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The Hague, December, 1922-February, 1923
CHAPTER I-Applicability: Classification and Marks.
ARTICLE I
The rules of 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.
ARTICLE II
The following shall be deemed to be public aircraft:
a) Military aircraft.
b) Non-military aircraft
exclusively employed in the public service.
All other aircraft shall be deemed to be private aircraft.
ARTICLE
III
A military aircraft shall bear an external mark indicating its
nation;
and military character.
ARTICLE IV
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 V
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 VI
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 VII
The 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 VIII
The
external marks, prescribed by the rules in force in each State, shall
be
notified promptly to all other Powers.
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.
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 IX
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 on the high
seas.
ARTICLE X
No aircraft may possess more
than one nationality.
CHAPTER II-General Principles.
ARTICLE XI
Outside the
jurisdiction of any State, belligerent or neutral, all aircraft
shall have
full freedom of passage through-the air and of alighting.
ARTICLE XII
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 XIII
Military aircraft are alone entitled to exercise belligerent
rights.
ARTICLE XIV
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 XV
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 XVI
No
aircraft other than a belligerent military aircraft shall engage
in
hostilities in any form.
The term "hostilities" includes the transmission during flight of military intelligence for the immediate use of a belligerent.
No private aircraft, when outside the jurisdiction of its own country, shall be armed in time of war.
ARTICLE XVII
The principles laid down in the Geneva
Convention, 1906, and the Convention
for the adaptation of the said
Convention to Maritime War (No. X of 1907)
shall apply to aerial warfare
and to flying ambulances, as well as to the
control over flying ambulances
exercised by a belligerent commanding officer.
In order to enjoy the protection and privileges allowed to mobile medical units by the Geneva Convention, 1906, flying ambulances must bear the distinctive emblem of the Red Cross in addition to the usual distinguishing marks.
CHAPTER IV - Hostilities.
ARTICLE XVIII
The use of tracer, incendiary, or
explosive projectiles by or against
air, is not prohibited.
This provision applies equally to States which are parties to the Declaration of St. Petersburg, 1868, and to those which are not.
ARTICLE XIX
The use of false external marks is
forbidden.
ARTICLE XX
When an aircraft has
been disabled, the occupants when endeavoring to
escape by means of
parachute must not be attacked in the course of their
descent.
ARTICLE XXI
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 XXII
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 XXIII
Aerial bombardment for the purpose of enforcing compliance
with requisitions
in kind or payment of contributions in money is
prohibited.
ARTICLE XXIV
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 XXV
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
Geneva Convention the red cross on a
white ground, and in the case of other
protected buildings a large
rectangular panel divided diagonally into two
pointed [sic]
triangular portions, one black and the other white.
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 XXVI
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 XXV. 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 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 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 XXVII
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 XXVIII
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 the Land Warfare Regulations.
ARTICLE XXIX
Punishment of the acts of espionage referred to in Articles XXVII and
XXVI
II is subject to Articles XXX and XXXI of the Land Warfare
Regulations.
CHAPTER V-Military Authority Over Enemy and Neutral Aircraft and Persons on Board.
ARTICLE XXX
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 XXXI
In accordance with the principles of
Article LIII of the Land Warfare
Regulations, 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 XXXII
Enemy public
aircraft, other than those treated on the same footing private
aircraft,
shall be subject to confiscation without prize proceedings.
ARTICLE XXXIII
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 XXXIV
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 or
sea.
ARTICLE XXXV
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 XXXVI
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.
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.
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.
Release may in any case be delayed if the military interests of the belligerents so require.
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.
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 XXXVII
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.
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.
Release may in any case be delayed if the military interests of the belligerent so require.
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 XXXVIII
Where under the - provisions of Articles XXXVI and
XXXVII 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 XXXIX
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 XL
Belligerent military
aircraft are forbidden to enter the jurisdiction
of a neutral State.
ARTICLE XLI
Aircraft on board vessels of war,
including aircraft-carriers, shall
be regarded as part of such
vessels.
ARTICLE XLII
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 alight
if they have entered such jurisdiction.
A neutral government shall use the means at its disposal to intern any belligerent military aircraft which is within its jurisdiction after having alighted for any reason whatsoever, together with its crew and the passengers, if any.
ARTICLE XLIII
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 XLIV
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 XLV
Subject to the provisions of Article XLVI, 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 XLVI
A neutral government is
bound to use the means at its disposal:
1) 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.
2) to prevent the departure of an aircraft the crew of which includes any member of the combatant forces of a belligerent Power.
3) to prevent work upon an aircraft designed to prepare it to depart in contravention of the purpose of this article.
On the departure by air 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 XLVII
A neutral State is bound to take such
steps as the means at its disposal
permit to prevent within its
jurisdiction aerial observation of the movements,
operations or defences of
one belligerent, with the intention of informing
the other
belligerent.
This provision applies equally to a belligerent military aircraft on board a vessel of war.
ARTICLE XLVIII
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 XLIX
Private aircraft are liable to visit and
search and to capture by belligerent
military aircraft.
ARTICLE L
Belligerent military aircraft have the right
to order public non-military
and private aircraft to alight in or
proceed for visit and search to a suitable
locality reasonably
accessible.
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 LI
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 LII
Enemy private aircraft are liable to capture in all
circumstances.
ARTICLE LIII
A neutral private
aircraft is liable to capture if it:
a) resists the legitimate
exercise of belligerent rights;
b) violates a prohibition of which it
has had notice issued by a belligerent
commanding officer under Article
XXX;
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 effectivly
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 LIV
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 LV
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 LVI
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.
A neutral private aircraft captured upon the ground that it has disregarded the direction of a belligerent commanding officer under Article XXX is liable to condemnation, unless it can justify its presence within the prohibited zone.
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 LVII
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 LVIII
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 LIX
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.
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 LVIII. 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 LX
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.
The provisions of the second paragraph of Article LIX will apply where absolute contraband on board a neutral private aircraft is handed over or destroyed.
CHAPTER VIII-Definitions.
ARTICLE LXI
The term
"military" throughout these rules 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 LXII
Except so far as
special rules are here laid down, and except also so
far as the provisions
of Chapter VII of these Rules or international conventions
indicate that
maritime. law and procedure are applicable, aircraft personnel
engaged in
hostilities come under the laws of war and neutrality applicable
to land
troops in virtue of the custom and practice of international law
and of the
various declarations and conventions to which the States concerned
are
parties.