Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 58 Part 2.djvu/470

 INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS OTHER THAN TREATIES [58 STAT. November 10, 1942 and May 10, 1944 Agreement between the United States of America and Australia respect- [E. A. .417] ing jurisdiction over prizes. Effected by exchange of notes signed at CanberraNovember 10, 1942 and May 10, 1944. The American Minister to the Australian Minister of State for External Affairs 56 Stat. 746. 50 U.. C. Supp. III, app. §§ 821-828. Ante, p. 678. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Canberra,A.C.T. November 10, 1942. SIR: I have the honor to refer to my note of February 19, 1942 [1] and to the reply of May 29 [1] of the then Acting Minister for External Affairs, the Right Honorable John Curtin, relating to the question of changing the present procedure with respect to prizes taken by the United States naval forces in foreign waters remote from ports of the United States. I am now in receipt of instructions from the Department of State amplifying the information contained in my note of February 19. Public Law 704- 77th Congress, an Act to facilitate the disposi- tion of prizes captured by the United States during the present war, and for other purposes was approved on August 18, 1942. [2] A copy of the Act is enclosed. It will be perceived that the Act relates only to prizes captured dur- ing the present war, a matter raised in the note from the Acting Min- ister for External Affairs. It may be added concerning the other matter inquired about that the special prize commissioners which the district courts of the United States are authorized to appoint may exercise abroad the duties which are prescribed by law for such com- missioners and such additional duties as the district courts may confer on them for carrying out the purposes of the Act. The duties of prize commissioners are set out in Title 34 U. S. C. Section 1138 which reads as follows: "§ 1138. Duties of prize commissioners. The prize commis- sioners, or one of them, shall receive from the prize master the documents and papers, and inventory thereof, and shall take the affidavit of the prize master required by section 1134 of this title, and shall forthwith take the testimony of the witnesses sent in, separate from each other, on interrogatories prescribed by the court, in the manner usual in prize courts; and the witnesses shall not be permitted to see the interrogatories, documents, or papers, or to consult with counsel, or with any persons interested with- [Not printed.] [See also proclamation of August 12, 1944 (58 Stat. 1146).] 1390

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