after the circumstances which prevented him entering it before had ceased to operate, the court can, after hearing the respondent, grant relief from the effect of the above provision.

ARTICLE 32.

If the appeal is entered in time, a certified copy of the notice of appeal is forthwith officially transmitted by the court to the respondent.

ARTICLE 33.

If in addition to the parties who are before the court there are other parties concerned who are entitled to appeal; or if, in the case referred to in article 29, paragraph 3, the Government who has received notice of an appeal has not announced its decision, the court will await before dealing with the case the expiration of the period laid down in article 28 or 30.

ARTICLE 34.

The procedure before the international court includes two distinct parts, the written pleadings and oral discussions.

The written pleadings consist of the deposit and exchange of cases, countercases, and, if necessary, of replies, of which the order is fixed by the court, as also the periods within which they must be delivered. The parties annex thereto all papers and documents of which they intend to make use.

A certified copy of every document produced by one party must be communicated to the other party through the medium of the court.

ARTICLE 35.

After the close of the pleadings a public sitting is held on a day fixed by the court.

At this sitting the parties state their view of the case both as to the law and as to the facts.

The court may, at any stage of the proceedings, suspend speeches of counsel, either at the request of one of the parties or on their own initiative, in order that supplementary evidence may be obtained.

ARTICLE 36.

The international court may order the supplementary evidence to be taken either in the manner provided by article 27, or before itself, or one or more of the members of the court, provided that this can be done without resort to compulsion or the use of threats.

If steps are to be taken for the purpose of obtaining evidence by members of the court outside the territory where it is sitting, the consent of the foreign Government must be obtained.

ARTICLE 37.

The parties are summoned to take part in all stages of the proceedings and receive certified copies of the minutes.

ARTICLE 38.

The discussions are under the control of the president or vice president, or, in case they are absent or can not act, of the senior judge present.

The judge appointed by a belligerent party can not preside.

ARTICLE 39.

The discussions take place in public, subject to the right of a government who is a party to the case to demand that they be held in private.

Minutes are taken of these discussions and signed by the president and registrar, and these minutes alone have an authentic character.

ARTICLE 40.

If a party does not appear, despite the fact that he has been duly cited, or if a party fails to comply with some step within the period fixed by the court, the case proceeds without that party, and the court gives judgment in accordance with the material at its disposal.

ARTICLE 41.

The court officially notifies the parties of decrees or decisions made in their absence.

ARTICLE 42.

The court takes into consideration in arriving at its decisions all the facts, evidence, and oral statements.

ARTICLE 43.

The court considers its decision in private and the proceedings are secret.

All questions are decided by a majority of the judges present. If the number of judges is even and equally divided, the vote of the junior judge in the order of precedence laid down in article 12, paragraph 1, is not counted.

ARTICLE 44.

The judgment of the court must give the reasons on which it is based. It contains the names of the judges taking part in it, and also of the assessors, if any; it is signed by the president and registrar.

ARTICLE 45.

(See art. 7 of the additional protocol.)

The sentence is pronounced in public sitting, the parties concerned being present or duly summoned to attend; the sentence is officially communicated to the parties.

When this communication has been made the court transmits to the national prize court the record of the case, together with copies of the various decisions arrived at and of the minutes of the proceedings.

ARTICLE 46.

Each party pays its own costs.

The party against whom the court decides bears, in addition, the costs of the trial, and also pays 1 per cent of the value of the subject matter of the case as a contribution to the general expenses of the international court. The amount of these payments is fixed in the judgment of the court.

If the appeal is brought by an individual, he will furnish the international bureau with security to an amount fixed by the court, for the purpose of guaranteeing eventual fulfillment of the two obligations mentioned in the preceding paragraph. The court is entitled to postpone the opening of the proceedings until the security has been furnished.

ARTICLE 47.

The general expenses of the International Prize Court are borne by the contracting powers in proportion to their share in the composition of the court as laid down in article 15 and in the annexed table. (Post, p. 203.) The appointment of deputy judges does not involve any contribution.

The administrative council applies to the powers for the funds requisite for the working of the court.

ARTICLE 48.

When the court is not sitting the duties conferred upon it by article 32, article 34, paragraphs 2 and 3, article 35, paragraph 1, and article 46, paragraph 3, are discharged by a delegation of three judges appointed by the court. This delegation decides by a majority of votes.

ARTICLE 49.

The court itself draws up its own rules of procedure, which must be communicated to the contracting powers.

It will meet to elaborate these rules with a year of the ratification of the present convention.

ARTICLE 50.

The court may propose modifications in the provisions of the present convention concerning procedure. These proposals are communicated, through the medium of the Netherland Government, to the contracting powers, which will consider together as to the measures to be taken.

PART IV-FINAL PROVISIONS.

ARTICLE 51.

The present convention does not apply as of right except when the belligerent powers are all parties to the convention.

It is further fully understood that an appeal to the International Prize Court can only be brought by a contracting power or the subject or citizen of a contracting power.

In the cases mentioned in article 5 the appeal is only admitted when both the owner and the person entitled to represent him are equally contracting powers or the subjects or citizens of contracting powers.

ARTICLE 52.

The present convention shall be ratified and the ratifications shall be deposited at The Hague as soon as all the powers mentioned in article 15 and in the table annexed are in a position to do so.

The deposit of the ratifications shall take place, in any case, on the 30th June, 1909, if the powers which are ready to ratify furnish nine judges and nine deputy judges to the court, qualified to validly constitute a court. If not, the deposit shall be postponed until this condition is fulfilled.

A minute of the deposit of ratifications shall be drawn up, of which a certified copy shall be forwarded through the diplomatic channel, to each of the powers referred to in the first paragraph. (See art. 8 of the additional protocol, post, p. 207.)

ARTICLE 5.3.

The powers referred to in article 15 and in the table annexed are entitled to sign the present convention up to the deposit of the ratifications contemplated in paragraph 2 of the preceding article.

After this deposit they can at any time adhere to it, purely and simply. (See art. 9 of the additional protocol, post, p. 207.) A power wishing to adhere, notifies its intention in writing to the Netherlands Government, transmitting to it, at the same time, the act of adhesion, which shall be deposited in the archives of the said Government. The latter shall send, through the diplomatic channel, a certified copy of the notification and of the act of adhesion to all the powers referred to in the preceding paragraph, informing them of the date on which it has received the notification.

ARTICLE 54.

The present convention shall come into force six months from the deposit of the ratifications contemplated in article 52, paragraphs 1 and 2.

The adhesions shall take effect 60 days after notification of such adhesion has been received by the Netherlands Government or as soon as possible on the expiration of the period contemplated in the preceding paragraph.

The international court shall, however, have jurisdiction to deal with prize cases decided by the national courts at any time after the deposit of the ratifications or of the receipt of the notification of the adhesions. In such cases the period fixed in article 28, paragraph 2, shall only be reckoned from the date when the convention comes into force as regards a power which has ratified or adhered.

ARTICLE 55.

The present convention shall remain in force for 12 years from the time it comes into force, as determined by article 54, paragraph 1, even in the case of powers which adhere subsequently.

It shall be renewed tacitly from six years to six years unless denounced.

Denunciations must be notified in writing, at least one year before the expiration of each of the periods mentioned in the two preceding paragraphs, to the Netherlands Government, which will inform all the other contracting powers.

Denunciation shall only take effect in regard to the power which has modified it. The convention shall remain in force in the case of the other contracting powers, provided that their participation in the appointment of judges is sufficient to allow of the composition of the court with nine judges and nine deputy judges.

ARTICLE 56.

In case the present convention is not in operation as regards all the powers referred to in article 15 and the annexed table, the administrative council shall draw up a list on the lines of that article and table of the judges and deputy judges through whom the contracting powers will share in the composition of the court. The times allotted by the said table to judges who are summoned to sit in rota will be redistributed between the different years of the sixyear period in such a way that, as far as possible, the number of the judges of the court in each year shall be the same. If the number of deputy judges is greater than that of the judges, the number of the latter can be completed by deputy judges chosen by lot among those powers which do not nominate a judge.

The list drawn up in this way by the administrative council shall be notified to the contracting powers. It shall be revised when the number of these powers is modified as the result of adhesions or denunciations.

The change resulting from an adhesion is not made until the first January after the date on which the adhesion takes effect, unless the adhering power is a belligerent power, in which case it can ask to be at once represented in the court, the provisions of article 16 being, moreover, applicable if necessary.

When the total number of judges is less than 11, 7 judges form a

quorum.

ARTICLE 57.

Two years before the expiration of each period referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of article 55 any contracting power can demand a modification of the provisions of article 15 and of the annexed table, relative to its participation in the composition of the court. The demand shall be addressed to the administrative council, which will examine it and submit to all the powers proposals as to the measures to be adopted. The powers shall inform the administrative council of their decision with the least possible delay. The result shall be at once, and at least 1 year and 30 days before the expiration of the