Laws of War and Treatment of Prisoners of War Act 858 ABY

[Eisenweber]

Imperial Confederated Systems Coat of Arms​

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Create a law of war applied by the Imperial Confederated Systems/Core Imperial Confederation regular criminal and military tribunal courts in regards to war, security actions and miscellaneous armed conflict. It's directly inspired by the Geneva and Hague Conventions which should be obvious from the title. It'll help open up some Humanitarian Angles within war and conflict roleplay for the Imperial Confederated Systems and hopefully give our boards many Jedi Orders and Relief Societies something to do with Prisoners of War. Hopefully this will also give those Diplomats and Foreign Minister characters something tangible to do.
Image Credit: Source
Canon: N/A
Links: Crime against civilisation, Laws of War: Laws and Customs of War on Land (Hague IV); October 18, 1907, The Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, The Hague Rules of Air Warfare February 1923.

GENERAL INFORMATION
Media Name: Laws of War and Treatment of Prisoners of War Act 858 ABY
Format: Book, Holobook, Audio Recording.
Distribution: Inter-Planetary
Length: Long
Description: The Imperial Parliament's houses passed through the Assembly and Senate a bill ratifying many of the customary war ethics including the treatment of Prisoners of War into Imperial Law, it is an attempt by the Imperial Confederated Systems to perhaps arrogantly force what they view as being the appropriate method of warfighting onto the galaxy. Primarily the Law was authored and came into power as a legal means of prosecuting those who abuse Imperial Citizens who are prisoners of war and make clear to those engaged in conflict with the Imperial Confederated Systems what they can expect from the Imperial Military in terms of prisoner treatment and to offer reassurance that Military or Paramilitary personnel fighting for the Imperial Government will be held to an ethical standard by their chain of command and those who violate these ethics run the risk of being punished, perhaps severely with maximum penalties ranging from good behavior bonds all the way upto execution by firing squad.

SOCIAL INFORMATION
Author: Imperial Confederated Systems Parliament
Publisher: Imperial Confederated Systems Parliament
Reception: Many observers were pleasantly surprised to find that an Imperial Government would be interested to ratify legislation defining what constituted a Prisoner of War along with accompanying legal protections, some of which are criticized as ironically being more generous and comprehensive than the Imperial Constitution provides its' own Non-Citizens the vast majority of whom are Non-Human or Humanoid Aliens. The Act's prohibitions on the use of certain weapons against specific targets are also welcomed by several parties interested in preventing the use of weaponry that inflicts unnecessarily cruel or unusal wounds or suffering onto their targets which some observers note threatens the use of some weapons within the Imperial Military's own armoury and is often interpreted as an usually straightforward gesture of goodwill from the accurately characterised Authoritarian Government. Some have noted that several of the stipulations within the Act make it a criminal offence to parade captured troops for public amusement as occured according to some ancient historians to Stormtrooper Prisoners of War at the hands of the New Republic at the conclusion of the Galactic Civil War, there are some that believe legislators are aware of this incident and seek to make such humiliation of their troops a war crime. It is has been proudly published by the Core Imperial Confederation's government accompanied by the statement "Let none justly claim that his Majesty's sailors, soldiers and stormtroopers do not fight with chivalrous honour."

FORMAT INFORMATION
Articles:

• 55 (Division I: Laws of War)
• 27 (Division II: Laws Concerning Interstellar and Maritime War)
• 62 (Division III: Laws Concerning Aerial War)
• 97 (Division IV: Treatment of Prisoners of War)

Text Availability:

• Aurebesh
• Cheunh
• Hapan
• High Galactic
• Kuat
• Outer Rim Basic
• Umbaran

CONTENT INFORMATION

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Division I: Laws of War

• Part I: GENERAL PROVISIONS
  Article 1:
  1) The Contracting and Adhering Powers shall issue instructions to their armed forces which shall be in conformity with the Articles respecting the laws and customs of war.

[*]Article 2:

• ​1) The provisions contained in the Regulations referred to in Article 1, as well as Division I, do not apply except between Contracting or Adhering powers, and then only if the belligerent powers have ratified the Act through notification of intention to adhere, treatise, or other legal mechanism.

[*]Article 3:

• ​1) A belligerent party which violates the provisions of the said Regulations shall, if the case demands, be liable to pay compensation. It shall be responsible for all acts committed by persons forming part of its armed forces.

[*]Article 4:

• 1) The present Act shall be ratified as soon as possible.
• 2) The ratifications shall be deposited at The Coruscant Archives and Imperial Parliament.
• 3) Initial ratifications shall be recorded in a procès-verbal signed by the Representatives of the Powers which take part therein and by the Imperial Confederated Systems' Minister for Foreign Affairs.
• 4) The subsequent deposits of ratifications shall be made by means of a written notification, addressed to the Imperial Confederated Systems' Government and accompanied by the instrument of ratification.
• 5) A duly certified copy of the procès-verbal relative to the first deposit of ratifications, of the notifications mentioned in the preceding paragraph, as well as of the instruments of ratification, shall be immediately sent by the Imperial Government, through the diplomatic channel, to the powers invited to ratify the Act, 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 at the same time inform them of the date on which it received the notification.

[*]Article 5:

• 1) Non-Signatory Powers may adhere to the present Act and benefit from its' protections.
• 2) The Power which desires to adhere notifies in writing its intention to the Imperial Government, forwarding to it the instrument of adhesion, which shall be deposited in the archives of the said Government.
• 3) This Government shall at once transmit to all the other Powers a duly certified copy of the notification as well as of the instrument of adhesion, mentioning the date on which it received the notification.

[*]Article 6:

• ​1) The provisions of Division I come into force, twenty-four hours of the procès-verbal of this deposit, and, in the case of the Powers which ratify subsequently or which adhere, sixty days after the notification of their ratification or of their adhesion has been received by the Imperial Confederated System's Government.

[*]Article 7:

• 
  1) In the event of one of the Contracting or Adhering Powers wishing to denounce the present Act, the denunciation shall be notified in writing to the Imperial Government, which shall at once communicate a duly certified copy of the notification to all the other Contracting or Adhering Powers, informing them of the date on which it was received.
  
• 
  2) The denunciation shall only have effect in regard to the notifying Power, and one year after the notification has reached the Imperial Confederated System's Government.
  

[*]
Article 8:

• 
  1) A register kept by the Imperial Ministry for Foreign Affairs shall give the date of the deposit of ratifications and adhesions made in virtue of Article 4, paragraphs 3 and 4, as well as the date on which the notifications of adhesion (Article 5, paragraph 2), or of denunciation (Article 7, paragraph 1) were received.
  
• 
  2) Each Contracting or Adhering Power is entitled to have access to this register and to be supplied with duly certified extracts.
  
• 
  3) In faith whereof the Plenipotentiaries have appended their signatures to the present Act.
  
• 
  4) Done at The Imperial Parliament, in a single copy, which shall remain deposited in the archives of the Imperial Government, and duly certified copies of which shall be sent, through the diplomatic channel to the Powers which have been invited to ratify or adhere to the present Act.
  

[*]
Part II: REGULATIONS RESPECTING THE LAWS AND CUSTOMS OF WAR

• 
  ​Section I: On Belligerents
  
  ​Chapter I: The Qualifications of Belligerents - Regulations
  
  ​Article 1: The laws, rights, and duties of war apply not only to armies, but also to militia and volunteer corps fulfilling the following conditions:
  
  1) To conduct their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war.
  In countries where militia or volunteer corps constitute the army, or form part of it, they are included under the denomination "army."​
  
• 
  2) To carry arms openly; and
  
• 
  4) To be commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates;
  

[*]
Article 2:

• 
  1) The inhabitants of a territory which has not been occupied, who, on the approach of the enemy, spontaneously take up arms to resist the invading troops without having had time to organize themselves in accordance with Article 1, shall be regarded as lawful belligerents if they carry arms openly and if they respect the laws and customs of war.
  

[*]
Article 3:

• 
  1) The armed forces of the belligerent parties may consist of combatants and non-combatants. In the case of capture by the enemy, both have a right to be treated as prisoners of war.
  

[*]
​​Chapter II: Prisoners of War - Regulations

• 
  ​Article 4:
  
  1) Prisoners of war are in the legal custody of the hostile Government, but not of the individuals or corps who capture them.
  
• 
  2) They must be humanely treated.
  
• 
  3) All their personal belongings, except arms, military vehicles, and military papers, remain their property.
  

[*]
Article 5:

• 
  1) Prisoners of war may be interned in a town, fortress, camp, or other place, and bound not to go beyond certain fixed limits; but they cannot be confined except as in indispensable measure of safety and only while the circumstances which necessitate the measure continue to exist.
  

[*]
Article 6:

• 
  1) The State may utilize the labour of prisoners of war according to their rank and aptitude, officers excepted. The tasks shall not be excessive and shall have no connection with the operations of the war.
  
• 
  2) Prisoners may be authorized to work for the public service, for private persons, or on their own account.
  
• 
  3) Work done for the State is paid for at the rates in force for work of a similar kind done by soldiers of the national army, or, if there are none in force, at a rate according to the work executed.
  
• 
  4) When the work is for other branches of the public service or for private persons the conditions are settled in agreement with the military authorities.
  
• 
  5) The wages of the prisoners shall go towards improving their position, and the balance shall be paid them on their release, after deducting the cost of their maintenance.
  

[*]
Article 7:

• 
  1) The Government into whose hands prisoners of war have fallen is charged with their maintenance.
  
• 
  2) In the absence of a special agreement between the belligerents, prisoners of war shall be treated as regards board, lodging, and clothing on the same footing as the troops of the Government who captured them.
  

[*]
Article 8:

• 1) Prisoners of war shall be subject to the laws, regulations, and orders in force in the army of the State in whose power they are. Any act of insubordination justifies the adoption towards them of such measures of severity as may be considered necessary.
• 2) Escaped prisoners who are retaken before being able to rejoin their own army or before leaving the territory occupied by the army which captured them are liable to disciplinary punishment.
• 3) Prisoners who, after succeeding in escaping, are again taken prisoners, are not liable to any punishment on account of the previous flight

[*]​Article 9:

• 1) ​Every prisoner of war is bound to give, if he is questioned on the subject, his true name and rank, and if he infringes this rule, he is liable to have the advantages given to prisoners of his class curtailed.

[*]​Article 10:

• 1) Prisoners of war may be set at liberty on parole if the laws of their country allow, and, in such cases, they are bound, on their personal honour, scrupulously to fulfil, both towards their own Government and the Government by whom they were made prisoners, the engagements they have contracted.
• 2) In such cases their own Government is bound neither to require of nor accept from them any service incompatible with the parole given.

[*]Article 11:

• 1) A prisoner of war cannot be compelled to accept his liberty on parole; similarly the hostile Government is not obliged to accede to the request of the prisoner to be set at liberty on parole.

[*]Article 12:

• ​1) Prisoners of War liberated or repatriated while on parole and recaptured bearing arms against the Government to whom they had pledged their honour, or against the allies of that Government, forfeit their right to be treated as prisoners of war, and can be brought before the courts or relevant military tribunals as an Unlawful Belligerent rather than a Prisoner of War.

[*]Article 13:

• 1) ​Individuals who follow an army without directly belonging to it, such as newspaper correspondents and reporters, merchants and contractors, who fall into the enemy's hands and whom the latter thinks expedient to detain, are entitled to be treated as prisoners of war, provided they are in possession of a certificate from the military authorities of the army which they were accompanying.

[*]Article 14:

• 1) An inquiry office for prisoners of war is instituted on the commencement of hostilities in each of the belligerent States, and, when necessary, in neutral countries which have received belligerents in their territory. It is the function of this office to reply to all inquiries about the prisoners. It receives from the various services concerned full information respecting internments and transfers, releases on parole, exchanges, escapes, admissions into hospital, deaths, as well as other information necessary to enable it to make out and keep up to date an individual return for each prisoner of war. The office must state in this return the regimental number, name and surname, age, place of origin, rank, unit, wounds, date and place of capture, internment, wounding, and death, as well as any observations of a special character. The individual return shall be sent to the Government of the other belligerent after the conclusion of peace.
  2) It is likewise the function of the inquiry office to receive and collect all objects of personal use, valuables, letters, etc., found on the field of battle or left by prisoners who have been released on parole, or exchanged, or who have escaped, or died in hospitals or ambulances, and to forward them to those concerned.
  

[*]
Article 15:

• 
  1) Relief societies for prisoners of war, which are properly constituted in accordance with the laws of their country and with the object of serving as the channel for charitable effort shall receive from the belligerents, for themselves and their duly accredited agents every facility for the efficient performance of their humane task within the bounds imposed by military necessities and administrative regulations. Agents of these societies may be admitted to the places of internment for the purpose of distributing relief, as also to the halting places of repatriated prisoners, if furnished with a personal permit by the military authorities, and on giving an undertaking in writing to comply with all measures of order and police which the latter may issue.
  

[*]
Article 16:

• 
  ​1) Inquiry offices enjoy the privilege of free postage. Letters, money orders, and valuables, as well as parcels by post, intended for prisoners of war, or dispatched by them, shall be exempt from all postal duties in the countries of origin and destination, as well as in the countries they pass through.
  
• 
  2) Presents and relief in kind for prisoners of war shall be admitted free of all import or other duties, as well as of payments for carriage by the State freightways, including but not limited to terrestrial and interstellar.
  

[*]
Article 17:

• 
  ​1) Officers taken prisoners shall receive the same rate of pay as officers of corresponding rank in the country where they are detained, the amount to be ultimately refunded by their own Government.
  

[*]
Article 18:

• 
  1) Prisoners of war shall enjoy complete liberty in the exercise of their religion, including attendance at the services of whatever church they may belong to, on the sole condition that they comply with the measures of order and police issued by the military authorities.
  

[*]
Article 19:

• 
  1) The wills of prisoners of war are received or drawn up in the same way as for soldiers of the national army.
  
• 
  2) The same rules shall be observed regarding death certificates as well as for the burial of prisoners of war, due regard being paid to their grade and rank.
  

[*]
Article 20:

• 
  1) After the conclusion of peace, the repatriation of prisoners of war shall be carried out as quickly as possible.
  

[*]
Chapter III: The Sick and Wounded - Regulations

• 
  ​Article 21:
  
  1) The obligations of belligerents with regard to the sick and wounded are governed by Division II: Treatment of Prisoners of War.
  

[*]
Section II: Hostilities

• 
  ​Chapter I: Means of Injuring the Enemy, Sieges and Bombardments
  
  ​Article 22:
  
  The right of belligerents to adopt means of injuring the enemy is not unlimited
  

[*]
Article 23:

• 
  In addition to the prohibitions provided by special Conventions, it is especially forbidden:
  
  (a) To employ poison or poisoned weapons;
  
• 
  ( To kill or wound treacherously individuals belonging to the hostile nation or army;
  
• 
  (c) To kill or wound an enemy who, having laid down his arms, or having no longer means of defence, has surrendered at discretion;
  
• 
  (d) To declare that "no quarter" will be given;
  
• 
  (e) To employ arms, projectiles, or material calculated to cause unnecessary suffering;
  
• 
  (f) To make improper use of a flag of truce, of the national flag or of the military insignia and uniform of the enemy, as well as the distinctive badges of the Red Sigil;
  
• 
  (g) To destroy or seize the enemy's property, unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of war;
  
• 
  (h) To declare abolished, suspended, or inadmissible in a court of law the rights and actions of the nationals of the hostile party. A belligerent is likewise forbidden to compel the nationals of the hostile party to take part in the operations of war directed against their own country, even if they were in the belligerent's service before the commencement of the war.
  

[*]
Article 24:

• 
  1) Ruses of war and the employment of measures necessary for obtaining information about the enemy and the country are considered permissible.
  

[*]
Article 25:

• 
  1) The attack or bombardment, by whatever means, of towns, villages, dwellings, or buildings which are undefended is prohibited.
  

[*]
Article 26:

• 
  1) The officer in command of an attacking force must, before commencing a bombardment, except in cases of assault, do all in his power to warn the authorities.
  

[*]
Article 27:

• 
  1) In sieges and bombardments all necessary steps must be taken to spare, as far as possible, buildings dedicated to religion, art, science, or charitable purposes, historic monuments, hospitals, and places where the sick and wounded are collected, provided they are not being used at the time for military purposes.
  
• 
  2) It is the duty of the besieged to indicate the presence of such buildings or places by distinctive and visible signs, which shall be notified to the enemy beforehand.
  

[*]
Article 28:

• 
  1) The pillage of a town or place, even when taken by assault, is prohibited.
  

[*]
Chapter II: Spies

• 
  Article 29:
  
  1) A person can only be considered a spy when, acting clandestinely or on false pretences, they obtain or endeavours to obtain information in the zone of operations of a belligerent, with the intention of communicating it to the hostile party.
  
• 
  2) Thus, soldiers not wearing a disguise who have penetrated into the zone of operations of the hostile army, for the purpose of obtaining information, are not considered spies. Similarly, the following are not considered spies: Soldiers and civilians, carrying out their mission openly, entrusted with the delivery of despatches intended either for their own army or for the enemy's army.
  
• 
  3) To this class belong likewise persons engaged in Unconventional Warfare such as Uniformed Commandos or those sent in freighters for the purpose of carrying despatches and, generally, of maintaining communications between the different parts of an army or a territory.
  

[*]
​Article 30:

• 
  ​1) A Spy charged with espionage and related crimes shall not be punished without a trial subject to the criminal law of the jurisdiction they committed the alleged offences within.
  

[*]
Article 31:

• 
  1) A spy who, after rejoining the army to which he belongs, is subsequently captured by the enemy, is treated as a prisoner of war, and incurs no responsibility for his previous acts of espionage.
  

[*]
Chapter III: Flags of Truce

• 
  Article 32:
  
  ​1) A person is regarded as a representative who has been authorized by one of the belligerents to enter into communication with the other, and who advances bearing a white flag. He has a right to inviolability, as well as the radioman, the flag-bearer and interpreter who may accompany them.
  

[*]
Article 33:

• 
  ​1) The commander to whom a representative is sent is not in all cases obliged to receive them.
  
• 
  2) They may take all the necessary steps to prevent the Representative taking advantage of his mission to obtain information.
  
• 
  3) In case of abuse, he has the right to detain the nominated representative temporarily.
  

[*]
Article 34:

• 
  1) The Representative loses his rights of inviolability if it is proved in a clear and incontestable manner that he has taken advantage of his privileged position to provoke or commit an act of treachery.
  

[*]
Chapter IV: Capitulations

• 
  Article 35:
  
  1) Capitulations agreed upon between the Contracting or Adhering Parties must take into account the rules of military honour.
  
• 
  2) Once settled, they must be scrupulously observed by both parties.
  

[*]
​Chapter V: Armistices

• 
  ​Article 36:
  
  ​1) An armistice suspends military operations by mutual agreement between the belligerent parties. If its duration is not defined, the belligerent parties may resume operations at any time, provided always that the enemy is warned within the time agreed upon, in accordance with the terms of the armistice.
  

[*]
Article 37:

• 
  1) An armistice may be general or local. The first suspends the military operations of the belligerent States everywhere; the second only between certain fractions of the belligerent armies and within a fixed radius.
  

[*]
Article 38:

• 
  1) An armistice must be notified officially and in good time to the competent authorities and to the troops. Hostilities are suspended immediately after the notification, or on the date fixed.
  

[*]
​Article 39:

• 
  1) It rests with the Contracting or Adhering Parties to settle, in the terms of the armistice, what communications may be held in the theatre of war with the inhabitants and between the inhabitants of one belligerent State and those of the other.
  

[*]
Article 40:

• 
  1) Any serious violation of the armistice by one of the parties gives the other party the right of denouncing it, and even, in cases of urgency, of recommencing hostilities immediately.
  

[*]
Article 41:

• 
  1) A violation of the terms of the armistice by private persons acting on their own initiative only entitles the injured party to demand the punishment of the offenders or, if necessary, compensation for the losses sustained.
  

[*]
Section III: Military Authority over the Territory of the Hostile State

• 
  ​Chapter I: General Provisions
  
  ​Article 42:
  
  1) Territory is considered occupied when it is actually placed under the authority of the hostile army.
  
• 
  2) The occupation extends only to the territory where such authority has been established and can be exercised.
  

[*]
Article 43:

• 
  1) The authority of the legitimate power having in fact passed into the hands of the occupant, the latter shall take all the measures in his power to restore, and ensure, as far as possible, public order and safety, while respecting, unless absolutely prevented, the laws in force in the country.
  

[*]
Article 44:

• 
  1) A belligerent is forbidden to force the inhabitants of territory occupied by it to furnish information about the army of the other belligerent, or about its means of defense.
  

[*]
Article 45:

• 
  1) It is forbidden to compel the inhabitants of occupied territory to swear allegiance to the hostile Power.
  

[*]
Article 46:

• 
  1) Family honour and rights, the lives of persons, and private property, as well as religious convictions and practice, must be respected.
  
• 
  2) Private property cannot be confiscated.
  

[*]
Article 47:

• 
  1) Pillage is formally forbidden.
  

[*]
Article 48:

• 
  1) If, in the territory occupied, the occupant collects the taxes, dues, and tolls imposed for the benefit of the State, they shall do so, as far as is possible, in accordance with the rules of assessment and incidence in force, and shall in consequence be bound to defray the expenses of the administration of the occupied territory to the same extent as the legitimate Government was so bound.
  

[*]
Article 49:

• 
  1) If, in addition to the taxes mentioned in the above article, the occupant levies other money contributions in the occupied territory, this shall only be for the needs of the army or of the administration of the territory in question.
  

[*]
Article 50:

• 
  ​1) No general penalty, pecuniary or otherwise, shall be inflicted upon the population on account of the acts of individuals for which they cannot be regarded as jointly and severally responsible.
  

[*]
Article 51:

• 
  1) No contribution monetary or otherwise shall be collected except under a written order, and on the responsibility of a commander-in-chief.
  
• 
  2) The collection of the said contribution shall only be effected as far as possible in accordance with the rules of assessment and incidence of the taxes in force.
  
• 
  3) For every contribution a receipt shall be given to the contributors.
  

[*]
Article 52:

• 
  1) Requisitions in kind and services shall not be demanded from municipalities or inhabitants except for the needs of the army of occupation. They shall be in proportion to the resources of the country, and of such a nature as not to involve the inhabitants in the obligation of taking part in military operations against their own country.
  
• 
  2) Such requisitions and services shall only be demanded on the authority of the commander in the locality occupied.
  
• 
  3) Contributions in kind shall as far is possible be paid for in physical monies or credits; if not, a receipt shall be given and the payment of the amount due shall be made as soon as possible.
  

[*]
Article 53:

• 
  1) An army of occupation can only take possession of credits, money,, funds, and realizable securities which are strictly the property of the State, depots of arms, means of transport, stores and supplies, and, generally, all movable property belonging to the State which may be used for military operations.
  
• 
  2) All appliances, whether on land, at sea, in air or orbit, adapted for the transmission of news, or for the transport of persons or things, exclusive of cases governed by interstellar law, depots of arms, and, generally, all kinds of munitions of war, may be seized, even if they belong to private individuals, but must be restored and compensation fixed when peace is made.
  

[*]
Article 54:

• 
  1) Communication Hardware such as Navigation Buoys, Hyperwave Beacons and Subspace Transceivers connecting an occupied territory with a neutral territory shall not be seized or destroyed except in the case of absolute necessity. They must likewise be restored and compensation fixed when peace is made.
  

[*]
Article 55:

• 
  ​1) The occupying State shall be regarded only as administrator and usufructuary of public buildings, real estate, forests, and agricultural estates belonging to the hostile State, and situated in the occupied country. It must safeguard the capital of these properties, and administer them in accordance with the rules of usufruct.
  

[*]
Article 56:

• 
  1) The property of municipalities, that of institutions dedicated to religion, charity and education, the arts and sciences, even when State property, shall be treated as private property.
  
• 
  2) All seizure of, destruction or wilful damage done to institutions of this character, historic monuments, works of art and science, is forbidden, and should be made the subject of criminal law proceedings.​
  

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DIVISION II: LAWS CONCERNING INTERSTELLAR AND MARITIME WARFARE

• 
  PART I: Interstellar and Maritime Warfare
  
  ​Section I: General Provisions
  
  ​Chapter I: Protection of Hospital Ships and Sick Wards
  
  ​Article 1:
  
  1) Military hospital ships, that is to say, ships constructed or assigned by States specially and solely with a view to assisting the wounded, sick and shipwrecked, the names of which have been communicated to the belligerent Powers at the commencement or during the course of hostilities, and in any case before they are employed, shall be respected, and cannot be captured while hostilities last.
  
• 
  2) These ships, moreover, are not on the same footing as war-ships as regards their stay in a neutral port.
  

[*]
Article 2:

• 
  1) Hospital ships, equipped wholly or in part at the expense of private individuals or officially recognized relief societies, shall likewise be respected and exempt from capture, if the belligerent Power to whom they belong has given them an official commission and has notified their names to the hostile Power at the commencement of or during hostilities, and in any case before they are employed.
  
• 
  2) These ships must be provided with a certificate from the competent authorities declaring that the vessels have been under their control while fitting out and on final departure.
  

[*]
Article 3:

• 
  1) Hospital ships, equipped wholly or in part at the expense of private individuals or officially recognized societies of neutral countries shall be respected and exempt from capture, on condition that they are placed under the control of one of the belligerents, with the previous consent of their own Government and with the authorization of the belligerent himself, and that the latter has notified their names to his adversary at the commencement of or during hostilities, and in any case, before they are employed.
  

[*]
Article 4:

• 
  1) The ships mentioned in Articles 1 , 2 , and 3 shall afford relief and assistance to the wounded, sick, and shipwrecked of the belligerents without distinction of nationality.
  
• 
  2) The Governments undertake not to use these ships for any military purpose.
  
• 
  3) These vessels must in no wise hamper the movements of the combatants.
  
• 
  4) During and after an engagement they will act at their own risk and peril.
  
• 
  5) The belligerents shall have the right to control and search them; they can refuse to help them, order them off, make them take a certain course, and put a commissioner on board; they can even detain them, if important circumstances require it.
  As far as possible, the belligerents shall enter in the log of the hospital ships the orders which they give them.
  

[*]
Article 5:

• 
  1) Military hospital ships shall be distinguished by being painted white outside with a horizontal band of green about a metre and a half in breadth.
  
• 
  2) The ships mentioned in Articles 2 and 3 shall be distinguished by being painted white outside with a horizontal band of red about a metre and a half in breadth along the dorsal hull.
  
• 
  3) The launches and shuttles of the ships above mentioned, as also small craft which may be used for hospital work, shall be distinguished by similar painting.
  
• 
  4) All hospital ships shall make themselves known by transmitting, with their national IFF code, the red rigil, and further, if they belong to a neutral State, by transmitting the national code of the belligerent under whose control they are placed.
  Hospital ships which, in the terms of Article 4 , are detained by the enemy must haul down the national flag of the belligerent to whom they belong.
  
• 
  5) The ships and shuttles above mentioned which wish to ensure by night the freedom from interference to which they are entitled, must, subject to the assent of the belligerent they are accompanying, take the necessary measures to render their special painting sufficiently plain.
  

[*]
Article 6:

• 
  1) The distinguishing signs referred to in Article 5 can only be used, whether in time of peace or war, for protecting or indicating the ships therein mentioned.
  

[*]
Article 7:

• 
  1) In the case of a fight on board a war-ship, the sick wards shall be respected and spared as far as possible.
  
• 
  1) The said sick wards and the material belonging to them remain subject to the laws of war; they cannot, however, be used for any purpose other than that for which they were originally intended, so long is they are required for the sick and wounded.
  
• 
  3) The commander, however, into whose power they have fallen may apply them to other purposes, if the military situation requires it, after seeing that the sick and wounded on board are properly provided for.
  

[*]
Article 8:

• 
  1) Hospital ships and sick wards of vessels are no longer entitled to protection if they are employed for the purpose of injuring the enemy.
  
• 
  2) The fact of the staff of the said ships and sick wards bring armed for maintaining order and for defending the sick and wounded, and the presence of communication apparatus on board, is not a sufficient reason for withdrawing protection.
  

[*]
Article 9:

• 
  1) Belligerents may appeal to the charity of the commanders of neutral merchant ships, yachts, or other craft to take on board and tend the sick and wounded.
  
• 
  2) Vessels responding to the appeal, and also vessels which have of their own accord rescued sick, wounded, or ship-wrecked men, shall enjoy special protection and certain immunities. In no case can they be captured for having such persons on board, but, apart from special undertakings that have been made to them, they remain liable to capture for any violations of neutrality they may have committed.
  

[*]
Chapter II: Captured Vessels

• 
  ​Article 10:
  
  1) The religious, medical, and hospital staff of any captured ship is inviolable, and its members cannot be made prisoners of war. On leaving the ship they take away with them the objects and surgical instruments which are their own private property.
  
• 
  2) This staff shall continue to discharge its duties while necessary, and can afterwards leave, when the commander-in-chief considers it possible.
  
• 
  3) The belligerents must guarantee to the said staff, when it has fallen into their hands, the same allowances and pay which are given to the staff of corresponding rank in their own navy.
  

[*]
​Article 11:

• 
  1) Sailors and soldiers on board, when sick or wounded, as well as other persons officially attached to fleets or armies, whatever their nationality, shall be respected and tended by the captors.
  

[*]
Article 12:

• 
  1) Any war-ship belonging to a belligerent may demand that sick, wounded, or shipwrecked men on board military hospital ships, hospital ships belonging to relief societies or to private individuals, merchant ships, yachts, or other craft, whatever the nationality of these vessels, should be handed over.
  

[*]
Article 13:

• 
  1) If sick, wounded, or shipwrecked persons are taken on board a neutral warship, every possible precaution must be taken that they do not again take part in the operations of the war.
  

[*]
Article 14:

• 
  1) The shipwrecked, wounded, or sick of one of the belligerents who fall into the power of the other belligerent are prisoners of war. The captor must decide, according to circumstances, whether to keep them, send them to a port of his own country, to a neutral port, or even to an enemy port. In this last case, prisoners thus repatriated cannot serve in combat again against the capturing belligerent or their allies while the war lasts.
  

[*]
Article 15:

• 
  1) The shipwrecked, sick, or wounded, who are landed at a neutral port with the consent of the local authorities, must, unless an arrangement is made to the contrary between the neutral State and the belligerent States, be guarded by the neutral State, so as to prevent them again taking part in the operations of the war.
  
• 
  2) The expenses of tending them in hospital and interning them shall be borne by the State to which the shipwrecked, sick, or wounded persons belong.
  

[*]
Article 16:

• 1) After every engagement, the two belligerents, so far as military interests permit, shall take steps to look for the shipwrecked, sick, and wounded, and to protect them, as well as the dead, against pillage and ill-treatment.
• 2) They shall see that the burial, whether by land, sea, space, or cremation of the dead shall be preceded by a careful examination of the corpse.

[*]
Chapter III: Deaths at Sea and Space

• 
  ​Article 17:
  
  1) Each belligerent shall send, as early as possible, to the authorities of their country, navy, or army the military marks or documents of identity found on the dead and the description of the sick and wounded picked up by him.
  
• 
  2) The belligerents shall keep each other informed as to internments and transfers as well as to the admissions into hospital and deaths which have occurred among the sick and wounded in their hands. They shall collect all the objects of personal use, valuables, letters, etc., which are found in the captured ships, or which have been left by the sick or wounded who died in hospital, in order to have them forwarded to the persons concerned by the authorities of their own country.
  

[*]
Chapter IV: Application of the Act

• 
  Article 18:
  
  1) The provisions of the present Act do not apply except between Contracting and Adhering Powers.
  

[*]
Article 19:

• 
  ​1) The commanders-in-chief of the belligerent fleets must see that the above articles are properly carried out; they will have also to see to cases not covered thereby, in accordance with the instructions of their respective Governments and in conformity with the general principles of the present Act.
  

[*]
Article 20:

• 
  1) The Contracting and Adhering Powers shall take the necessary measures for bringing the provisions of the present Act to the knowledge of their naval forces, and especially of the members entitled thereunder to immunity, and for making them known to the public.
  

[*]
Article 21:

• 
  1) The Contracting or Adhering Powers likewise undertake to enact or to propose to their legislatures, if their criminal laws are inadequate, the measures necessary for checking in time of war individual acts of pillage and ill-treatment in respect to the sick and wounded in the fleet, as well as for punishing, as an unjustifiable adoption of naval or military marks, the unauthorized use of the distinctive marks mentioned in Article 5 by vessels not protected by the present Act.
  
• 
  2) They will communicate to each other, through the Imperial Government, the enactments for preventing such acts at the latest within six months of their ratification or adherence to the present Act.
  

[*]
Article 22:

• 
  1) ​​In the case of operations of war between the terrestrial, sea and interstellar forces of belligerents, the provisions of the present Division do not apply except between the forces actually on-board ship.
  

[*]
Article 23:

• 
  1) The present Act shall be ratified as soon as possible.
  
• 
  2) The ratifications shall be deposited at The Coruscanti Archives.
  
• 
  3) The first deposit of ratifications or notice of adherence shall be recorded in a ' procès-verbal ' signed by the representatives of the Powers taking part therein and by the Imperial Minister for Foreign Affairs.
  
• 
  4) Subsequent deposits of ratifications or notifications of adherence shall be made by means of a written notification addressed to the Imperial Government and accompanied by the instrument of ratification or adherence.
  
• 
  5) A certified copy of the ' procès-verbal ' relative to the first deposit of ratifications or notification of adherence, of the notifications mentioned in the preceding paragraph, as well as of the instruments of ratification or adherence, shall be at once sent by the Imperial Government through the diplomatic channel to the ratifying/contracting powers, 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.
  

[*]
Article 24:

• 
  1) Non-Contracting adhering Powers which have accepted the Laws of War and Treatment of Prisoners of War Act 858 ABY may adhere to the present Convention.
  
• 
  2) The Power which desires to adhere notifies its intention to the Imperial Government in writing, forwarding to it the act of adhesion, which shall be deposited in the archives of the said Government.
  
• 
  3) The said Government shall at once transmit to all the other adhering and contracting 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.
  

[*]
Article 25:

• 
  1) The present Act shall come into force, in the case of the Powers which were a party to the first invitation for deposit of ratifications, thirty days after the date of the ' procès-verbal ' of this deposit, and, in the case of the Powers which ratify subsequently or which adhere, fourteen days after the notification of their ratification or of their adhesion has been received by the Imperial Government.
  

[*]
Article 26:

• 
  ​1) In the event of one of the Contracting or Adhering Powers wishing to denounce the present Act, the denunciation shall be notified in writing to the Imperial Government, which shall at once communicate a duly certified copy of the notification to all the other Powers, informing them at the same time of the date on which it was received.
  
• 
  2) The denunciation shall only have effect in regard to the notifying Power, and one year after the notification has reached the Imperial Government.
  

[*]
Article 27:

• 
  1) A register kept by the Imperial Ministry for Foreign Affairs shall give the date of the deposit of ratifications made in virtue of Article 23, paragraphs 3 and 4, as well as the date on which the notifications of adhesion (Article 24, paragraph 2) or of denunciation (Article 26, paragraph 1) have been received.
  
• 
  2) Each Contracting or Adhering Power is entitled to have access to this register and to be supplied with duly certified extracts from it.
  
• 
  3) In faith whereof the representatives have appended their signatures to the Act.
  

---

Division III: LAWS CONCERNING AERIAL WAR

• Part I: AERIAL AND STARFIGHTER WAR
  Section I: General Provisions
  Chapter I: Applicability - Classification and Identifying Marks
  ​Article 1:
  1) The rules and laws concerning aerial warfare apply to all aircraft, whether lighter or heavier than air, irrespective of whether they are, or are not, capable of floating on the water and or whether or not they are capable of moving through the void of space or otherwise in the absence of an atmosphere.

[*]Article 2:

• ​1) The following shall be deemed to be public aircraft:
  a) Military aircraft.
• Non-military aircraft exclusively employed in the public service.

[*]2) All other aircraft shall be deemed to be private aircraft.

[*]Article 3:

• 1) ​A military aircraft shall bear an external mark indicating its nation; and military character.

[*]Article 4:

• ​1) A public non-military aircraft employed for customs or police purposes shall carry papers evidencing the fact that it is exclusively employed in the public service. Such an aircraft shall bear an external mark indicating its nationality and its public non-military character.

[*]Article 5:

• ​1) Public non-military aircraft other than those employed for customs or police purposes shall in time of war bear the same external marks, and for the purposes of these rules shall be treated on the same footing, as private aircraft.

[*]Article 6:

• 1) ​Aircraft not comprised in Articles III and IV and deemed to be private aircraft shall carry such papers and bear such external marks as are required by the rules in force in their own country. These marks must indicate their nationality and character.

[*]Article 7:

• 1) T​he external marks required by the above articles shall be so affixed that they cannot be altered in flight. They shall be as large as is practicable and shall be visible from above, from below and from each side.

[*]Article 8:

• ​1) The external marks, prescribed by the rules in force in each State, shall be notified promptly to all other contracting or adhering Powers.
• 2) Modifications adopted in time of peace of the rules prescribing external marks shall be notified to all other Powers before they are brought into force.
• 3) Modifications of such rules adopted at the outbreak of war or during hostilities shall be notified by each Power as soon as possible to all other Powers and at latest when they are communicated to their own fighting forces.

[*]Article 9:

• ​1) A belligerent non-military aircraft, whether public or private, may be converted into a military aircraft, provided that the conversion is effected within the jurisdiction of the belligerent State to which the aircraft belongs and not while in a combat environment.

[*]Article 10:

• ​1) No aircraft may possess more than one nationality.

[*]Chapter II: General Principles

• Article 11:
  ​1) Outside the jurisdiction of any State, belligerent or neutral, all aircraft shall have full freedom of passage through-the air and of alighting.

[*]Article 12:

• ​1) In time of war any State, whether belligerent or neutral, may forbid or regulate the entrance, movement or sojourn of aircraft within its jurisdiction.

[*]​Chapter III: Belligerents

• ​Article 13:
  ​1) Military aircraft alone are entitled to exercise belligerent rights.

[*]Article 14:

• ​1) A military aircraft shall be under the command of a person duly commissioned or enlisted in the military service of the State; the crew must be exclusively military.

[*]Article 15:

• ​1) Members of the crew of a military aircraft shall wear a fixed distinctive emblem of such character as to be recognizable at a distance in case they become separated from their aircraft.

[*]Article 16:

• ​1) No aircraft other than a belligerent military aircraft shall engage in hostilities in any form.
• 2) The term "hostilities" includes the transmission during flight of military intelligence for the immediate use of a belligerent.

[*]Article 17:

• ​​1) The principles laid down in Division II for the adaptation of the said Division to Interstellar and Maritime War shall apply to aerial warfare and to flying ambulances, as well as to the control over flying ambulances exercised by a belligerent commanding officer.
• 2) In order to enjoy the protection and privileges allowed to mobile medical units by the present act, flying ambulances must bear the distinctive emblem of the Red Sigil in addition to the usual distinguishing marks.

[*]Chapter IV: Hostilities

• ​Article 18:
  ​1) The use of tracer, incendiary, explosive projectiles by or against air, is not prohibited.
• 2) The use of disruptor technology by or against air, is not prohibited.
• 3) The use of particle beam technology by or against air, is not prohibited.

[*]Article 19:

• 1) The use of false external marks is forbidden.

[*]Article 20:

• 1) When an aircraft has been disabled, the occupants when endeavoring to escape must not be attacked in the course of their adrift state or atmospheric descent.

[*]Article 21:

• ​1) The use of aircraft for the purpose of disseminating propaganda shall not be treated as an illegitimate means of warfare. Members of the crews of such aircraft must not be deprived of their rights as prisoners of war on the charge that they have committed such an act.

[*]Article 22:

• ​1) Aerial bombardment for the purpose of terrorizing the civilian population, of destroying or damaging private property not of a military character, or of injuring non-combatants is prohibited.

[*]Article 23:

• 1) Aerial bombardment for the purpose of enforcing compliance with requisitions in kind or payment of contributions in monies or credits is prohibited.

[*]Article 24:

• ​1) Aerial bombardment is legitimate only when directed at a military objective, that is to say, an object of which the destruction or injury would constitute a distinct military advantage to the belligerent.
• 2) Such bombardment is legitimate only when directed exclusively at the following objectives: military forces; military works; military establishments or depots; factories constituting important and well-known centres engaged in the manufacture of arms, ammunition, or distinctively military supplies; lines of communication or transportation used for military purposes.
• 3) The bombardment of cities, towns, villages, dwellings, or buildings not in the immediate neighborhood of the operations of land forces is prohibited. In cases where the objectives specified in paragraph 2 are so situated, that they cannot be bombarded without the indiscriminate bombardment of the civilian population, the aircraft must abstain from bombardment.
• 4) In the immediate neighborhood of the operations of land forces, the bombardment of cities, towns, villages, dwellings, or buildings is legitimate provided that there exists a reasonable presumption that the military concentration is sufficiently important to justify such bombardment, having regard to the danger thus caused to the civilian population.
• 5) A belligerent State is liable to pay compensation for injuries to person or to property caused by the violation by any of its officers or forces of the provisions of this article.

[*]Article 25:

• 1) ​In bombardment by aircraft all necessary steps must be taken by the commander to spare as far as possible buildings dedicated to public worship, art, science, or charitable purposes, historic monuments, hospital ships, hospitals, and other places where the sick and wounded are collected, provided such buildings, objects or places are not at the time used for military purposes. Such buildings, objects and places must by day be indicated by marks visible to aircraft. The use of marks to indicate other buildings, objects or places than those specified above is to be deemed an act of perfidy. The marks used as aforesaid shall be in the case of buildings protected under the Act the red sigil on a white ground, and in the case of other protected buildings a large rectangular panel divided diagonally into two pointed triangular portions, one black and the other white.
• 2) A belligerent who desires to secure by night the protection for the hospitals and other privileged buildings above mentioned must take the necessary measures to render the special signs referred to sufficiently visible.

[*]Article 26:

• The following special rules are adopted for the purpose of enabling States to obtain more efficient protection for important historic monuments situated within their territory, provided that they are willing to refrain from the use of such monuments and a surrounding zone for military purposes, and to accept a special regime for their inspection.
• 1) A State shall be entitled, if it sees fit, to establish a zone of protection round such monuments situated in its territory. Such zones shall in time of war enjoy immunity from bombardment.
• 
  2) The monuments round which a zone is established shall be notified to other Powers in peace time through the diplomatic channel; the notification shall also indicate the limits of the zones. The notification may not be withdrawn in time of war.
  
• 
  3) The zone of protection may include, in addition to the area actually occupied by the monument or group of monuments, an outer zone, not exceeding 500 meters in width, measured from the circumference of the said area.
  
• 
  4) Marks clearly visible from aircraft either by day or by night will be employed for the purpose of ensuring the identification by belligerent airmen of the limits of the zones.
  
• 
  5 ) The marks on the monuments themselves will be those defined in Article 25 The marks employed for indicating the surrounding zones will be fixed by each State adopting the provisions of this article, and will be notified to other Powers at the same time as the monuments and zones are notified.
  
• 
  6) Any abusive use of the marks indicating the zones referred to in paragraph 5 will be regarded as an act of perfidy.
  
• 
  7) A State adopting or adhering to the provisions of this article must abstain from using the monument and the surrounding zone for military purposes, or for the benefit in any way whatever of its military organization, or from committing within such monument or zone any act with a military purpose in view.
  
• 
  8 ) An inspection committee consisting of three neutral representatives accredited to the State adopting or adhering to the provisions of this article, or their delegates, shall be appointed for the purpose of ensuring that no violation is committed of the provisions of paragraph 7. One of the members of the committee of inspection shall be the representative (or his delegate) of the State to which has been entrusted the interests of the opposing belligerent.
  

[*]
Article 27:

• 1) Any person on board a belligerent or neutral aircraft is to be deemed a spy only if acting clandestinely or on false presences he obtains or seeks to obtain, while in the air, information within belligerent jurisdiction or in the zone of operations of a belligerent with the intention of communicating it to the hostile party.

[*]Article 28:

• 1) Acts of espionage committed after leaving the aircraft by members of the crew of an aircraft or by passengers transported by it are subject to the provisions of Division I: Laws of War

[*]Article 29:

• 1) ​Punishment of the acts of espionage referred to in Articles 27 and 28 II is subject to Articles 30 and 31 of Division I: Laws of War.

[*]Chapter V: Military Authority Over Enemy and Neutral Aircraft and Persons on Board.

• Article 30:
  ​1) In case a belligerent commanding officer considers that the presence of aircraft is likely to prejudice the success of the operations in which he is engaged at the moment, he may prohibit the passing of neutral aircraft in the immediate vicinity of the forces or may oblige them to follow a particular route. A neutral aircraft which does not conform to such directions, of which it has had notice issued by the belligerent commanding officer, may be fired upon.

[*]Article 31:

• ​1) In accordance with the principles of Article 53 of the Division I: Laws of War, neutral private aircraft found upon entry in the enemy's jurisdiction by a belligerent occupying force may be requisitioned, subject to the payment of full compensation.

[*]Article 32:

• 1) ​Enemy public aircraft, other than those treated on the same footing private aircraft (i.e police and customs Aircraft), shall be subject to confiscation without prize proceedings.

[*]Article 33:

• ​1) Belligerent non-military aircraft, whether public or private, flying within the jurisdiction of their own State, are liable to be fired upon unless they make the nearest available landing on the approach of enemy military aircraft.

[*]Article 34:

• ​1) Belligerent non-military aircraft, whether public or private, are liable to be fired upon, if they fly (1) within the jurisdiction of the enemy, or (2) in the immediate vicinity thereof and outside the jurisdiction of their own State, or (3) in the immediate vicinity of the military operations of the enemy by land, sea or interstellar void.

[*]Article 35:

• ​1) Neutral aircraft flying within the jurisdiction of a belligerent, and warned of the approach of military aircraft of the opposing belligerent, must make the nearest available landing. Failure to do so exposes them to the risk of being fired upon.

[*]Article 36:

• ​​1) When an enemy military aircraft falls into the hands of a belligerent, the members of the crew and the passengers, if any, may be made prisoners of war.
• 2) The same rule applies to the members of the crew and the passengers, if any, of an enemy public non-military aircraft, except that in the case of public non-military aircraft devoted exclusively to the transport of passengers, the passengers will be entitled to be released unless they are in the service of the enemy, or are enemy nationals fit for military service.
• 3) If an enemy private aircraft falls into the hands of a belligerent, members of the crew who are enemy nationals, or who are neutral nationals in the service of the enemy, may be made prisoners of war. Neutral members of the crew, who are not in the service of the enemy are entitled to be released if they sign a written undertaking not to serve in any enemy aircraft while hostilities last. Passengers are entitled to be released unless they are in the service of the enemy or are enemy nationals fit for military service, in which cases they may be made prisoners of war.
• 4) Release may in any case be delayed if the military interests of the belligerents so require.
• 5) The belligerent may hold as prisoners of war any member of the crew or any passenger whose service in a flight at the close of which he has been captured has been of special and active assistance to the enemy.
• 6) The names of individuals released after giving a written undertaking in accordance with the third paragraph. of this article will be notified to the opposing belligerent, who must not knowingly employ them in violation of their undertaking.

[*]Article 37:

• 
  1) Members of the crew of a neutral aircraft which has been detained by a belligerent shall be released unconditionally, if they are neutral nationals and not in the service of the enemy. If they are enemy nationals or in the service of the enemy, they may be made prisoners of war.
  
• 
  2) Passengers are entitled to be released unless they are in the service of the enemy or are enemy nationals fit for military service, in which cases they may be made prisoners of war.
  
• 
  3) Release may in any case be delayed if the military interests of the belligerent so require.
  
• 
  4) The belligerent may hold as prisoners of war any member of the crew or any passenger whose service in a flight at the close of which he has been captured has been of special and active assistance to the enemy.
  

[*]
Article 38:

• 
  ​1) Where under the - provisions of Articles 36 and 37 it is provided that members of the crew or passengers may be made prisoners of war, it is to be understood that, if they are not members of the armed forces, they shall be entitled to treatment not less favorable than that accorded to prisoners of war.
  

[*]
Chapter VI - Belligerent Duties Towards Neutral States and Neutral Duties Towards Belligerent States.

• 
  Article 39:
  
  1) Belligerent aircraft are bound to respect the rights of neutral Powers and to abstain within the jurisdiction of a neutral State from the commission of any act which it is the duty of that State to prevent.
  

[*]
Article 40:

• 
  1) Belligerent military aircraft are forbidden to enter the jurisdiction of a neutral State.
  

[*]
Article 41:

• 
  ​1) Aircraft on board vessels of war, including those onboard interstellar warships, shall be regarded as part of such vessels.
  

[*]
Article 42:

• 
  ​1) A neutral government must use the means at its disposal to prevent the entry within its jurisdiction of belligerent military aircraft and to compel them to land if they have entered such jurisdiction.
  
• 
  2) A neutral government shall use the means at its disposal to intern any belligerent military aircraft which is within its jurisdiction after having landed for any reason whatsoever, together with its crew and the passengers, if any.
  

[*]
Article 43:

• 1) The personnel of a disabled belligerent military aircraft rescued outside neutral waters and brought into the jurisdiction of a neutral State by a neutral military aircraft and there landed shall be interned.

[*]​Article 44:

• ​1) The supply in any manner, directly or indirectly, by a neutral government to a belligerent Power of aircraft, parts of aircraft, or material, supplies or munitions required for aircraft is forbidden.

[*]Article 45:

• ​1) Subject to the provisions of Article 46, a neutral Power is not bound to prevent the export or transit on behalf of a belligerent of aircraft, parts of aircraft, or material, supplies or munitions for aircraft.

[*]Article 46:

• ​1) A neutral government is bound to use the means at its disposal:
  a) to prevent the departure from its jurisdiction of an aircraft in a condition to make a hostile attack against a belligerent Power, or carrying or accompanied by appliances or materials the mounting or utilisation of which would enable it to make a hostile attack, if there is reason to believe that such aircraft is destined for use against a belligerent Power.
• to prevent the departure of an aircraft the crew of which includes any member of the combatant forces of a belligerent Power.
• c) to prevent work upon an aircraft designed to prepare it to depart in contravention of the purpose of this article.
• d) On the departure by air or space of any aircraft despatched by persons or companies in neutral jurisdiction to the order of a belligerent Power, the neutral government must prescribe for such aircraft a route avoiding the neighbourhood of the military operations of the opposing belligerent, and must exact whatever guarantees may be required to ensure that the aircraft follows the route prescribed.

[*]Article 47:

• 1) A neutral State is bound to take such steps as the means at its disposal permit to prevent within its jurisdiction aerial or interstellar observation of the movements, operations or defences of one belligerent, with the intention of informing the other belligerent.
• 2) This provision applies equally to a belligerent military aircraft on board a vessel of war.

[*]Article 48:

• 3) ​The action of a neutral Power in using force or other means at its disposal in the exercise of its lights or duties under these rules cannot be regarded as a hostile act.

[*]​​Chapter VII: Visit and Search, Capture and Condemnation

• ​Article 49:
  ​1) Private aircraft are liable to visit and search and to capture by belligerent military aircraft.

[*]
Article 50:

• 
  1) Belligerent military aircraft have the right to order public non-military and private aircraft to land in or proceed for visit and search to a suitable locality reasonably accessible.
  
• 
  2) Refusal, after warning, to obey such orders to alight or to proceed to such a locality for examination exposes an aircraft to the risk of being fired upon.
  

[*]
Article 51:

• 
  ​1) Neutral public non-military aircraft, other than those which are to be treated as private aircraft, are subject only to visit for the purpose of the verification of their papers.
  

[*]
Article 52:

• 
  ​1) Enemy private aircraft are liable to capture in all circumstances.
  

[*]
Article 53:

• 
  ​1) A neutral private aircraft is liable to capture if it:
  
  a) resists the legitimate exercise of belligerent rights;
  
• 
  violates a prohibition of which it has had notice issued by a belligerent commanding officer under Article 30;
  
• 
  c) is engaged in unneutral service; country;
  
• 
  d) is armed in time of war when outside the jurisdiction of its own
  
• 
  e ) has no external marks or uses false marks;
  
• 
  f ) has no papers or insufficient or irregular papers;
  
• 
  g) is manifestly out of line between the point of departure and the point of destination indicated in its papers and, after such enquiries as the belligerent may deem necessary, no good cause is shown for the deviation. The aircraft, together with its crew and passengers, if any, may be detained by the belligerent, pending such enquiries;
  
• 
  h) carries, or itself constitutes, contraband of war;
  
• 
  i) is engaged in breach of a blockade duly established and effectively maintained;
  
• 
  k) has been transferred from belligerent to neutral nationality at a date and in circumstances indicating an intention of evading the consequences to which an enemy aircraft, as such, is exposed.
  
• 
  Provided that in each case, except (k), the ground for capture shall be an act carried out in the flight in which the neutral aircraft came into belligerent hands, i.e., since it left its point of departure and before it reached its point of destination.
  

[*]
​Article 54:

• 
  ​​1) The papers of a private aircraft will be regarded as insufficient or irregular if they do not establish the nationality of the aircraft and indicate the names and nationality of the crew and passengers, the points of departure and destination of the flight, together with particulars of the cargo and the conditions under which it is transported. The logs must also be included.
  

[*]
​​Article 55:

• 
  1) Capture of an aircraft or of goods on board an aircraft shall be made the subject of prize proceedings, in order that any neutral claim may be duly heard and determined.​​​
  

[*]
​​​​Article 56:

• 
  1) ​A private aircraft captured upon the ground that it has no external marks or is using false marks, or that it is armed in time of war outside the jurisdiction of its own country, is liable to condemnation.
  
• 
  2) A neutral private aircraft captured upon the ground that it has disregarded the direction of a belligerent commanding officer under Article 30 is liable to condemnation, unless it can justify its presence within the prohibited zone.
  
• 
  3) In all other cases, the prize court in adjudicating upon any case of capture of an aircraft or its cargo, or of postal correspondence on board an aircraft, shall apply the same rules as would be applied to a merchant vessel or its cargo or to postal correspondence on board a merchant vessel.
  

[*]
Article 57:

• 
  1) Private aircraft which are found upon visit and search to be enemy aircraft may be destroyed if the belligerent commanding officer finds it necessary to do so, provided that all persons on board have first been placed in safety and all the papers of the aircraft have been preserved.
  

[*]
Article 58:

• 
  1) Private aircraft which are found upon visit and search to be neutral aircraft liable to condemnation upon the ground of unneutral service, or upon the ground that they have no external marks or are bearing false marks, may be destroyed, if sending them in for adjudication would be impossible or would imperil the safety of the belligerent aircraft or the success of the operations in which it is engaged. Apart from the cases mentioned above, a neutral private aircraft must not be destroyed except in the gravest military emergency, which would not justify the officer in command in releasing it or sending it in for adjudication.
  

[*]
Article 59:

• 
  1) Before a neutral private aircraft is destroyed, all persons on board must be placed in safety, and all the papers of the aircraft must be preserved.
  
• 
  2) A captor who has destroyed a neutral private aircraft must bring the capture before the prize court, and must first establish that he was justified in destroying it under Article 58. If he fails to do this, parties interested in the aircraft or its cargo are entitled to compensation. If the capture is held to be invalid, though the act of destruction is held to have been justifiable, compensation must be paid to the parties interested in place of the restitution to which they would have been entitled.
  

[*]
Article 60:

• 
  1) Where a neutral private aircraft is captured on the ground that it is carrying contraband, the captor may demand the surrender of any absolute contraband on board, or may proceed to the destruction of such absolute contraband, if sending in the aircraft for adjudication is impossible or would imperil the safety of the belligerent aircraft or the success of the operations in which it is engaged. After entering in the log book of the aircraft the delivery or destruction of the goods, and securing, in original or copy, the relevant papers of the aircraft, the captor must allow the neutral aircraft to continue its flight.
  
• 
  2) The provisions of the second paragraph of Article 59 will apply where absolute contraband on board a neutral private aircraft is handed over or destroyed.
  

[*]
Chapter VIII: Definitions

• 
  ​​​Article 61:
  
  ​1) The term "military" throughout these act's regulations is to be read as referring to all branches of the forces, i.e., the land forces, the naval forces, and the air forces.
  

[*]
​​Article 62:

• 
  
  1) Except so far as special rules are here laid down, and except also so far as the provisions of Chapter VII of these Regulations or other such multinational conventions indicate that interstellar and maritime. law and procedure are applicable, aircraft personnel engaged in hostilities come under the laws of war and neutrality applicable to terrestrial troops in virtue of the custom and practice of intergalactic law and of the various declarations and conventions to which the States concerned are parties.
  
  

---

---

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Division IV: TREATMENT OF PRISONERS OF WAR

• Part I: GENERAL PROVISIONS
  Article 1: The present Act shall apply without prejudice to:
  
  (1) To all persons belonging to the armed forces of belligerents who are captured by the enemy in the course of operations of land, maritime, aerial or interstellar war, subject to such exceptions (derogations) as the conditions of such capture render inevitable. Nevertheless these exceptions shall not infringe the fundamental principles of the Act; they shall cease from the moment when the captured persons shall have reached a prisoners of war camp.
  

[*]
Article 2:

• 
  ​1) Prisoners of war are in the power and legal custody of the hostile Government, but not of the individuals or formation which captured them.
  
• 
  2) They shall at all times be humanely treated and protected, particularly against acts of violence, from insults and from public curiosity.
  
• 
  3) Measures of reprisal against them are forbidden.
  

[*]
Article 3:

• 
  1) Prisoners of war are entitled to respect for their persons and honour.
  
• 
  2) Women shall be treated with all consideration due to their sex.
  
• 
  3) Prisoners retain their full civil capacity.
  

[*]
Article 4:

• 
  1) The detaining Power is required to provide for the maintenance of prisoners of war in its charge.
  
• 
  2) Differences of treatment between prisoners are permissible only if such differences are based on the military rank, the state of physical or mental health, the professional abilities, or the sex of those who benefit from them.
  

[*]
Part II: CAPTURE

• 
  Article 5:
  
  1) Every prisoner of war is required to declare, if they are interrogated on the subject, true legal names and rank, or their serial number.
  
• 
  2) If a prisoner of war infringes this article, he exposes himself to a restriction of the privileges accorded to prisoners of his category.
  
• 
  3) No pressure shall be exercised on prisoners to obtain information regarding the situation in their armed forces or their country. Prisoners who refuse to reply may not be threatened, insulted, or exposed to unpleasantness or disadvantages of any kind whatsoever.
  
• 
  4) If, by reason of their physical or mental condition, a prisoner is incapable of stating their identity, they shall be handed over to the Medical Service.
  

[*]
Article 6:

• 
  1) All personal effects and articles in personal use -- except arms, fauna, flora, military equipment and military papers -- shall remain in the possession of prisoners of war, as well as their protective helmets and respirators as applicable.
  
• 
  2) Sums of monies carried by prisoners may only be taken from them on the order of an officer and after the amount has been recorded. A receipt shall be given for them. Sums thus impounded shall be placed to the account of each prisoner.
  
• 
  3) Their identity tokens, badges of rank, decorations and articles of value may not be taken from prisoners.
  

[*]
Part III: CAPTIVITY

• 
  Section I: Evacuation of Prisoners of War
  
  Article 7:
  
  1) As soon as possible after their capture, prisoners of war shall be evacuated to depots sufficiently removed from the fighting zone for them to be out of danger.
  
• 
  2) Only prisoners who, by reason of their wounds or maladies, would run greater risks by being evacuated than by remaining may be kept temporarily in a dangerous zone.
  
• 
  3) Prisoners shall not be unnecessarily exposed to danger while awaiting evacuation from a fighting zone.
  
• 
  4) The evacuation of prisoners on foot shall in normal circumstances be effected by stages of not more than 20 kilometres per day, unless the necessity for reaching water and food depots requires longer stages.
  

[*]
Article 8:

• 
  1) Belligerents are required to notify each other of all captures of prisoners as soon as possible, through the intermediary of the Information Bureau organised in accordance with Article 77 . They are likewise required to inform each other of the official addresses to which letter from the prisoners' families may be addressed to the prisoners of war.
  
• 
  2) As soon as possible, every prisoner shall be enabled to correspond personally with their family, in accordance with the conditions prescribed in Article 36 and the following Articles.
  
• 
  3) As regards prisoners captured at sea, the provisions of the present article shall be observed as soon as possible after arrival in port.
  

[*]
Section II: Prisoners of War Camps

• 
  Chapter I: Internship and Lodging
  
  ​​​Article 9:
  
  1) Prisoners of war may be interned in a town, fortress or other place, and may be required not to go beyond certain fixed limits. They may also be interned in fenced camps; they shall not be confined or imprisoned except as a measure indispensable for safety or health, and only so long as circumstances exist which necessitate such a measure.
  
• 
  2) Prisoners captured in districts which are unhealthy or whose climate is deleterious to persons coming from temperate climates shall be removed as soon as possible to a more favourable climate.
  
• 
  3) Belligerents shall as far as possible avoid bringing together in the same camp prisoners of different species or nationalities.
  No prisoner may at any time be sent to an area where he would be exposed to the fire of the fighting zone, or be employed to render by his presence certain points or areas immune from bombardment.
  

[*]
Article 10:

• 
  1) Prisoners of war shall be lodged in buildings or huts which afford all possible safeguards as regards hygiene and salubrity.
  
• 
  2) The premises as practicable must be entirely free from environmental hazards, and adequately heated and lighted. All precautions shall be taken against the danger of fire.
  
• 
  3) As regards dormitories, their total area, minimum cubic air space, fittings and bedding material, the conditions shall be the same as for the depot troops of the detaining Power.
  

[*]
Article 11:

• 
  1) The food ration of prisoners of war shall be equivalent in quantity and quality to that of the depot troops.
  
• 
  2) Prisoners shall also be afforded the means of preparing for themselves such additional articles of food as they may possess.
  
• 
  3) Sufficient drinking water shall be supplied to them. The use of tobacco shall be authorized. Prisoners may be employed in the kitchens.
  All collective disciplinary measures affecting food are prohibited.
  

[*]
Chapter II: Food and Clothing of Prisoners of War

• 
  Article 12:
  
  ​1) Clothing, underwear and footwear shall be supplied to prisoners of war by the detaining Power. The regular replacement and repair of such articles shall be assured. Workers shall also receive working kit wherever the nature of the work requires it.
  
• 
  2) In all camps, canteens shall be installed at which prisoners shall be able to procure, at the local market price, food commodities and ordinary articles.
  
• 
  3) The profits accruing to the administrations of the camps from the canteens shall be utilised for the benefit of the prisoners.
  

[*]
Chapter III: Hygiene in Prisoner of War Camps

• 
  ​Article 13:
  
  1) Belligerents shall be required to take all necessary hygienic measures to ensure the cleanliness and salubrity of camps and to prevent epidemics.
  
• 
  2) Prisoners of war shall have for their use, day and night, conveniences which conform to the rules of hygiene and are maintained in a constant state of cleanliness.
  
• 
  3) In addition and without prejudice to the provision as far as possible of baths and shower-baths in the camps, the prisoners shall be provided with a sufficient quantity of water for their bodily cleanliness.
  
• 
  4) They shall have facilities for engaging in physical exercises and obtaining the benefit of being out of doors.
  

[*]
Article 14:

• 
  1) Each camp shall possess an infirmary, where prisoners of war shall receive attention of any kind of which they may be in need. If necessary, isolation establishments shall be reserved for patients suffering from infectious and contagious diseases.
  
• 
  2) The expenses of treatment, including those of temporary remedial apparatus, shall be borne by the detaining Power.
  Belligerents shall be required to issue, on demand, to any prisoner treated, and official statement indicating the nature and duration of his illness and of the treatment received.
  
• 
  3) It shall be permissible for belligerents mutually to authorize each other, by means of special agreements, to retain in the camps doctors and medical orderlies for the purpose of caring for their prisoner compatriots.
  
• 
  4) Prisoners who have contracted a serious malady, or whose condition necessitates important surgical treatment, shall be admitted, at the expense of the detaining Power, to any military or civil institution qualified to treat them.​
  

[*]
Article 15:

• 
  1) Medical inspections of prisoners of war shall be arranged at least once a month. Their object shall be the supervision of the general state of health and cleanliness, and the detection of infectious and contagious diseases, particularly influenza and communicable disease complaints.
  

[*]
Chapter IV: Intellectual, Moral and Religious needs of Prisoners of War

• 
  Article 16:
  
  ​1) Prisoners of war shall be permitted complete freedom in the performance of their religious duties, including attendance at the services of their faith, on the sole condition that they comply with the routine and police regulations prescribed by the military authorities.
  
• 
  2) Ministers of religion, who are prisoners of war, whatever may be their denomination, shall be allowed freely to minister to their co-religionists.
  

[*]
Article 17:

• 
  ​1) Belligerents shall encourage as much as possible the organization of intellectual and sporting pursuits by the prisoners of war.
  

[*]
Chapter V: Internal Discipline of Prisoner of War Camps

• 
  Article 18:
  
  1) Each prisoners of war camp shall be placed under the authority of a responsible officer.
  In addition to external marks of respect required by the regulations in force in their own armed forces with regard to their nationals, Enlisted and Non-Commissioned Officer prisoners of war shall be required to salute all officers of the detaining Power.
  2) Officer prisoners of war shall be required to salute only officers of that Power who are their superiors or equals in rank.
  

[*]
Article 19:

• 
  1) The wearing of badges of rank and decorations shall be permitted.
  

[*]
Article 20:

• 
  1) Regulations, orders, announcements and publications of any kind shall be communicated to prisoners of war in a language which they understand. The same principle shall be applied to questions.
  

[*]
Chapter VI: Provisions concerning Officers and Other Ranks

• 
  ​Article 21:
  
  1) At the commencement of hostilities, belligerents shall be required reciprocally to inform each other of the titles and ranks in use in their respective armed forces, with the view of ensuring equality of treatment between the corresponding ranks of officers and persons of equivalent status.
  
• 
  2) Officers and persons of equivalent status who are prisoners of war shall be treated with due regard to their rank and age.
  

[*]
Article 22:

• 
  1) In order to ensure the service of officers' camps, soldier prisoners of war of the same armed forces, and as far as possible speaking the same language, shall be detached for service therein in sufficient number, having regard to the rank of the officers and persons of equivalent status.
  
• 
  2) Officers and persons of equivalent status shall procure their food and clothing from the pay to be paid to them by the detaining Power. The management of a mess by officers themselves shall be facilitated in every way.
  

[*]
Chapter VII: Percuniary resources of Prisoners of War

• 
  Article 23:
  
  1) Subject to any special arrangements made between the belligerent Powers, and particularly those contemplated in Article 24, officers and persons of equivalent status who are prisoners of war shall receive from the detaining Power the same pay as officers of corresponding rank in the armed forces of that Power, provided, however, that such pay does not exceed that to which they are entitled in the armed forces of the country in whose service they have been. This pay shall be paid to them in full, once a month if possible, and no deduction therefrom shall be made for expenditure devolving upon the detaining Power, even if such expenditure is incurred on their behalf.
  
• 
  2) An agreement between the belligerents shall prescribe the rate of exchange applicable to this payment; in default of such agreement, the rate of exchange adopted shall be that in force at the moment of the commencement of hostilities.
  
• 
  3) All advances made to prisoners of war by way of pay shall be reimbursed, at the end of hostilities, by the Power in whose service they were.
  

[*]
Article 24:

• 
  ​1) At the commencement of hostilities, belligerents shall determine by common accord the maximum amount of cash which prisoners of war of various ranks and categories shall be permitted to retain in their possession. Any excess withdrawn or withheld from a prisoner, and any deposit of money effected by him, shall be carried to his account, and may not be converted into another currency without his consent.
  
• 
  2) The credit balances of their accounts shall be paid to the prisoners of war at the end of their captivity.
  During the continuance of the latter, facilities shall be accorded to them for the transfer of these amounts, wholly or in part, to banks or private individuals in their country of origin.
  

[*]Chapter VIII: Transfer of Prisoners of War

• Article 25:
  1) Unless the course of military operations demands it, sick and wounded prisoners of war shall not be transferred if their recovery might be prejudiced by the journey.

[*]Article 26:

• 1) In the event of transfer, prisoners of war shall be officially informed in advance of their new destination; they shall be authorized to take with them their personal effects, their correspondence and parcels which have arrived for them. All necessary arrangements shall be made so that correspondence and parcels addressed to their former camp shall be sent on to them without delay.
• 2) The sums credited to the account of transferred prisoners shall be transmitted to the competent authority of their new place of residence.Expenses incurred by the transfers shall be borne by the detaining Power.

[*]Section III: Work of Prisoners of War

• Chapter I: General
  ​Article 27:
  1) Belligerents may employ as workmen prisoners of war who are physically fit, other than officers and persons of equivalent statue, according to their rank and their ability.
• 2) Nevertheless, if officers or persons of equivalent status ask for suitable work, this shall be found for them as far as possible.

[*]​Chapter II: Organisation of Work

• Article 28:
  1) The detaining Power shall assume entire responsibility for the maintenance, care, treatment and the payment of the wages of prisoners of war working for private individuals or privately held companies

[*]Article 29:

• 1) No prisoner of war may be employed on work for which he is physically unsuited.

[*]Article 30:

• 1) The duration of the daily work of prisoners of war, including the time of the journey to and from work, shall not be excessive and shall in no case exceed that permitted for civil workers of the locality employed on the same work. Each prisoner shall be allowed a rest of twenty-four consecutive hours each week.

[*]​Article 31:

• 1) Work done by prisoners of war shall have no direct connection with the operations of the war. In particular, it is forbidden to employ prisoners in the manufacture or transport of arms or munitions of any kind, or on the transport of material destined for combatant units.
• 2) In the event of violation of the provisions of the preceding paragraph, prisoners are at liberty, after performing or commencing to perform the order, to have their complaints presented through the intermediary of the prisoners' representatives whose functions are described in Articles 43 and 44, or, in the absence of a prisoners' representative, through the intermediary of the representatives of the protecting Power.

[*]Chapter III: Prohibited Work

• Article 32:
  ​1) It is forbidden to employ prisoners of war on unhealthy or dangerous work. Conditions of work shall not be rendered more arduous by disciplinary measures.

[*]Chapter IV: Labour Detachments

• ​​​​Article 33:
  ​1) Conditions governing labour detachments shall be similar to those of prisoners-of-war camps, particularly as concerns hygienic conditions, food, care in case of accidents or sickness, correspondence, and the reception of parcels.
• 2) Every labour detachment shall be attached to a prisoners' camp. The commander of this camp shall be responsible for the observance in the labour detachment of the provisions of the present Act.

[*]Chapter V: Pay and Remittance

• ​Article 34:
  ​1) Prisoners of war shall not receive pay for work in connection with the administration, internal arrangement and maintenance of camps.
• 2) Prisoners employed on other work shall be entitled to a rate of pay, to be fixed by agreements between the belligerents.
• 3) These agreements shall also specify the portion which may be retained by the camp administration, the amount which shall belong to the prisoner of war and the manner in which this amount shall be placed at his disposal during the period of his captivity.
• 4) Pending the conclusion of the said agreements, remuneration of the work of prisoners shall be fixed according to the following standards:
  a) Work done for the State shall be paid for according to the rates in force for soldiers of the national forces doing the same work, or, if no such rates exist, according to a tariff corresponding to the work executed.
• ( When the work is done for other public administrations or for private individuals, the conditions shall be settled in agreement with the military authorities.
• c) The pay which remains to the credit of a prisoner shall be remitted to him on the termination of his captivity. In case of death, it shall be remitted through the diplomatic channel to the heirs of the deceased.

[*]Section IV: Relations of Prisoners of War with the Exterior

• ​Chapter I: General Provisions
  ​Article 35:
  ​1) On the commencement of hostilities, belligerents shall publish the measures prescribed for the execution of the provisions of the present section.

[*]Article 36:

• 1) Each of the belligerents shall fix periodically the number of letters and postcards which prisoners of war of different categories shall be permitted to send per month, and shall notify that number to the other belligerent parties. These letters and cards shall be sent by post by the shortest route. They may not be delayed or withheld for disciplinary motives.
• 2) Not later than one week after his arrival in camp, and similarly in case of sickness, each prisoner shall be enabled to send a postcard to their family informing them of their capture and the state of their health. The said postcards shall be forwarded as quickly as possible and shall not be delayed in any manner.
• 3) As a general rule, the correspondence of prisoners shall be written in their native language. Belligerents may authorize correspondence in other languages.

[*]Article 37:

• ​1) Prisoners of war shall be authorized to receive individually postal parcels containing foodstuffs and other articles intended for consumption or clothing. The parcels shall be delivered to the addressees and a receipt given.

[*]Article 38:

• 1) Letters and remittances of money or valuables, as well as postal parcels addressed to prisoners of war, or despatched by them, either directly or through the intermediary of the information bureau mentioned in Article 77, shall be exempt from all postal charges in the country of origin and destination and in the countries through which they pass.
• 2) Presents and relief in kind intended for prisoners of war shall also be exempt from all import or other duties, as well as any charges for carriage on interstellar freightways operated by the State.
• 3) Prisoners may, in cases of recognized urgency, be authorized to send holomessages on payment of the usual charges.

[*]Article 39:

• 1) Prisoners of war shall be permitted to receive individually consignments of books which may be subject to censorship.
• 2) Representatives of the protecting Powers and of duly recognized and authorized relief societies may send works and collections of books to the libraries of prisoners, camps. The transmission of such consignments to libraries may not be delayed under pretext of difficulties of censorship.

[*]Article 40:

• 1) The censoring of correspondence shall be accomplished as quickly as possible. The examination of postal parcels or any other such consignments shall, moreover, be effected under such conditions as will ensure the preservation of any foodstuffs which they may contain, and, if possible, be done in the presence of the addressee or of a representative duly recognized by them.
• 2) Any prohibition of correspondence ordered by the belligerents, for military or political reasons, shall only be of a temporary character and shall also be for as brief a time as possible.

[*]Article 41:

• 1) Belligerents shall accord all facilities for the transmission of documents destined for prisoners of war or signed by them, in particular powers of attorney and wills.
• 2) They shall take the necessary measures to secure, in case of need, the legalisation of signatures of prisoners.

[*]​Section V: Relations between Prisoners of War and the Detaining Power

• Chapter I: General Provisions
  ​Article 42:
  1) Prisoners of war shall have the right to bring to the notice of the detaining authorities, in whose hands they are, their petitions concerning the conditions of captivity to which they are subjected.
• 2) They shall also have the right to communicate with the representatives of the protecting Powers in order to draw their attention to the points on which they have complaints to make with regard to the conditions of captivity.
• 3) Such petitions and complaints shall be transmitted immediately.
• 4) Even though they are found to be groundless, they shall not give rise to any punishment.

[*]Article 43:

• 1) In any locality where there may be prisoners of war, they shall be authorized to appoint representatives to represent them before the military authorities and the protecting Powers.
• 2) Such appointments shall be subject to the approval of the military authorities.
• 3) The prisoners' representatives shall be charged with the reception and distribution of collective consignments. Similarly, in the event of the prisoners deciding to organize amongst themselves a system of mutual aid, such organization shall be one of the functions of the prisoners" representatives. On the other hand, the latter may offer their services to prisoners to facilitate their relations with the relief societies mentioned in Article 78.
• 4) In camps of officers and persons of equivalent status the senior officer prisoner of the highest rank shall be recognized as intermediary between the camp authorities and the officers and similar persons who are prisoners, for this purpose he shall have the power to appoint an officer prisoner to assist him as interpreter in the course of conferences with the authorities of the camp.

[*]​​Chapter II: Representatives of the Prisoners of War

• ​Article 44:
  1) When the prisoners representatives are employed as workmen, their work as representatives of the prisoners of war shall be reckoned in the compulsory period of labour.
• 2) All facilities shall be accorded to the prisoners' representatives for their correspondence with the military authorities and the protecting Power. Such correspondence shall not be subject to any limitation.
• 3) No prisoners' representative may be transferred without his having been allowed the time necessary to acquaint his successors with their role and state of affairs within the camp.

[*]Chapter III: Penal Sanctions with regard to Prisoners of War #1

• ​Article 45:
  1) Prisoners of war shall be subject to the laws, regulations and orders in force in the armed forces of the detaining Power.
• 2) Any act of insubordination shall render them liable to the measures prescribed by such laws, regulations, and orders, except as otherwise provided in this Chapter.

[*]Article 46:

• 1) Prisoners of war shall not be subjected by the military authorities or the tribunals of the detaining Power to penalties other than those which are prescribed for similar acts by members of the national forces.
• 2) Officers, non-commissioned officers or private soldiers, prisoners of war, undergoing disciplinary punishment shall not be subjected to treatment less favourable than that prescribed, as regards the same punishment, for similar ranks in the armed forces of the detaining Power.
• 3) All forms of corporal punishment, confinement in premises not lighted by daylight and, in general, all forms of cruelty whatsoever are prohibited.
• 4) Collective penalties for individual acts are also prohibited.

[*]Article 47:

• ​1) A statement of the facts in cases of acts constituting a breach of discipline, and particularly an attempt to escape, shall be drawn up in writing without delay. The period during which prisoners of war of whatever rank are detained in custody (pending the investigation of such offences) shall be reduced to a strict minimum.
• 2) The judicial proceedings against a prisoner of war shall be conducted as quickly as circumstances will allow. The period during which prisoners shall be detained in custody shall be as short as possible.
• 3) In all cases the period during which a prisoner is under arrest (awaiting punishment or trial) shall be deducted from the sentence, whether disciplinary or judicial, provided such deduction is permitted in the case of members of the national forces.

[*]Article 48:

• 1) After undergoing the judicial or disciplinary punishment which has been inflicted on them, prisoners of war shall not be treated differently from other prisoners.
• 2) Nevertheless, prisoners who have been punished as the result of an attempt to escape may be subjected to a special regime of surveillance, but this shall not involve the suppression of any of the safeguards accorded to prisoners by the present Act.

[*]Article 49:

• 1) No prisoner of war may be deprived of his rank by the detaining Power.
• 2) Prisoners on whom disciplinary punishment is inflicted shall not be deprived of the privileges attaching to their rank. In particular, officers and persons of equivalent status who suffer penalties entailing deprivation of liberty shall not be placed in the same premises as non-commissioned officers or private soldiers undergoing punishment.

[*]Article 50:

• 1) Escaped prisoners of war who are re-captured before they have been able to rejoin their own armed forces or to leave the territory occupied by the armed forces which captured them shall be liable only to disciplinary punishment.
• 2) Prisoners who, after succeeding in rejoining their armed forces or in leaving the territory occupied by the armed forces which captured them, are again taken prisoner shall not be liable to any punishment for their previous escape.

[*]Article 51:

• 1) Attempted escape, even if it is not a first offence, shall not be considered as an aggravation of the offence in the event of the prisoner of war being brought before the courts for crimes or offences against persons or property committed in the course of such attempt.
• 2) After an attempted or successful escape, the comrades of the escaped person who aided the escape shall incur only disciplinary punishment.

[*]Article 52:

• 1) Belligerents shall ensure that the competent authorities exercise the greatest leniency in considering the question whether an offence committed by a prisoner of war should be punished by disciplinary or by judicial measures.
• 2) This provision shall be observed in particular in appraising facts in connection with escape or attempted escape.
  A prisoner shall not be punished more than once for the same act or on the same charge.
  

[*]
Article 53:

• 1) No prisoner who has been awarded any disciplinary punishment for an offence and who fulfils the conditions laid down for repatriation shall be retained on the ground that he has not undergone his punishment.
• 2) Prisoners qualified for repatriation against whom any prosecution for a criminal offence has been brought may be excluded from repatriation until the termination of the proceedings and until fulfillment of their sentence, if any; prisoners already serving a sentence of imprisonment may be retained until the expiry of the sentence.
• 3) Belligerents shall communicate to each other lists of those who cannot be repatriated for the reasons indicated in the preceding paragraph.

[*]​Chapter III: Penal Sanctions with regard to Prisoners of War #2

• ​Article 54:​
  1) Imprisonment is the most severe disciplinary punishment which may be inflicted on a prisoner of war.
  The duration of any single punishment shall not exceed thirty days.
  
• 
  2) This maximum of thirty days shall, moreover, not be exceeded in the event of there being several acts for which the prisoner is answerable to discipline at the time when his case is disposed of, whether such acts are connected or not.
  
• 
  3) Where, during the course or after the termination of a period of imprisonment, a prisoner is sentenced to a fresh disciplinary penalty, a period of at least three days shall intervene between each of the periods of imprisonment, if one of such periods is of ten days or over.
  

[*]
Article 55:

• 1) Subject to the provisions of the last paragraph of Article 11, the restrictions in regard to food permitted in the armed forces of the detaining Power may be applied, as an additional penalty, to prisoners of war undergoing disciplinary punishment.
• 2) Such restrictions shall, however, only be ordered if the state of the prisoner's health permits.

[*]Article 56:

• 1) In no case shall prisoners of war be transferred to penitentiary establishments (prisoners, penitentiaries, convict establishments, etc.) in order to undergo disciplinary sentence there.
• 2) Establishments in which disciplinary sentences are undergone shall conform to the requirements of hygiene.
• 3) Facilities shall be afforded to prisoners undergoing sentence to keep themselves in a state of cleanliness.
• 4) Every day, such prisoners shall have facilities for taking exercise or for remaining out of doors for at least two hours.

[*]​Article 57:

• 
  1) Prisoners of war undergoing disciplinary punishment shall be permitted to read and write and to send and receive letters.
  
• 
  2) On the other hand, it shall be permissible not to deliver parcels and remittances of money to the addressees until the expiration of the sentence. If the undelivered parcels contain perishable foodstuffs, these shall be handed over to the infirmary or to the camp kitchen.
  

[*]
Article 58:

• 
  ​1) Prisoners of war undergoing disciplinary punishment shall be permitted, on their request, to present themselves for daily medical inspection. They shall receive such attention as the medical officers may consider necessary, and, if need be, shall be evacuated to the camp infirmary or to hospital.
  

[*]
Article 59:

• 
  1) Without prejudice to the competency of the courts and the superior military authorities, disciplinary sentences may only be awarded by an officer vested with disciplinary powers in his capacity as commander of the camp or detachment, or by the responsible officer acting as his substitute.
  

[*]
​Chapter III: Penal Sanctions with regard to Prisoners of War #3

• 
  ​Article 60:
  
  1) At the commencement of a judicial hearing against a prisoner of war, the detaining Power shall notify the representative of the protecting Power as soon as possible, and in any case before the date fixed for the opening of the hearing.
  The said notification shall contain the following particulars:
  
  (a) Civil status and rank of the prisoner.
  
• 
  ( ) Place of residence or detention.
  
• 
  (c) Statement of the charge or charges, and of the legal provisions applicable.
  

[*]
2) If it is not possible in this notification to indicate particulars of the court which will try the case, the date of the opening of the hearing and the place where it will take place, these particulars shall be furnished to the representative of the protecting Power at a later date, but as soon as possible and in any case at least three weeks before the opening of the hearing.


[*]
Article 61:

• 
  1) No prisoner of war shall be sentenced without being given the opportunity to defend himself.
  
• 
  2) No prisoner shall be compelled to admit that he is guilty of the offence of which he is accused.
  

[*]
Article 62:

• 
  1) The prisoner of war shall have the right to be assisted by a qualified. advocate of his own choice and, if necessary, to have recourse to the offices of a competent interpreter. He shall be informed of his right by the detaining Power in good time before the hearing.
  
• 
  2) Failing a choice on the part of the prisoner, the protecting Power may procure an advocate for him. The detaining Power shall, on the request of the protecting Power, furnish to the latter a list of persons qualified to conduct the defence.
  The representatives of the protecting Power shall have the right to attend the hearing of the case.
  
• 
  3) The only exception to this rule is where the hearing has to be kept secret in the interests of the safety of the State. The detaining Power would then notify the protecting Power accordingly.
  

[*]
Article 63:

• 
  ​1) A sentence shall only be pronounced on a prisoner of war by the same tribunals and in accordance with the same procedure as in the case of persons belonging to the armed forces of the detaining Power.
  

[*]
Article 64:

• 
  ​1) Every prisoner of war shall have the right of appeal against any sentence against him in the same manner as persons belonging to the armed forces of the detaining Power.
  

[*]
Article 65:

• 
  ​1) Sentences pronounced against prisoners of war shall be communicated immediately to the protecting Power.
  

[*]
​Article 66:

• 
  1) If sentence of death is passed on a prisoner of war, a communication setting forth in detail the nature and the circumstances of the offence shall be addressed as soon as possible to the representative of the protecting Power for transmission to the Power in whose armed forces the prisoner served.
  
• 
  2) The sentence shall not be carried out before the expiration of a period of at least three months from the date of the receipt of this communication by the protecting Power.
  

[*]
Article 67:

• 
  1) No prisoner of war may be deprived of the benefit of the provisions of Article 42 of the present Act as the result of a judgment or otherwise.
  

[*]
​​​​Part IV: END OF CAPTIVITY

• 
  ​Section I: Direct Repatriation and Accommodation in a Neutral Country
  
  ​Chapter I: General Provisions
  
  ​Article 68:
  
  ​1) Belligerents shall be required to send back to their own country, without regard to rank or numbers, after rendering them in a fit condition for transport, prisoners of war who are seriously ill or seriously wounded.
  
• 
  2) Agreements between the belligerents shall therefore determine, as soon as possible, the forms of disablement or sickness requiring direct repatriation and cases which may necessitate accommodation in a neutral country. Pending the conclusion of such agreements, the belligerents may refer to the model draft agreement annexed to the present Act.
  

[*]
Article 69:

• 
  1) On the opening of hostilities, belligerents shall come to an understanding as to the appointment of mixed medical commissions. These commissions shall consist of three members, two of whom shall belong to a neutral country and one appointed by the detaining Power; one of the medical officers of the neutral country shall preside. These mixed medical commissions shall proceed to the examination of sick or wounded prisoners and shall make all appropriate decisions with regard to them.
  
• 
  2) The decisions of these commissions shall be decided by majority and shall be carried into effect as soon as possible.
  

[*]
Article 70:

• 
  1) In addition to those prisoners of war selected by the medical officer of the camp, the following shall be inspected by the mixed medical Commission mentioned in Article 69, with a view to their direct repatriation or accommodation in a neutral country:
  
  (a) Prisoners who make a direct request to that effect to the medical officer of the camp;
  
• 
  ( Prisoners presented by the prisoners' representatives mentioned in Article 43, the latter acting on their own initiative or on the request of the prisoners themselves;
  
• 
  (c) Prisoners nominated by the Power in whose armed forces they served or by a relief society duly recognized and authorized by that Power.
  

[*]
Article 71:

• 
  ​1) Prisoners of war who meet with accidents at work, unless the injury is self-inflicted, shall have the benefit of the same provisions as regards repatriation or accommodation in a neutral country.
  

[*]
Article 72:

• 
  1) During the continuance of hostilities, and for humanitarian reasons, belligerents may conclude agreements with a view to the direct repatriation or accommodation in a neutral country of prisoners of war in good health who have been in captivity for a long time.
  

[*]
Article 73:

• 
  1) The expenses of repatriation or transport to a neutral country of prisoners of war shall be borne, as from the frontier of the detaining Power, by the Power in whose armed forces such prisoners served.
  

[*]
​Article 74:

• 
  ​​1) No repatriated person shall be employed on active military service.
  

[*]
Article 75:

• 
  ​1) When belligerents conclude an armistice convention, they shall normally cause to be included therein provisions concerning the repatriation of prisoners of war. If it has not been possible to insert in that convention such stipulations, the belligerents shall, nevertheless, enter into communication with each other on the question as soon as possible. In any case, the repatriation of prisoners shall be effected as soon as possible after the conclusion of peace.
  
• 
  2) Prisoners of war who are subject to criminal proceedings for a crime or offence at common law may, however, be detained until the end of the proceedings, and, if need be, until the expiration of the sentence. The same applies to prisoners convicted for a crime or offence at common law.
  
• 
  3) By agreement between the belligerents, commissions may be instituted for the purpose of searching for scattered prisoners and ensuring their repatriation.
  

[*]
​​Part V: Deaths of Prisoners of War

• 
  Section I: Deaths in Custody
  
  Chapter I: General Provisions
  
  Article 76:
  
  ​1) Art. 76. The wills of prisoners of war shall be received and drawn up under the same conditions as for soldiers of the national armed forces.
  
• 
  2) The same rules shall be followed as regards the documents relative to the certification of the death.
  
• 
  3) The belligerents shall ensure that prisoners of war who have died in captivity are honourably buried, and that the graves bear the necessary indications and are treated with respect and suitably maintained.
  

[*]
​​Part VI: Bureau of Relief

• 
  Section I: Powers and Responsibilities
  
  Chapter I: General Provisions
  
  Article 77:
  
  1) At the commencement of hostilities, each of the belligerent Powers and the neutral Powers who have belligerents in their care, shall institute an official bureau to give information about the prisoners of war in their territory.
  
• 
  2) Each of the belligerent Powers shall inform its Information Bureau as soon as possible of all captures of prisoners effected by its armed forces, furnishing them with all particulars of identity at its disposal to enable the families concerned to be quickly notified, and stating the official addresses to which families may write to the prisoners.
  
• 
  3) The Information Bureau shall transmit all such information immediately to the Powers concerned, on the one hand through the intermediary of the protecting Powers, and on the other through the Central Agency contemplated in Article 79.
  
• 
  4) The Information Bureau, being charged with replying to all enquiries relative to prisoners of war, shall receive from the various services concerned all particulars respecting internments and transfers, releases on parole, repatriations, escapes, stays in hospitals, and deaths, together with all other particulars necessary for establishing and keeping up to date an individual record for each prisoner of war.
  
• 
  5) The Bureau shall note in this record, as far as possible, and subject to the provisions of Article 5, the serial number, names and surnames, date and place of birth, rank and unit of the prisoner, the surname of the father and name of the mother, the address of the person to be notified in case of accident, wounds, dates and places of capture, of internment, of wounds, of death, together with all other important particulars.
  
• 
  6) Weekly lists containing all additional particulars capable of facilitating the identification of each prisoner shall be transmitted to the interested Powers.
  
• 
  7) The individual record of a prisoner of war shall be sent after the conclusion of peace to the Power in whose service he was.
  
• 
  8) The Information Bureau shall also be required to collect all personal effects, valuables, correspondence, pay-books, identity tokens, etc., which have been left by prisoners of war who have been repatriated or released on parole, or who have escaped or died, and to transmit them to the countries concerned.
  

[*]
​Article 78:

• 
  ​1) Societies for the relief of prisoners of war, regularly constituted in accordance with the laws of their country, and having for their object to serve as intermediaries for charitable purposes, shall receive from the belligerents, for themselves and their duly accredited agents, all facilities for the efficacious performance of their humane task within the limits imposed by military exigencies.
  
• 
  2) Representatives of these societies shall be permitted to distribute relief in the camps and at the halting places of repatriated prisoners under a personal permit issued by the military authority, and on giving an undertaking in writing to comply with all routine and police orders which the said authority shall prescribe.
  

[*]
Article 79:

• 
  1) A Central Agency of information regarding prisoners of war shall be established in a neutral country. If they consider it necessary, propose to the Powers concerned the organization of such an agency.
  
• 
  2) This agency shall be charged with the duty of collecting all information regarding prisoners which they may be able to obtain through official or private channels, and the agency shall transmit the information as rapidly as possible to the prisoners' own country or the Power in whose service they have been.
  
• 
  3) These provisions shall not be interpreted as restricting the humanitarian work of the organisations covered under this part.
  

[*]
Article 80:

• 
  ​1) Information Bureaux shall enjoy exemption from fees on postal matter as well as all the exemptions prescribed in Article 38.
  

[*]
​​Part VII: APPLICATION OF THE ACT TO CERTAIN CATEGORIES OF NON-COMBATANTS AND CIVILIANS

• 
  Section I: Categories
  
  Chapter I: General Provisions
  
  ​Article 81:
  
  1) Persons who follow the armed forces without directly belonging thereto, such as correspondents, newspaper reporters, merchants, or contractors, who fall into the hands of the enemy, and whom the latter think fit to detain, shall be entitled to be treated as prisoners of war, provided they are in possession of an authorization from the military authorities of the armed forces which they were following.
  

[*]
​​Part VIII: EXECUTION OF THE ACT

• 
  Section I: Provisions
  
  Chapter I: General Provisions
  
  ​Article 82:
  1) The provisions of the present Act shall be respected by the Belligerent Parties to a conflict in all circumstances.
• 2) In time of war if one of the belligerents does not accept the Act or any provisions included thereof, its provisions shall, nevertheless, remain binding as between the belligerents who accept it thereto.

[*]​Article 83:

• 1) The Belligerent powers reserve to themselves the right to conclude special conventions on all questions relating to prisoners of war concerning which they may consider it desirable to make special provisions.
• 2) Prisoners of war shall continue to enjoy the benefits of this act until their repatriation has been effected, subject to any provisions expressly to the contrary contained in the above-mentioned agreements or in subsequent agreements, and subject to any more favourable measures by one or the other of the belligerent Powers concerning the prisoners detained by that Power.
• 3) In order to ensure the application, on both sides, of the provisions of the present Act, and to facilitate the conclusion of the special conventions mentioned above, the belligerents may, at the commencement of hostilities, authorize meetings of representatives of the respective authorities charged with the administration of prisoners of war.

[*]​Article 84:

• ​1) The text of the present Convention and of the special conventions mentioned in the preceding Article shall be posted, whenever possible, in the native language of the prisoners of war, in places where it may be consulted by all the prisoners.
• 2) The text of the Act shall be communicated, on their request, to prisoners who are unable to inform themselves of the text posted.

[*]Article 85:

• 1) ​The Belligerent Parties shall communicate to each other, through an agreed nominated intermediary, the official translations of the present Act, together with such laws and regulations as they may adopt to ensure mutual application of the Act.

[*]Article 86:

• 1) The Belligerent Powers recognize that a guarantee of the regular application of the present Act will be found in the possibility of collaboration between the protecting Powers charged with the protection of the interests of the belligerents; in this connection, the protecting Powers may, apart from their diplomatic personnel, appoint delegates from among their own nationals or the nationals of other neutral Powers. The appointment of these delegates shall be subject to the approval of the belligerent with whom they are to carry out their mission.
  2) The representatives of the protecting Power or their recognized delegates shall be authorized to proceed to any place, without exception, where prisoners of war are interned. They shall have access to all premises occupied by prisoners and may hold conversation with prisoners, as a general rule without witnesses, either personally or through the intermediary of interpreters. Belligerents shall facilitate as much as possible the task of the representatives or recognized delegates of the protecting Power. The military authorities shall be informed of their visits. Belligerents may mutually agree to allow persons of the prisoners own nationality to participate in the tours of inspection.
  

[*]
Section II: Organisation of Control

• 
  ​Chapter I: General Provisions
  
  ​Article 87:
  
  1) ​In the event of dispute between the belligerents regarding the application of the provisions of the present Act, the protecting Powers shall, as far as possible, lend their good offices with the object of settling the dispute.
  
• 
  2) To this end, each of the protecting Powers may, for instance, propose to the belligerents concerned that a conference of representatives of the latter should be held, on suitably chosen neutral territory. The belligerents shall be required to give effect to proposals made to them with this object. The protecting Power may, if necessary, submit for the approval of the Powers in dispute the name of a person belonging to a neutral Power or nominated by the nominated relief bureau, who shall be invited to take part in this conference.
  

[*]
Article 88:

• 
  1) The foregoing provisions do not constitute any obstacle to the humanitarian work which the relief bureau may perform for the protection of prisoners of war with the consent of the belligerents concerned.
  

[*]
Section III: Final Provisions

• 
  ​Chapter I: General Provisions
  
  ​Article 89:
  
  1) In the relations between the Powers who are bound either by local legislation governing the conduct of war or existing treaties between one or more powers, and are observers of this present Act, the latter shall be complementary to Chapter 2 of the Regulations annexed to the above-mentioned Acts and Treaties.
  

[*]
Article 90:

• 
  1) The present Act, which shall bear this day's date, on the first day of the fifth month of 858 ABY shall not be rescinded until the first day of the first month 900 ABY.
  

[*]
Article 91:

• 
  ​1) The present Act shall be ratified in the form of treaties with foreign states as soon as possible.
  
• 
  2) The ratifications shall be deposited at Coruscant.
  
• 
  3) In respect of the deposit of each instrument of ratification, a ' procès-verbal ' shall be drawn up, and copy thereof, certified correct, shall be sent by the Imperial Confederated Systems to the Governments of all the countries on who express an interest in a reciprocity treaty and whose accession real or anticipated has been noted.
  

[*]
Article 92:

• 
  1) The present Act shall enter into force immediately.
  

[*]
Article 93:

• 
  1) As from the date of its entry into force, the present Act shall be open to ratification notified in respect of any country on whose behalf this Act has not been adopted.
  

[*]
Article 94:

• 
  1) Accessions shall be notified in writing to the Imperial Parliament and shall take six months from the date of which which they have been received.
  
• 
  2) The Imperial Parliament shall notify the accessions to the Governments of all the countries on whose behalf the Convention has been signed or whose accession has been notified.
  

[*]
Article 95:

• 
  1) A state of war shall give immediate effect to ratifications deposited-and to accessions notified by the belligerent Powers before or after the commencement of hostilities. The communication of ratifications or accessions received from Powers in a state of war shall be effected by the Imperial Parliament by the quickest method.
  

[*]
Article 96:

• 
  1) Each of the Belligerent Powers to a conflict shall have the right to denounce and reject the present Act and its' application. The denunciation shall only take effect one year after notification thereof has been made in writing to the Imperial Parliament. The latter shall communicate this notification to the Governments of ill the Belligerent Powers and Contracting Parties.
  
• 
  2) The denunciation shall only be valid in respect of the Belligerent Power which has made notification thereof.
  
• 
  3) Such denunciation shall, moreover, not take effect during a war in which the denouncing Power is involved. In this case, the present Act shall continue binding, beyond the period of one year, until the conclusion of peace and, in any case, until operations of repatriation shall have terminated.
  

[*]
​Article 97:

• 
  1) A copy of the present Act, certified to be correct, shall be deposited by the Imperial Parliament in the Coruscanti Archives. Similarly, ratifications, accessions and denunciations notified to the Imperial Parliament shall be communicated by them to the Coruscanti Archives.
  

HISTORICAL INFORMATION
The Laws of War and Treatment of Prisoners of War Act 858 ABY was a bill drafted up by the Imperial People's National Party and then passed into law swiftly in response to a need identified accurately by members of the Imperial Cabinet, Concerned Citizens and Military Officers for a need for a legal mechanism to protect Imperial Military and Paramilitary personnel serving the Government as part of the armed forces. There was a startling absence of such legislation in galactic history and many Governments had relied on an often absent lack of Goodwill and shared Customs on warfighting to protect soldiers, these protections were deemed utterly inadequate. The laws themselves were drafted with a high premium on the lives of Imperial Soldiers many of whom are coveted Human Citizens who volunteered to serve, thus the legislation makes grand promises on protecting POWs with a view to secure mutual adherence and reciprocation from hostile powers. Given the Imperial reputation for torture and brutality towards Prisoners of War especially during the Imperial-Mandalorian War it came as a surprise to many, though many politicians saw the folly of engaging in petty acts of vengeance at the cost of their captive countrymen in enemy custody.

 

[Eisenweber]

[member="John Locke"],

This is ready for live Codex.

Edit 2/10/2019: I'm pretty sure it's actually finished this time.

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

[member="Kirchenhof"] Under review

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

[member=Kirchenhof]

Congratulations, you win the longest submission ever, clocking in at 52 pages on Word

While I am awed by the incredible amount of length and work that have gone into this submission, it makes checking it out in one go virtually impossible, so what we're going to do is go over this division by division. I apologize in advance as this also means this is going to take a bit of time, but this submission deserves the full and complete attention has any other submission that goes through mine or any CJ's hands, and after some days of reading and thinking it over, I believe this would be the best way to go about it.

Before the divisions though,


A Few Notes on the Submission in General

• As much of the structure of this submission as well as its contents are taken from the Geneva Convention, I need you to directly link to it in your links section please. Here is the URL.
• There are many parts within this submission that are taken word from word from the Geneva Convention. From the Codex Standardized rules, this falls under plagiarism and is not permitted (Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Small excerpts may be included from other sources in a sub, but they must include a credit, link, and be clearly marked). In my required edits, I've pasted the parts that are word for word, but there are many other similarities present. My biggest recommendation would be to mention in your submission the parts that are inherently different, and then add something along the lines of "To see more, view Geneva Convention Article so and so, page so and so".

Required Edits
These are the parts that are word for word as presented in the Geneva Convention, including the page it can be found on. Editing these into your own words rather than the verbiage used there is the bare minimum we need in order for this submission to be approved.

• "The present Act shall be ratified as soon as possible."
  From the Geneva Convention, Page 144:
  
  
  
  
  "To conduct their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war."
  From the Geneva Convention, Page 92:
  
  
  
  
  "The Power which desires to adhere notifies in writing its intention to the Imperial Government, forwarding to it the instrument of adhesion, which shall be deposited in the archives of the said Government."
  From the Geneva Convention, Page 146:
  
  
  
  
  "· ​Article 1: The laws, rights, and duties of war apply not only to armies, but also to militia and volunteer corps fulfilling the following conditions:
  · 1) To conduct their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war."
  Geneva Convention, Pages 92-93:
  
  
  
  
  "The inhabitants of a territory which has not been occupied, who, on the approach of the enemy, spontaneously take up arms to resist the invading troops without having had time to organize themselves in accordance with Article 1, shall be regarded as lawful belligerents if they carry arms openly and if they respect the laws and customs of war."
  Geneva Convention, Page 93:
  
  
  
  
  "In such cases their own Government is bound neither to require of nor accept from them any service incompatible with the parole given."
  Geneva Convention, Page 100:
  
  
  
  
  "After the conclusion of peace, the repatriation of prisoners of war shall be carried out as quickly as possible."
  

This is it for Division I, for now. More edits may be requested once these have been taken care of. If you have any questions, myself as well as the rest of the CJ team are here to give it Please tag me once this is done.

 

[Eisenweber]

[member="Scherezade deWinter"],

Yes it's true that the submission takes content straight out of the conventions on the laws and customs of war as published by the United Nations or its' predecessor organisation the League of Nations, I did not credit the origin document because said source conventions themselves are in the Public Domain and not subject to the normal rules and laws of copyright and plagiarism. Thus, they can be freely modified and its' content can be used in other works along with being republished and subject to copyright by each of the new publishers.

I'm happy to link the source material into the beginning of the submission but am not going to be trawling back through the articles and modifying the content from top to bottom to be "In my own words" As I've endeavored to preserve the legal language and spirit of the source material, which I am not prohibited from doing for example under United States Publishing and Copyright Law due to as aforementioned source material being in the Public Domain.

Edit: Quite frankly, I'm deeply disappointed in the Codex Team as a whole for immediately jumping to the conclusion I've plagiarized some copyrighted work knowingly rather than being pinged with a simple message where I could have saved everyone significant time and pointed out the Convention's Copyright Status.

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

[member="Kirchenhof"]

I'm very sorry you feel that way. It's important to note here that when it comes to a correspondence on a submission, it must be placed on the submission itself, not in a Discord DM or a Board PM.

Back the submission at hand:

• Copyright and Plagiarism are two different things. Copyright, while important, is not at all what I was referring to. I was strictly referring to the rule from the Codex Standardized Rules that I linked you above (Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Small excerpts may be included from other sources in a sub, but they must include a credit, link, and be clearly marked).
  
  While the Geneva Convention may or may not be subject to traditional copyright laws - That is not the issue with this submission. There are many sites, such as the Wookiepedia, which can technically be taken from freely, but we do not permit any copy/pasting from those either. Because this is information that you did not write, or create, the site rules still do apply.
  
• Plagiarism, for the purposes of the Codex, is simply taking the work of someone else, or in this case a group of great minds/nations, and repurposing it for your own use without proper documentation.

Thank you for adding in the links. To be able to pass the submission through I need one of these to happen:

1. You could place the copied sections in your own words.
2. You could credit, link, and mark each copied section to make sure that the casual reader would easily be able to tell what and where the source of these sections are.
3. You could mention in your submission the parts that are inherently different, and then add something along the lines of "To see more, view Geneva Convention Article so and so, page so and so".

Any one of these three will suffice, you don't need to do all three of them.



We all emulate things that we like, or, find value in. Perhaps it just fit a particular theme at the time. Regardless, we still have to ensure that everything submitted to the Codex follows the ruleset of the site.

Note: If you would like to request a second chance you may do so.

 

[Eisenweber]

[member="Kirchenhof"]

I'm very sorry you feel that way. It's important to note here that when it comes to a correspondence on a submission, it must be placed on the submission itself, not in a Discord DM or a Board PM.

Back the submission at hand:

• Copyright and Plagiarism are two different things. Copyright, while important, is not at all what I was referring to. I was strictly referring to the rule from the Codex Standardized Rules that I linked you above (Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Small excerpts may be included from other sources in a sub, but they must include a credit, link, and be clearly marked).
  
  While the Geneva Convention may or may not be subject to traditional copyright laws - That is not the issue with this submission. There are many sites, such as the Wookiepedia, which can technically be taken from freely, but we do not permit any copy/pasting from those either. Because this is information that you did not write, or create, the site rules still do apply.
  
• Plagiarism, for the purposes of the Codex, is simply taking the work of someone else, or in this case a group of great minds/nations, and repurposing it for your own use without proper documentation.

Thank you for adding in the links. To be able to pass the submission through I need one of these to happen:

1. You could place the copied sections in your own words.
2. You could credit, link, and mark each copied section to make sure that the casual reader would easily be able to tell what and where the source of these sections are.
3. You could mention in your submission the parts that are inherently different, and then add something along the lines of "To see more, view Geneva Convention Article so and so, page so and so".

Any one of these three will suffice, you don't need to do all three of them.



We all emulate things that we like, or, find value in. Perhaps it just fit a particular theme at the time. Regardless, we still have to ensure that everything submitted to the Codex follows the ruleset of the site.

Note: If you would like to request a second chance you may do so.

I don't have the time for this right now, you may archive it and I might come back to it another time.

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Submission archived as per OP request. If you wish to have this returned from the archives, please contact an RPJ or Codex Admin.