ITALIAN REGULATIONS under the Decree of October 13, 1911, establishing a Prize Commission during the Hostilities between Italy and Turkey.-Rome, December 5, 1911.*

Ministry of Marine,

Directorate General of Mercantile Marine.

Regulations of the Prize Commission (published in the "Official Gazette" of December 9, 1911, No. 286).

THE Prize Commission (instituted by the Royal Decree of the 13th October, 1911, No. 1164),† being assembled at a plenary sitting on the 5th December of the same year, in view of Article 4 of the above-mentioned Decree, approved the following Regulations:

Art. 1. The Commission shall be convoked by the President whenever he thinks it desirable.

The Secretary shall draw up minutes of the proceedings of the Commission.

2. In the absence of the President, or in the event of his being unable to perform his duties, the Commission shall choose one of its members to act for him temporarily.

3. In order, as far as possible, to maintain the number of seven voting members, the President may at his discretion replace an ordinary member who is absent or unable to take part in the proceedings by one of the supplementary members, maintaining as far as possible the principle as to categories laid down in Article 3 of the Royal Decree of the 13th October, 1911, No. 1164.

4. All the papers affecting the decision of the Commission shall be sent to the Royal Commissioner by the Government.

The Royal Commissioner may request any of the national authorities to furnish him with such further Acts, documents, or explanations as he may consider necessary.

5. The Royal Commissioner shall state the case to the Commission for its decision.

This statement shall be lodged at the Secretariat of the Commission together with the papers bearing on the case.

6. The papers shall remain in the Secretariat for fifteen days, running from the date of the publication in the "Official Gazette" of the kingdom, of the ordinance referred to in the subsequent Article.

This period may be prolonged or shortened by the President on his own initiative, or at the request of the Royal Commissioner or of one of the parties interested.

* Published in the Italian "Official Gazette," No. 286, December 9, 1911; and notified in the "London Gazette" of January 26, 1912.

† See page 92.

7. The President shall, with the consent of the Royal Commissioner, provide in his ordinance for the notification of the fact that the papers have been lodged.

The ordinance shall be published in the "Official Gazette" of the kingdom by the Secretary, together with Articles 6 and 10 of these Regulations, and shall be immediately communicated, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to the Diplomatic Agents of the States to which is entrusted the protection of the parties interested in so far as this can be identified from the papers.

8. Within the time limit fixed by Article 6 the parties who may intend to plead on their own behalf against the legality of the seizure must, either in person or through a counsel on the roll of lawyers practising in one of the Italian Courts of Appeal and specially authorized to represent them, establish their right to appear and provide themselves with an address in Rome, making a declaration on these points at the Secretariat of the Prize Commission.

9. The parties, constituted in accordance with the terms of the preceding Article, have the right to examine the papers lodged at the Secretariat, to present documents, and to submit their requests and defence by means of memorials addressed to the President.

The memorials must be in Italian.

Documents in a foreign language must be accompanied by a certified Italian translation.

Such papers must also be lodged within the time mentioned in Article 6.

10. When the time limit mentioned in Article 6 has lapsed, the President shall appoint the reporter and then summon a meeting of the Commission, at which the Royal Commissioner shall be present, to consider whether or not further preliminary evidence is required.

The Commission, the Royal Commissioner not being present, shall discuss the question.

If their decision is in the affirmative, the President shall direct, by means of an ordinance, the preparation of such evidence, entrusting it to the reporter, or, if the latter be unable to undertake it, to another member of the Commission. Royal Commissioner and the parties concerned are entitled to be present.

The

The member of the Commission charged with the preparation of the evidence shall be assisted by the Secretary of the Commission.

Minutes shall be drawn up of the proceedings in connection with the preparation of the evidence.

The Commission may also demand further papers and docu

ments.

11. The President, having heard the reporter and the Royal Commissioner, shall declare by an ordinance, to be communicated to the parties at the address which they have selected at Rome, the termination of the preliminary enquiry.

12. From the day on which this ordinance is communicated a further extension of five days is allowed to the parties concerned for the presentation of new arguments and pleas at the Secretariat of the Commission.

13. The date for the trial of the case shall be fixed by the President after consultation with the Royal Commissioner, but not earlier than fifteen days from the notification of the ordinance declaring the preliminary inquiry closed.

Not less than five days before the date fixed for the hearing the Secretary shall inform the parties concerned at the address selected by them in Rome.

Two days before the trial the Royal Commissioner shall lodge his conclusions in writing at the Secretariat of the Commission.

14. Save as otherwise laid down by the provisions of Article 7, notification shall be made by the Secretary to the parties concerned at the address selected by them in Rome, by means of letters with a receipt form attached.

15. The President may, after consulting with the Royal Commissioner, for adequate reasons, defer the hearing of the case to a later meeting of the Commission; he shall cause the adjournment to be notified to the parties concerned.

16. Besides the Royal Commissioner, no one, except the regularly appointed lawyers of the parties concerned, shall assist at the sitting of the Commission for the hearing of the case.

The reporter shall state the conclusions to be drawn from the documents; then the lawyers shall submit succinctly the case of the parties concerned.

Lastly, the Royal Commissioner shall give verbally his final conclusions.

Thereupon the President shall declare the discussion closed. The President may, however, at the request of the Royal Commissioner and of the parties concerned, authorize the presentation within a short space of time of notes explanatory of the statements made verbally.

17. When the discussion is closed, the Commission shall sit to consider its decision, the Royal Commissioner, the Secretary, and the counsel being excluded.

The Commission may withhold judgment to a later sitting. After the vote has been taken, the President shall select a member of the majority to pronounce judgment.

18. The judgment must be signed by all the members of the Commission who took part in the trial, and by the Secretary. It shall date from the day that it was lodged at the Secretariat of the Commission.

19. The judgment, and, where necessary, the ordinance in respect of the preliminary inquiry, may be sent in the form of executive copies by the Secretary of the Commission in the manner indicated in Articles 556 and 557 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

20. After a decision has been taken and published as to the

disposal of articles seized and confiscated, in accordance with the terms of the Mercantile Marine Code, for the settlement of the disputes mentioned in Article 241 of that Code, the parties interested shall transmit to the President of the Commission a statement of their claims. The Commission, summoned anew by the President, shall then, after consulting the Royal Commissioner, take a final decision.

21. The Secretary's office is open to the public on working days from 10 A.M. to noon, and from 3 to 6 P.M.; on holidays from 10 to noon.

22. The judgment issued in the name of the Government, and the list showing how articles seized are to be apportioned, shall be considered as documents drawn up solely on the public service.

But documents prepared or asked for during the hearing at the instance of private persons, and the documents, representations, and pleadings of the latter, must be drawn up and submitted with a due regard for the laws of the kingdom on stamp and registration taxes.

The same parties shall deposit beforehand with the Secretary of the Commission the sheets of stamped paper necessary for the preparation of the documents asked for or demanded by them, and the estimated amount of the registration tax to which the decisions in regard to the acceptance of their representations would be liable, the amount to be calculated after the Secretary has fulfilled the formalities of registration.

Rome, December 5, 1911.

(The Signatures of the Commissioners follow.)

BRITISH NOTIFICATION of Italian Notice of the Opening of Tripolitan Ports to the Commerce of Neutrals. -London, January 2, 1912.*

Foreign Office, January 2, 1912. His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs has received from His Majesty's Ambassador at Rome a communication to the following effect :-

The ports of Tripolitana occupied by Italian troops have now been declared open to commercial neutrals.

[1912. cv.]

* "London Gazette," January 2, 1912,

H

BRITISH NOTIFICATION of Italian Notice of the Blockade of the Ottoman Red Sea Littoral. - London, January 23, 1912.*

Foreign Office, January 23, 1912.

His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs has received from His Majesty's Ambassador at Rome a communication to the following effect :

The Italian Government has notified the establishment of a blockade, from the 22nd instant, by Italian ships of war, of the Ottoman Red Sea coast between latitude 15° 11' and latitude 14° 30', from Rasisa, north of Hodeidah, to Rasgoulaifac, to the south.

A term, which will be fixed by the commander of the blockading squadron, will be granted to neutral vessels, during which they may freely leave the blockaded area.

BRITISH NOTIFICATION of Italian Notice of Delay in the Blockade of certain parts of the Ottoman Red Sea Littoral.-London, January 24, 1912.†

Foreign Office, January 24, 1912. WITH reference to the Notice published in the "London Gazette " of the 23rd instant, His Majesty's Ambassador at Rome has informed His Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, by telegraph, this day, that he had just been notified by the Italian Government that the establishment of a blockade by the Italian naval forces of certain parts of the Ottoman Red Sea littoral had been deferred from the 22nd to the 24th instant, from which latter date a period of five days would be allowed to neutral vessels within which to leave the area under blockade.

BRITISH NOTIFICATION of Turkish Notice of Alteration in Ottoman List of Contraband of War.-London, February 27, 1912.‡

Foreign Office, February 27, 1912. WITH reference to the Notice published in the "London Gazette" of the 7th November last, His Majesty's Ambassador

"London Gazette," January 23, 1912. + "London Gazette," January 26, 1912. "London Gazette," March 1, 1912.