19

A.—2

have power to issue orders which shall have the like effect as if the proceedings before the international tribunal were an action in the Court, and the order were a formal process issued by the Court in the due exercise of its jurisdiction, and shall be enforceable by the Court accordingly, and disobedience to any such order shall be punishable as contempt of Court. (2.) A member of any such international tribunal, if not a British subject, shall, whilst residing or travelling in any part of His Majesty's dominions for the purpose of the performance of his duties as such member, enjoy all the privileges which are conferred by law or custom on Ambassadors and public Ministers of foreign States. (3.) In this section the expression "the Court" mean in England and Ireland the High Court, in Scotland the Court of Session, and in any other place to which this Act extends a superior Court of that place. (4.). The powers conferred by this section on the Secretary of State may be exercised by him in any place to which this Act extends, and those powers may also be exercised by any of the following officers within their respective jurisdictions, that is to say — (i.) In Ireland, by the Lord Lieutenant; (ii.) In Jersey, by the Lieutenant-Governor; (iii.) In Guernsey, Alderney, and Sark, and independent islands, by the Lieutenant- ' Governor; (iv.) In the Isle of Man, by the Lieutenant-Governor; (v.) In India, the Dominion of Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Union of South Africa, by the Governor-General, including any person who for the time being has the powers of the Governor-General; (vi.) In any British possession, by the Governor. 2. (1.) Without prejudice to any other powers exercisable by His Majesty for the purpose of enforcing the obligations of neutrality, His Majesty may by Order in Council— (a.) Make regulations for preventing or prohibiting, or authorizing, subject to conditions or restrictions, the supply of fuel or stores to, and the repairing or manning of ships belonging to any foreign State at war with any other foreign State at peace with His Majest}' (in this Act referred to as a friendly State); (6.) Authorize the arrest and detention of any persons forming part of the crew of any ship belonging to, or of the forces of, any foreign State at war with any friendly State whom His Majesty by virtue of any treaty, Convention, or otherwise is under an obligation to intern; (c.) Prohibit the erection by or on behalf of any foreign State at war with any friendly State of any wireless telegraphic station or any apparatus for the purpose of communicating with their forces on land or sea, and the use of any such station or apparatus established by any such State for purely military purposes before the commencement of the war and not previously opened for the service of public messages; and the Order may contain such incidental, consequential, and supplemental provisions as may appear to His Majesty to be necessary or proper for the purposes of the Order, and any such Order may be revoked and varied by any subsequent Order in Council. (2.) If any person contravenes the provisions of any such Order or obstructs any officer in the execution of his duties thereunder he shall be guilty of an offence under the Foreign Enlistment Act, 1870, and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished as if he had been guilty of increasing the warlike force of a foreign ship upder section ten of that Act. (3.) An Order in Council under this section shall, if made before the outbreak of hostilities between two foreign States, come into force on the issue of a Proclamation of neutrality by His Majesty in connection with such outbreak, and, if made during such hostilities, come into force on the -making thereof ;' and in either case shall, unless previously revoked, continue in force until the issue of a Proclamation declaring such hostilities to be at an end, and whilst in force shall have effect as if enacted in this Act: Provided that the issue of such last-mentioned Proclamation shall not affect any legal proceeding commenced or offence committed whilst the Order in Council was still in force, but any such legal proceeding may be continued and any such offence prosecuted as if the Order remained in force. 3. (1.) A British vessel other than a hospital ship or a boat belonging thereto shall not be painted white outside with a broad horizontal band of red or green so as to resemble such a ship or boat, and if any such vessel is so painted the owner or master of the vessel shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds, and on a certificate from a Surveyor of Ships or a Board of Trade Inspector under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, that a vessel is so painted, the vessel may be detained until the defect has been remedied. (2.) It shall not be lawful to display on any British ship or boat, other than a hospital ship or a boat belonging thereto, the Geneva flag —that is to say, a flag consisting of a red cross on a white ground, formed by reversing the federal colours of the Swiss Confederation—or any flag so nearly resembling the same as to be calculated to deceive, and if any such flag is displayed on any such vessel the owner or master of the vessel shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds. (3.) For the purposes of this and the next succeeding section the expression " hospital ship " means any ship constructed or adapted for the sole purpose of assisting the sick, wounded, or shipwrecked. (4.) This section shall have effect and be construed as though it were part of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, as amended by any subsequent enactment. (5.) This section shall not come into operation until three months after the passing of this Act.