Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 59 Part 2.djvu/1026

 59 GREATJune 10, 1943 59 STAT.] GREAT BRITAIN-JURISDICTION OVER PRIZES-- e. 24, 1943 Sept. 24, 1943 Agreement between the United States of America and the United Kingdom June 10 and Septem- of Great Britain and Northern IrelandforIndia respectingjurisdiction [E. A.s. 489] over prizes. Effected by exchange of notes signed at London June 10 and September 24, 1943. The American Ambassador to the British Secretary of State for ForeignAffairs EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA No. 2719 London, June 10, 1943. SIR: I have the honor to refer to the arrangement made between the Government of the United Kingdom and the Government of the United States by which, in conformity with the provisions of Public Law 704 enacted by the Seventy-seventh Congress of the United States and ap- proved August 18, 1942, [1] the courts of the United States were per- mitted to exercise jurisdiction over prizes taken by United States armed forces and brought into the territorial waters of the United Kingdom and Sierra Leone. A copy of the Act in question is enclosed for your convenient reference. The consent of the Government of the United Kingdom to this arrangement was notified to this Embassy by a note (No. W 13225/279/49) dated November 3, 1942. [2] My Government now desires to obtain the consent of the Govern- ment of India to a similar arrangement with respect to prizes taken by United States armed forces and brought into the territorial juris- diction of the Government of India. Permission is desired for special prize commissioners appointed by the district courts of the United States to exercise in India such powers and duties, in addition to those already prescribed for prize commissioners, as may be deemed necessary or proper for carrying out the purposes of Public Law 704. The duties of prize commissioners are set out in Title 34, U.S .C ., Section 1138, which reads as follows: "S 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 '[See also proclamation of November 28, 1943 (57 Stat. 761).] 2 [Not printed.] 56 Stat. 746. 34 U. . C., Supp. IV, §§ 119-1166. 1709

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