port the vessel is bound and at whatever port the cargo is to be discharged.

6. The General Report of the Drafting Committee on the said Declaration presented to the Naval Conference and adopted by the Conference at the eleventh plenary meeting on February 25th, 1909, shall be considered by all Prize Courts as an authoritative statement of the meaning and intention of the said Declaration, and such Courts shall construe and interpret the provisions of the said Declaration by the light of the commentary given therein. And the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty’s Treasury, the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty and each of His Majesty’s Principal Secretaries of State, the President of the Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty Division of the High Court of Justice, all other Judges of His Majesty’s Prize Courts, and all Governors, Officers, and Authorities whom it may concern, are to give the necessary directions herein as to them may respectively appertain.

ALMERIC FITZROY.