TOPIC II.-Transfer of flag of merchant vessels during or in anticipation af war. General practice as regards commerce Opinions of courts on transfers Days of grace in Spanish-American war. Days of grace in Russo-Japanese war Treatment of vessels adapted for use in war. Rule of Institute of International Law.. INTERNATIONAL LAW TOPICS AND TOPIC I. What regulations should be made in regard to the use of false colors by public vessels in war? CONCLUSION. 1. The use of false colors by public vessels in war is prohibited. 2. When a public belligerent vessel summons a vessel to lie to, or before firing a gun and during action, the national colors shall be displayed. 3. Any vessel not showing her colors in response to a summoning gun may be considered and treated as an enemy. DISCUSSION AND NOTES. Reasons for discussion. The present regulations in regard to the use of false colors by belligerent vessels in time of war are generally understood to permit the use of false colors before firing a gun. These regulations are an inheritance from an early time. These rules were formulated in the days of wooden sailing vessels and short-range guns. While the rules of war have changed in many respects, these rules have remained unchanged and have received a general adherence. These rules were originally recognized at a time when neutral rights were little considered and the use of a neutral flag by a belligerent would be regarded as a matter with which the neutral party had little concern. Indeed, it was often questioned whether the neutral had any rights which the belligerent was bound to respect. The war vessel of early days was also very different from that of to-day. The approach of the slow sailing vessel of the seventeenth century would allow time to determine its identity in most instances and to provide for action in case of mistake. A single shot from a gun of the early type into a vessel of its day would not, in general, have an effect corresponding to that of a shot sent into the complicated mechanism of a modern war vessel. The fighting in the period before the middle of the nineteenth century was at much shorter range, and time and space played a very different part in determining the issue of the conflict. Surprise was not, in early conditions, a matter of gravest importance. In the old days the contests were relatively long. In modern battles the first shot or those following soon after seem to have been very often the decisive ones. The risk from permitting the use of false colors is far greater than formerly, so it would seem that the protection against the risk should be correspondingly developed. False colors in land warfare.-The use of false colors on land and the toleration of other forms of deceit was formerly common, but at present in land warfare false. colors are forbidden. The regulations are similar to the following: Instructions United States Army, 1863, Article 65— The use of the enemy's national standard, flag, or other emblem of nationality, for the purpose of deceiving the enemy in battle, is an act of perfidy by which they lose all claim to the protection of the laws of war. Brussels Rules, 1874, articles 12, 13: Art. 12. The laws of war do not allow to belligerents an unlimited power as to choice of means of injuring the enemy. Art. 13. According to this principle are strictly forbidden(f) Abuse of the flag of truce, the national flag, or the military insignia or uniform of the enemy, as well as the distinctive badges of the Geneva Convention. Oxford Manual, 1880, section 8: It is forbidden (d) To make improper use of the national flag, of signs of military rank, or of the uniform of the enemy, of a flag of truce, or the protective marks prescribed by the Convention of Geneva. |