Treaty of Paris (1815)/Convention on the claims of British subjects

Convention between Great Britain and France, concluded in conformity with the IXth Article of the Principal Treaty, relative to the Examination and Liquidation of the Claims of the Subjects of His Britannic Majesty against the Government of France.

ART. I. The Subjects of His Britannic Majesty, having Claims upon the French Government, who, in contravention of the 2nd Article of the Treaty of Commerce, of 1786, and since the 1st of January, 1793, have suffered on that account, by the Confiscations or Sequestrations decreed in France, shall, in conformity with the 4th Additional Article of the Treaty of Paris, of the year 1814, themselves, their Heirs or Assigns, Subjects of His Britannic Majesty, be indemnified and paid, when their Claims shall have been admitted as legitimate, and when the amount of them shall have been ascertained, according to the forms, and under the conditions, hereafter stipulated. ART. II. The Subjects of His Britannic Majesty, holders of permanent Stock under the French Government, and who on that account have, since the 1st of January, 1793, suffered by the Confiscations or Sequestrations decreed in France, shall themselves, their Heirs or Assigns, Subjects of His Britannic Majesty, be inscribed in the Great Book of the Consolidated Debt of France, for an amount of Stock equal to the amount of the Stock they possessed prior to the Laws and Decrees of Sequestration or of Confiscation above-mentioned.

In the cases in which the Edicts or Decrees constituting the above mentioned Stock shall have added thereto profitable conditions or favourable chances, account shall be had thereof in favour of the Creditors, and an addition, founded upon a just evaluation of such advantages, shall be made to the amount of the Stock to be inscribed.

The new Inscriptions shall bear date and bear interest from the 22d of March, 1816.

Such Subjects of His Britannic Majesty, who, by receiving their annuities at a 3rd, after the 30th of September, 1797, have submitted themselves by their own act to the Laws existing upon this subject, are excepted from the above-mentioned dispositions.

ART. III. Such of the Subjects of His Britannic Majesty, or their Heirs or Assigns, Subjects of His Britannic Majesty, as possessed Life Annuities from the French Government, before the Decrees of Confiscation or Sequestration, shall equally be inscribed upon the Great Book of the Life Annuities of France, for the same sum of Life Annuities as they enjoyed in 1793. Such of the Subjects of His Britannic Majesty, however, as have changed the nature of their Claims, by receiving their Annuities at a 3rd, and thus by their own act have submitted themselves to the Laws existing upon this subject, shall be excepted from the above dispositions.

The new Inscriptions shall bear date, and bear interest, from the 22d of March, 1816.

Prior to the delivery of the new Inscriptions, the Claimants shall be bound to produce Certificates, according to the usual forms, declaring that the Persons in whose names their Life Annuities were constituted are still alive.

With respect to those of the above-mentioned Subjects of His Britannic Majesty possessing Life Annuities in the names of Persons who are dead,they shall be bound to produce Certificates of demise, in the usual forms, stating the period of the decease; and in that case, the Annuities shall be paid up to such period.

ART. IV. Such arrears of the Perpetual and Life Annuities as shall have been liquidated and allowed, and as shall be due up to the 22d of March next, exclusively, save the cases of exception specified in the IInd and IIIrd Articles, shall be inscribed in the Great Book of the Public Debt of France, at the rate which shall be the medium price between par and the current market price of the day, at the date of the signature of the present Treaty.

The Inscriptions shall bear date and bear interest, from the 22d of March, 1816, inclusively.

ART. V. In order to determine the Capital due on immoveable property, which belonged to Subjects of His Britannic Majesty, to their Heirs or Assigns, equally Subjects of His Britannic Majesty, and which was sequestrated, confiscated and sold, the following process shall be had:

The said Subjects of His Britannic Majesty shall be obliged to produce: 1st, the Deed of Purchase, proving their Proprietorship; 2ndly, the Acts proving the facts of the Sequestration, and of the Confiscation against themselves, their Ancestors or Assignors, Subjects of His Britannic Majesty. In default, however, of all proofs in writing, considering the circumstances under which the Confiscations and Sequestrations took place, and those which have since arisen, such other proof shall be admitted as the Commissioners of Liquidation hereafter mentioned, shall judge sufficient in lieu thereof.

The French Government further engages to facilitate, by every means, the production of all Titles and Proofs serving to substantiate the Claims to which the present Article refers, and the Commissioners shall be authorised to make all search, which they shall judge necessary, to arrive at such information, and to obtain the production of such Titles and Proofs; they shall also be empowered to examine upon oath, in case of need, such Persons employed in the Public Offices, as may have it in their power to point them out, or to furnish them.

The value of the said immoveable property shall be determined and fixed by the production of an extract of the "Matrices" of the "Roles" of the "Contribution Fondère" for the year 1791, and at the rate of 20 times the revenue mentioned in the said "Roles."

If the "Matrices" should no longer, exist, and that it should therefore be impossible to produce the extracts, the Claimants shall be authorised to furnish such other proofs, as shall be admitted by the Commission of Liquidation mentioned in the following Articles.

The Capital thus liquidated and allowed, shall be inscribed upon the Great Book of the Public Debt of France, at the rate which has been fixed in the IVth Article for the inscription of the arrears of the annuities; and the Inscriptions shall bear date, and shall bear interest, from the 22nd of March next, inclusively.

The arrears due upon the said Capital, from the period of its sequestration, shall be calculated at the rate of 4 per cent, per annum, without deduction, and the whole amount of those arrears, up to the 22d of March next, exclusively, shall be inscribed in the Great Book of the Public Debt of France, at the rate above-mentioned, and shall bear interest from the 22nd of March next, inclusively.

ART. VI. In order to fix the Capital as well as the arrears which shall be due to such of the Subjects of His Britannic Majesty, whose moveable property in France has been sequestered, confiscated and sold, or to their Heirs or Assigns, Subjects of His Britannic Majesty, the following process shall be had:

The Claimants shall be obliged to produce: 1st, the Procès verbal, containing the inventory of the moveable effects seized or sequestered. 2ndly, the Procès verbal of the sale of the said effects, or in default of proofs in writing, such other proof as the respective Commissioners of the 2 Powers shall judge sufficient in lieu thereof, according to the principles established in the preceding Article; the French Government engaging, in this respect, to give the same facilities, and the Commissioners are authorized to make the same search, and to take the same measures, as have been detailed in the foregoing Article, with respect to immoveable property. The amount of the Stock arising from the seizures and sales of the moveable property shall be thus determined; regard being always had to those periods, during which paper money was in circulation, and to the fictitious augmentation of prices resulting therefrom.

The Capital liquidated and allowed, shall be inscribed upon the Great Book of the Public Debt of France, at the rate which has been fixed by the preceding Articles, and the Inscriptions shall bear date, and shall bear interest, from the 22nd March next, inclusively.

The arrears liquidated and allowed, due upon the said Capital, from the period at which the Claimant was deprived of the possession of his or her moveable property, shall be calculated at the rate of 3 per cent, per annum, without deduction, and the whole amount of the said arrears, up to the 22d of March next, exclusively, shall be inscribed upon the Great Book of the Public Debt of France, at the rate above-mentioned, and shall bear interest from the 22d of March next, inclusively.

The Vessels, Ships, Cargoes, and other moveable Property which shall have been seized and confiscated, either to the profit of France, or to the profit of the Subjects of His Most Christian Majesty, in conformity with the Laws of War, and the prohibitory Decrees, shall not be admitted to the liquidation, nor to the payments mentioned in the present Article.

ART. VII. The Claims of the Subjects of His Britannic Majesty, arising from the different Loans made by the French Government, or from mortgages upon property sequestered, seized and sold by the said Government, or any other claim whatsoever, not comprized in the preceding Articles, and which would be admissible according to the terms of the IVth Additional Article of the Treaty of Paris of 1814, and of the present Convention, shall be liquidated and fixed ; adopting with respect to each Claim, the modes of admission, of verification, and of liquidation, which shall be conformable to their respective natures, and which shall be defined and fixed by the Mixed Commission mentioned in the following Articles, according to the principles laid down in the above Articles.

These Claims thus liquidated, shall be paid in Inscriptions in the Great Book at the rate abovementioned, and the Inscriptions shall bear date and shall bear interest from the 22nd of March next, inclusively.

In the cases wherein the Edicts or Decrees constituting the Claims abovementioned, shall have assured to the Creditors the reimbursement of the Capitals, and other profitable conditions or favourable chances, account shall be had thereof to the benefit of the Claimants, as detailed above in Article II.

ART. VIII. The amount of the Inscriptions arising to each Creditor, from his Claims liquidated and allowed, shall be divided by the Commissioners of Deposit into 5 equal portions; the first of which shall be delivered immediately after liquidation ; the second, 3 months after, and so on with respect to the other portions, every 3 months; the Creditors will, nevertheless, receive the interests of the whole of their debts liquidated and allowed, from the 22nd of March, 1816, inclusive, as soon as their respective Claims shall have been allowed and admitted.

ART. IX. A Capital, producing an interest of 3,500,000 francs, commencing from the 22nd of March, 1816, skill be inscribed as a Fund of Guarantee, in the Great Book of the Public Debt of France, in the name of 2 or 4 Commissioners, the one half English and the other half French, chosen by their respective Governments.

These Commissioners shall receive the said interest from the 22nd of March, 1816, every 6 months; they shall hold it in deposit, without having the power of negotiating it, and they shall farther be bound to place the amount of it in the Public Funds, and to receive the accumulated and compound interest of the same, for the profit of the Creditors.

In case the 3,500,000 francs of interest shall be insufficient, there shall be delivered to the said Commissioners, Inscriptions for larger sums, until their amount shall be equal to what may be necessary to pay all the debts mentioned in the present Act. These additional Inscriptions, if there shall be any, shall be delivered, bearing interest from the same period as the 3,500,000 francs above stipulated, and shall be administered by the Commissioners, according to the same principles, so that the Claims which shall remain to be paid, shall be paid with the same proportion of accumulated and compound interest, as if the Fund of Guarantee had been from the first sufficient; and as soon as all the payments due to the Creditors shall have been made, the surplus of the interest fund not employed, with the proportion of accumulated and compound interest which shall belong thereto, shall, if there be any, be given up to the disposal of the French Government.

ART. X. In proportion as the liquidation shall be effected, and as the Claims shall be allowed, distinction being made between the sums representing the Capitals, and the sums arising from the arrears or interest, the Commission of Liquidation, which shall be mentioned in the following Articles, shall deliver to the Creditors, allowed to be such, 2 Certificates for the value of the whole Inscription to be made, bearing interest from the 22nd of March, 1816, inclusive; one of the Certificates relating to the Capital of the Debt, and the other relating to the arrears or interest liquidated, up to the 22nd of March, 1816, exclusively.

ART. XI. The Certificates abovementioned shall be delivered over to the Commissioners holding the annuities in deposit, who shall check the same, in order that they be immediately inscribed in the Great Book of the Public Debt of France, to the debit of the deposit fund, and to the credit of the new Creditors, acknowledged as such, bearers of the said Certificates ; care being taken to distinguish the Perpetual from the Life Annuities.

And the said Creditors shall be authorized from the day of the definitive liquidation of their Claims to receive, for their profit, from the said Commissioners, the interests which are due to them, together with the accumulated and compound interests, if there be any, as well as such portion of the Capital as shall have been paid, according to what has been regulated by the preceding Article

ART. XII. A further delay shall be allowed, after the signature of the present Convention, to the Subjects of His Britannic Majesty, who shall have Claims upon the French Government, for the matters specified in the present Act, in order that they may bring forward their Claims and produce their titles.

This delay shall be extended to 3 months for the Creditors residing in Europe, 6 months for such as are in the Western Colonies, and 12 months for such as are resident in the East Indies, or in other Countries equally distant. After the expiration of these periods, the said Subjects of His Britannic Majesty shall no longer have the benefit of the present liquidation.

ART. XIII. In order to proceed in the liquidation and allowance of the Claims mentioned in the preceding Articles, there shall be formed a Commission, composed of 2 French and 2 English Commissioners, who shall be nominated and appointed by their respective Governments.

These Commissioners, after they shall have allowed and admitted the titles to the Claims, shall proceed, according to the principles pointed out, to the allowance, liquidation and determination of the sums which shall be due to each Creditor.

In proportion as the Claims shall be. allowed and ascertained, they shall deliver to the Creditors the 2 Certificates mentioned in the Xth Article, one for the capital, the other for the interests.

XIV. A Commission of Arbitrators shall at the same time be named, composed of 4 Members, 2 of whom shall be named by the British Government, and 2 by the French Government.

If it shall be necessary to call upon the Arbitrators, in case of an equality of votes of any point, the 4 names of the Arbitrators, English and French, shall be put into an urn, and the one of the 4 whose names shall be drawn first shall be the Arbitrator of the particular affair upon which there shall have been such equality of votes.

Each of the Commissioners of Liquidation shall, in his turn, take from the urn the ticket which is to point out the Arbitrator.

A Procès-verbal shall be made of this operation, and shall be annexed to the one which shall be drawn up for the liquidation and determination of the particular Claim.

If a vacancy shall take place, either in the Commission of Liquidation or in that of Arbitration, the Government, which ought to provide for the nomination of a new Member, shall proceed to that nomination without delay, in order that the 2 Commissions may always remain as far as possible complete.

If one of the Commissioners of Liquidation shall be absent, he shall be replaced, during his absence, by one of the Arbitrators of his Nation; and as in that cast1 there will remain but one Arbitrator of that Nation, the 2 Arbitrators of the other Nation shall also be reduced to one by lot.

And if one of the Arbitrators should absent himself, the same operation shall take place, in order to reduce to one the 2 Arbitrators of the other Nation.

It is generally understood, that in order to obviate all manner of delay in this business, the liquidation and adjudication shall not be suspended, provided there shall be present, and in activity, one Commissioner and one Arbitrator of each Nation, the principle of equality between the Commissioners and the Arbitrators of the 2 Nations being always preserved, and re established, if necessary, by lot.

Whenever either of the Contracting Powers shall proceed to the nomination of new Commissioners of Liquidation, of Deposit, or of Arbitration, the said Commissioners shall be obliged, previously to their entering upon their functions, to make the oath, and in the forms detailed in the following Article.

ART. XV. The Commissioners of Liquidation, the Commissioners of Deposit, and the Arbitrators, shall together make oath, in presence of the Ambassador of His Britannic Majesty, and between (he hands of the Keeper of the Seals of France, to proceed justly and faithfully, to have no preference either for the Creditor or for the Debtor, and to act in all their proceedings according to the Stipulations of the Treaty of Paris of the 30th May, 1814, and of the Treaties and Conventions with France signed this day, and more particularly according to those of the present Convention.

The Commissioners of Liquidation and the Arbitrators shall be authorized to call Witnesses whenever they shall judge it necessary, and to examine them by oath in the usual forms, upon all points relative to the different Claims which form the object of this Convention.

ART. XVI. When the 3,500,000 francs of interest, mentioned in the IXth Article, shall have been inscribed in the name of the Commissioners who are to hold that sum in deposit, and on the first demand which shall be thereafter made by the French Government, His Britannic Majesty shall give the necessary orders to carry into execution the restoration of the French Colonies, as stipulated by the Treaty of Paris of the 30th of May, 1814, comprehending Martinique and Guadaloupe, which have been since occupied by the British Forces.

The Inscription above-mentioned shall be made before the 1st January next, at the latest.

ART. XVII. The Prisoners of War, Officers and Soldiers, both Naval and Military, or of any other description, taken during the hostilities which have lately ceased, shall on both sides be immediately restored to their respective Countries, under the same conditions which are specified in the Convention of the 23rd of April, 1814, and in the Treaty of the 30th of May of the same year; and the British Government renounces all Claim to any sums or indemnities whatsoever, which might belong to it from the surplus arising- from the maintenance of the said Prisoners of War; subject, nevertheless, to the condition specified in the IVth Additional Article of the Treaty of Paris of the 30th of May, 1814.

Done at Paris, the 20th day of November, 1815.


 * (L.S.) CASTLEREAGH. (L.S.) RICHELIEU.
 * (L.S.) WELLINGTON.

Additional article on the Bourdeaux claims
Additional Article.

The Claims of the Subjects of His Britannic Majesty, founded on a decision of His Most Christian Majesty, relative to the British merchandize introduced into Bourdeaux, in conformity to the Tarif of Customs published in the above-mentioned City, by His Royal Highness the Duke d'Angoulême, on the 24th of March, 1814, shall be liquidated and paid, according to the principles and the object declared in the above-mentioned decision of His Most Christian Majesty.

The Commission instituted by the XIIIth Article of the Convention of this day, is directed to proceed immediately to the liquidation of the said Claim, and to fix the dates of its payment to be made in money.

The decision which shall be made by the Commissioners, shall be executed immediately, according to its form and tenor.

The present Additional Article shall have the same force and effect as if it were inserted, word for word,in the Convention signed this day, relative to the examinat on and liquidation of the Claims of the Subjects of His Britannic Majesty against the Government of France.

In witness whereof, the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed it, and have thereto affixed the Seal of their Arms.

Done at Paris, the 20th day of November, 1815.
 * (L.S.) CASTLEREAGH. (L.S.) RICHELIEU.
 * (L.S.) WELLINGTON.

Notification of the period for presenting claims
BRITISH NOTIFICATION, relative to the extension of the Period for receiving Claims under the preceding Convention.

Foreign Office, 17th December, 1816.

N OTICE is hereby given, that, for the greater convenience of Persons having Claims upon the French Government, under the Convention concluded at Paris on the 20th day of November, 1815, between His Majesty and The Most Christian King, in conformity to the IXth Article of the Treaty of Peace of the same date, and which Convention was laid before both Houses of Parliament on the 2d day of February, 1816, the term for receiving such Claims has been extended, with the consent of the Government of His Most Christian Majesty, from the 20th day of January next, to the 20th day of February next.