Convention (IV) Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land 4

Convention (IV) Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land

 

CHAPTER IV

Capitulations

Art. 35. Capitulations agreed upon between the Contracting Parties must
take into account the rules of military honour.

Once settled, they must be scrupulously observed by both parties.

CHAPTER V

Armistices

Art. 36. 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.

Art. 37. 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.

Art. 38. 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.

Art. 39. It rests with the Contracting 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.

Art. 40. 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.

Art. 41. 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

Art. 42. Territory is considered occupied when it is actually placed under
the authority of the hostile army.

The occupation extends only to the territory where such authority has been
established and can be exercised.

Art. 43. 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 .

Art. 44. 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.

Art. 45. It is forbidden to compel the inhabitants of occupied territory to
swear allegiance to the hostile Power.

Art. 46. Family honour and rights, the lives of persons, and private
property, as well as religious convictions and practice, must be respected.

Private property cannot be confiscated.

Art. 47. Pillage is formally forbidden.

Art. 48. If, in the territory occupied, the occupant collects the taxes,
dues, and tolls imposed for the benefit of the State, he 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.

Art. 49. 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.

Art. 50. 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.

Art. 51. No contribution shall be collected except under a written order,
and on the responsibility of a commander-in-chief.

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.

For every contribution a receipt shall be given to the contributors.

Art. 52. 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.

Such requisitions and services shall only be demanded on the authority of
the commander in the locality occupied.

Contributions in kind shall as far as possible be paid for in cash; if not,
a receipt shall be given and the payment of the amount due shall be made as
soon as possible.

Art. 53. An army of occupation can only take possession of cash, 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.

All appliances, whether on land, at sea, or in the air, adapted for the
transmission of news, or for the transport of persons or things, exclusive
of cases governed by naval 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.

Art. 54. Submarine cables 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.

Art. 55. 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.

Art. 56. 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.

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 legal proceedings.

Conclusion

Notes

See Also

References and Further Reading

About the Author/s and Reviewer/s

Author: international


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