'Annex 29 NEW WORDING TO BE SUBSTITUTED IN ARTICLES 3 AND 4 OF THE TEXT OF THE DRAFT REGULATIONS 1 ARTICLE 3 1 The limit for the laying of mines is extended to a distance of ten nautical miles off military ports and ports where there are either military arsenals or establishments of naval construction or repair. [675] As military ports are considered those ports which have been decreed as such by the State to which they belong. ARTICLE 4 Off the coasts and ports of their adversaries, the belligerents may lay anchored automatic contact mines within the limits indicated in the two preceding articles. However, they shall not exceed the limit of three nautical miles off ports where establishments of naval construction or repair are situated when the said establishments do not belong to the State. It is forbidden to lay automatic contact mines off the coasts and ports of the enemy with the sole object of intercepting commercial shipping. Annex 30 PROPOSITION OF HIS EXCELLENCY MR. HAGERUP, PRESIDENT OF THE COMMITTEE OF EXAMINATION NEW ARTICLE Every neutral State which places submarine mines off its coasts must observe the same rules and take the same precautions as are imposed upon belligerent States in the use of similar mines. Anrex DRAFT REGULATIONS PRESENTED TO THE COMMISSION ARTICLE 1 1. To lay unanchored automatic contact mines which do not become harmless one hour at most after the person who laid them ceases to control them; 2. To lay anchored automatic contact mines which do not become harmless as soon as they have broken loose from their moorings; 'Annex 26. 3. To use torpedoes which do not become harmless when they have missed their mark. ARTICLE 2 It is forbidden to lay anchored automatic contact mines beyond a distance of three nautical miles from low-water mark, throughout the length of the coastline, as well as along the islands and islets adjacent thereto. In the case of bays, the zone of three nautical miles shall be measured starting from a straight line drawn across the bay in its part nearest the entrance at the first point where the opening does not exceed ten miles in width. The limit for the laying of anchored automatic contact mines is extended to a distance of ten nautical miles off military ports and ports where there are either military arsenals or establishments of naval construction or repair. As military ports are considered those ports which have been decreed as such by the State to which they belong. ARTICLE 4 Off the coasts and ports of their adversaries, the belligerents may lay anchored automatic contact mines within the limits indicated in the two preceding articles. However, they shall not exceed the limit of three nautical miles off ports which are not military ports, unless establishments of naval construction or repair belonging to the State are situated therein. It is forbidden to lay automatic contact mines off the coasts and ports of the enemy with the sole object of intercepting commercial shipping. ARTICLE 5 Within the sphere of their immediate activity, the belligerents have likewise a right to lay automatic contact mines outside the limits fixed in Articles 2 to 4 of the present regulations. Mines used outside the limits fixed in Articles 2 to 4 must be so constructed as to become harmless within two hours at most after the person using them has abandoned them. ARTICLE 6 When anchored contact mines are used, every possible precaution must be taken for the safety of navigation. The Governments undertake especially, in case these mines should cease to be under surveillance, to notify the danger zones, as soon as it can be done, and to do their utmost to render them harmless within a limited time. ARTICLE 7 At the end of the war, at the latest, the signatory States shall be obliged to do all in their power to remove, respectively, the mines which they have each laid. As regards anchored contact mines which one of the belligerents may have placed along the coasts of the other, the signatory States agree to notify the other party of their location, and each State must proceed with the least possible delay to remove the mines in its own waters. ARTICLE 8 The signatory States which do not at present own perfected mines of the kind contemplated in the present regulations, and which consequently could not at present carry out the rules laid down in Articles 1, 5 and 6, undertake [677] to convert the matériel of their mines as soon as possible, so as to bring them into conformity with the foregoing requirements. Until a belligerent has become supplied with mines constructed so as to answer to the conditions of Article 5, paragraph 2, he is forbidden to place anchored automatic contact mines outside the limits fixed in Articles 2 to 4. It is forbidden to use unanchored automatic contact mines which do not answer to the condition stipulated in Article 1, paragraph 1, one year after the present Convention goes into force. ARTICLE 9 The stipulations of the present Convention are concluded for a period of five years from the date on which the present Convention takes effect. ARTICLE 10 The signatory Powers express the hope that they may have occasion to resume consideration of the question of the use of submarine mines six months before the expiration of the period provided in Article 9. Annex 32 AMENDMENT OF THE BRITISH DELEGATION TO THE DRAFT REGULATIONS PRESENTED TO THE COMMISSION 1 Omit this article. ARTICLE 5 In case this amendment is accepted: ARTICLE 9 Omit paragraph 2 of this article. ARTICLE 4 Substitute the following for paragraph 3: It is forbidden to lay automatic contact mines before the ports of the adversary other than those which are considered as war ports, according to the definition contained in Article 3, paragraph 2. ARTICLE 10 Substitute the following for this article: The stipulations of the present Convention are concluded for a period of seven years, beginning with the taking effect of the present Convention or until the closing of the Third Peace Conference, if that date is earlier. 1 1 Annex 31. AMENDMENT OF THE NETHERLAND DELEGATION TO THE DRAFT PEGULATIONS PRESENTED TO THE COMMISSION: As no mention of straits" has been made in the draft regulations respecting the laying of automatic contact mines, it might be thought that the different stipulations relating to mines contained in these regulations apply quite as well to straits as to other regions of the sea But this interpretation is found to be utterly inconsistent with what is said in the report preceding the draft regulations. In short, we there read the following: 2 Owing to these reservations and declarations the committee unanimously decided to omit any provision concerning straits, which should remain unaffected by any stipulation in the present regulations: it was distinctly laid down that by the stipulations of the Convention to be concluded no change whatever is made in the present status of straits, which is in nowise affected by the provisions on the use of mines. As is seen, there is a capital contradiction between the draft regulations and the report as regards the status of straits in their relation to mines. In order to define clearly what the Convention is meant to establish, the delegation of the Netherlands proposes to add to the draft regulations an article worded as follows: ARTICLE 10 This Convention does not modify the present status of straits in any degree. Annex 34 AMENDMENT PROPOSED BY THE DELEGATION OF TURKEY TO THE DRAFT REGULATIONS PRESENTED TO THE COMMISSION 1 ARTICLE 3 Add to the second paragraph of the article: The provisions of this article are applicable also to ports whose entrance is defended by forts and fortifications. 1 Annex 31. See the end of p. 409 [407]. [679] Annex 35 TEXT OF THE DRAFT REGULATIONS BASED UPON THE It is forbidden: ARTICLE 1 1. To lay unanchored automatic contact mines, except when they are so constructed as to become harmless one hour at most after the person who laid them ceases to control them; 2. To lay anchored automatic contact mines which do not become harmless as soon as they have broken loose from their moorings; 3. To use torpedoes which do not become harmless when they have missed their mark. ARTICLE 2 It is forbidden to lay automatic contact mines off the coasts and ports of the enemy with the sole object of intercepting commercial shipping. ARTICLE 3 When anchored automatic contact mines are employed, every possible precaution must be taken for the safety of peaceful shipping. The belligerents undertake to do their utmost to render these mines harmless within a limited time, and, should they cease to be under surveillance, to notify the danger zones as soon as military exigencies permit, by a notice addressed to ship-owners, which must also be communicated to the Governments through the diplomatic channel. ARTICLE 4 Any neutral Power which lays automatic contact mines off its coasts must observe the same rules and take the same precautions as are imposed on belligerents. The neutral Power must inform ship-owners, by a notice issued in advance, where automatic contact mines will be anchored. This notice must be communicated at once to the Governments through the diplomatic channel. ARTICLE 5 At the close of the war the contracting Powers undertake to do their utmost to remove the mines which they have laid, each Power removing its own mines. As regards anchored automatic contact mines laid by one of the belligerents along the coasts of the other, their position must be notified by the Power which laid them to the other party, and each Power must proceed with the least possible delay to remove the mines in its own waters. ARTICLE 6 The contracting Powers which do not at present own perfected mines of the kind contemplated in the present regulations, and which, consequently, could not at present carry out the rules laid down in Articles 1 and 3, undertake to convert 1 |