“International law has conferred upon the belligerent state the right to seize not only contraband goods during war but also ships etc carrying those”. Discuss the law relating to contraband and doctrine of continuous voyage.’’
Introduction:
In international law, a voyage that, in view of its purposes, is regarded as one single voyage though interrupted (as in the transshipment of contraband of war). The doctrine specifically refers to the stoppage and seizure of goods carried by neutral vessels either out of or heading toward a neutral port. If such goods were to be transshipped to another belligerent (the enemy) at some point in the voyage, the state invoking the doctrine could claim that, regardless of the period of neutral possession, the voyage was continuously geared toward trade with the belligerent power.
Perhaps the most famous invocation of the doctrine of continuous voyage occurred during the Napoleonic wars, when American merchants attempted to evade British blockade restrictions by carrying goods from the French West Indies to France via U.S. ports. British courts ruled that such voyages were in fact continuous and were not entitled to be considered neutral commerce.
Contraband Law:
Contraband refers to property that is illegal to possess or transport. It may be goods that are illegal to import or export and are attempted to be smuggled into a country. Contraband goods are usually subject to seizure by government officials.
Contraband may be property that is not in and of itself unlawful for a person to acquire or possess but that has been determined by a court to be contraband, because of its use in an unlawful activity or manner, of its nature, or if the circumstances of the person who acquires or possesses it. Contraband is also commonly defined by correctional facility regulations, which prohibit prisoners from possessing certain harmful or potentially dangerous items.
It’s most extensive sense means all commerce which is carried on contrary to the laws of the state. This term is also used to designate all kinds of merchandise which are used, or transported, against the interdictions published by a ban or solemn cry. The term is usually applied to that unlawful commerce which is so carried on in time of war. Merlin, Report. h.t. Commodities particularly useful in war are contraband as arms, ammunition, horses, timber for ship building, and every kind of naval stores. When articles come into use as implements of war, which were before innocent, they may be declared to be contraband. The greatest difficulty to decide what is contraband seems to have occurred in the instance of provisions, which have not been held to be universally contraband, though Vattel admits that they become so on certain occasions, when there is an expectation of reducing an enemy by famine. In modern times one of the principal criteria adopted by the courts for the decision of the question, whether any particular cargo of provisions be confessable as contraband, is to examine whether those provisions be in a rude or manufactured state; for all articles, in such examinations, are treated with greater indulgence in their natural condition than when wrought tip for the convenience of the enemy’s immediate use. Iron, unwrought, is therefore treated with indulgence, though anchors, and other instruments fabricated out of it, are directly contraband.
Continuous Voyage through International Law:
The so-called doctrine of continuous voyage dates from the time of the Anglo-French wars at the end of the eighteenth century, and is generally regarded as connected with the application of the so-called “rule of the war of 1756”. Neutral vessels engaged in French and Spanish colonial trade, which had been thrown open to them during the war, sought to evade seizure by British cruisers and condemnation by British Prize Courts according to the “rule of 1756”, by taking their cargo to a neutral port, landing it and paying import duties there, and then re-loading it and carrying it to the mother-country of the particular colony.’: II Oppenheim 675n. The doctrine, which permitted capture on the first leg of the voyage, was extended to carriage of contraband by the American courts during the Civil War and equally to the case where the onward journey was by land rather than sea and thus a case of continuous transportation rather than continuous voyage. These innovations attracted some approval and some disapproval. ‘The Declaration of London offered a compromise which, if it had been accepted, would have settled the controversy by applying the doctrine to absolute contraband, but not, except in cases where the enemy country had no seaboard, to conditional contraband. However, the compromise … was not accepted by the Allies during the World War, and the doctrine … was applied to the circuitous and indirect carriage of conditional as well as absolute contraband’: II Oppenheim 679 and 680. ‘By the Order in Council of March 30, 1916, it was enacted that “neither a vessel nor her cargo shall be immune from capture for breach of blockade upon the sole ground that she is on her way to a non-blockaded port”. Similarly, the Maritime Rights Order in Council of July 7, 1916, provided that “the principle of continuous voyage or ultimate destination shall be applicable both in cases of contraband and of blockade”. France adopted an identical rule. A similar rule was enacted by Italy
Law of Doctrine:
[1] A rule, principle, theory, or tenet of the law, as the doctrine of merger, the doctrine of relation,
[2] A legal rule, tenet, theory, or principle, A political policy,
Examples of common legal doctrines include the clean hands doctrine, the doctrine of false demonstration, and the doctrine of merger.
The Monroe Doctrine, enunciated by President James Monroe on December 2, 1823, was an American policy to consider any aggression by a European country against any western hemisphere country to be a hostile act toward the United States.
Plain-Feel Doctrine Law:
Plain feel doctrine permits a law enforcement officer to seize an object while conducting a legal pat-down search if its nature is immediately apparent during a touching permitted by the Fourth Amendment. The plain-view doctrine is applied by analogy to cases where an officer discovers contraband through the sense of touch during an otherwise lawful search.
The standard was set in the case Minn. v. Dickerson, 508 U.S. 366 (U.S. 1993) where the court held that “when an officer is justified in believing that an individual whose suspicious behavior he is investigating at close range is armed and presently dangerous to the officer or to others, the officer may conduct a putdown search to determine whether the person is in fact carrying a weapon. The purpose of this limited search is not to discover evidence of crime, but to allow the officer to pursue his investigation without fear of violence. Rather, a protective search — permitted without a warrant and on the basis of reasonable suspicion less than probable cause — must be strictly limited to that which is necessary for the discovery of weapons which might be used to harm the officer or others nearby. If the protective search goes beyond what is necessary to determine if the suspect is armed, it is no longer valid under Terry and its fruits will be suppressed.”
Plain-Touch Doctrine:
[3] Plain touch doctrine is a principle of criminal law that allows a police officer to seize without a warrant any contraband that the officer can immediately and clearly identify, by touch during a legal pat-down search. If a police officer lawfully pats down a suspect’s outer clothing and feels an object whose contour or mass makes its identity immediately apparent, there is no invasion of the suspect’s privacy beyond that already authorized by the officer’s search for weapons. If the object is contraband, warrant less seizure of the same is justified according to the doctrine. However, such searches permitted without a warrant and on the basis of reasonable suspicion less than probable cause must be strictly limited to that which is necessary for the discovery of weapons which might be used to harm the officer or others nearby. If the protective search goes beyond what is necessary to determine if the suspect is armed, it is no longer valid under Terry and its fruits will be suppressed.
Contraband in Wars:
In the laws of war, goods that may not be shipped to a belligerent because they are serve a military purpose. The laws of war relating to contraband developed in the later European Middle Ages and have undergone continual development in order to meet the needs of the major maritime powers. In his De jure belli ac pacis (1625; On the Law of War and Peace), Hugo Grotius took note of a long-standing controversy in regard to what categories of cargo might be confiscated in the same way as weapons. He suggested a threefold classification, the forerunner of several different classifications enumerated from time to time with no visible effect on practice. Governments have issued proclamations listing the items they would seize, and these differed from country to country and from war to war.
From 1908 to 1909, however, 10 naval powers met in London to draw up an agreed code regarding belligerent restrictions on neutral trade. The resulting Declaration of London classified goods as (1) absolute contraband; (2) conditional contraband; and (3) free. The first class, military equipment, was subject to seizure on its way to any destination in enemy territory. The second class consisted of items such as food, clothing, and rolling stock, which were to be treated as contraband only if in transit to the government or armed forces of an enemy. The third class listed goods not subject to capture.
Though never ratified, the declaration was near enough to a general consensus to be provisionally adopted by both sides when World War I broke out in 1914. The declaration eventually became irrelevant and was explicitly discarded in 1916.
In 1939 proclamations issued by the Allied powers and by Germany again differentiated between absolute and conditional contraband. The only secure maritime trade left to neutrals was that covered by the naval certificates issued by belligerents to approved shippers and cargos. This practice, originated by the English in 1590 and used in World War I, was greatly extended during World War II. Its widespread adoption amounted to official assertion that, in time of war, trade by sea could be conducted only with the approval of belligerents.
Conclusion:
Contraband is defined as goods that are against the law to trade or to be imported or exported, or goods that are smuggled or a slave during the Civil War who was behind the Union lines. Doctrine is defined as a principle or group of principles which are taught by a religion or political party. The definition of doctrine is an official statement of policy about how two countries interact
References:
(1) www.google.com
(2) www.yahoo.com
(3) www.facebook.com
(4) http://0-www.britannica.com.libra.naz.edu/EBchecked/topic/135156/continuous-voyage (Date of access: 15/03/2013)
(5) http://definitions.uslegal.com/c/contraband/ (Date of access : 15/03/2013)
(6) http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/contraband (Date of access : 15/03/2013)
(7) Colombos, International Law of the Sea (6th ed.), 732 / http://www.answers.com/topic/continuous-voyage-transportation-doctrine-of / ( Date of access: 15/03/2013)
(8) http://www.eionet.europa.eu/gemet/concept?ns=1&cp=11468 / ( Date of access : 15/03/2013)
(9) West’s Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group / (Date Of access : 15/03/2013)
(10) http://definitions.uslegal.com/p/plain-feel-doctrine/ / (Date of Access : 15/03/2013)
(11) http://definitions.uslegal.com/p/plain-touch-doctrine/ / (Date of Access : 15/03/2013)
(12) http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/135248/contraband / (Date of Access: 15/03/2013)
[1] http://www.eionet.europa.eu/gemet/concept?ns=1&cp=11468 / ( Date of access : 15/03/2013)
[2] West’s Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group / (Date Of access : 15/03/2013)
[3] http://definitions.uslegal.com/p/plain-touch-doctrine/ / (Date of Access : 15/03/2013)