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‘File 28/2 War. Prize jurisdiction in the Persian Gulf states’ [120r] (239/292)
The record is made up of 1 file (144 folios). It was created in 25 Oct 1939-28 Feb 1943. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
(Time of Release 5.0 p.m. Tues,, Nov. 28)
The decision of the Allied Governments to take action
against enemy exports means that ships outward-bound from
Germany or from countries to which Germany has access will
now be subject to the same measures of control as inward-
bound ships. Shipowners are advised to arrange for their
vessels to call at one of the British or french control bases,
either at Kirkwall or the Downs, or at Dunkirk or Le Havre,
or else, if they are outward-bound from Mediterranean and
Black Sea ports, at Malta, Haifa, Port Said or Gibraltar, or
at Marseilles or Oran. Vessels which do not call voluntarily
at one or other of these bases are liable to be diverted for
examination.
Bvery endeavour will be made to avoid undue delays to
outward-bound shipping in consequence of these measures.
Goods which are required to be discharged in British
ports on the ground that they are of enemy origin or are enemy
property will be placed in the custody of the Marshal of the
Prize Court, and unless the Court orders them to be
requisitioned for the use of His Majesty will be detained or
sold under the direction of the Court if the Court considers
that they are in fact of enemy origin or ownership. The
proceeds of any goods sold will be paid into Court. These
proceeds and any goods detained but not sold will in general
remain under the direction of the Court until the conclusion
of peace when they will be dealt with as the Court thinks just.
But the Court will have the power to order that the proceeds
of goods sold should be paid out or that goods should be
released at any time (a) if it is shown that the goods have
become neutral property before November 27th, 1939, or (b)
with the consent of the proper officer of the Crown.
As regards (b), requests to the proper officer of the
Crown that he should consent to the release of goods or the
proceeds of goods of enemy origin which are neutral-owned
(but not of goods which are enemy property) will be considered
(i) if the goods were on board a vessel which cleared from her
last neutral port of departure before December 11th, 1939;
(ii) if the contract under which the goods were ordered was
entered into prior to November 27th, 1939, and if by its terms
the purchaser is obliged to take delivery of the goods on or
before shipment, and provided he has paid for them before
shipment and the goods were on board a vessel which cleared
from her last neutral port of departure before January 1st,
1940.
Requests in respect of goods which have been required to
be discharged should be addressed, supported by the necessary
documentary evidence, to the proper officer of the Crown in
the territory concerned. This, in the case of the United
Kingdom, would be H. M. Procurator-General, Storey’s Gate ,8. Vv r . 1.
and such requests should not be addressed to any other
Government Department.
Merchants who wish to ensure that their exports from
European countries are not delayed or detained are advised
t^ obtain Certificates of Origin and Interest from a British
or French Consular Officer in the European country concerned.
They should arrange for these certificates to accompany the
goods on board the vessel. This ./ill greatly facilitate the
examination of the vessel at the control bases, and shipowners
are therefore strongly advised not to accept cargo not
accompanied by such certificates.
PRESS SECTION
MINISTRY OF ECONOMIC WARFARE
28th November 1939.
About this item
- Content
The file comprises copies of official notices and correspondence relating to prize jurisdiction in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (the capture of enemy vessels and cargo) during the Second World War, based on the understanding, as described in a letter from the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. to his Agents, dated 16 November 1939, that, ‘as Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and the Trucial States A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. are on the side of Great Britain the Crown has the right to exercise prize jurisdiction in these States’ (ff 2-3).
The file includes:
- two printed copies of a booklet entitled Provisional Rules and Orders, 1939: Prize Courts: Order in Council A regulation issued by the sovereign of the United Kingdom on the advice of the Privy Council. dated September 2, 1939. Made under Section 3 of the Prize Courts Act, 1894 (57 & 58 Vict. C. 39) (ff 6-59, ff 61-114);
- a printed copy of an Order in Council A regulation issued by the sovereign of the United Kingdom on the advice of the Privy Council. entitled Reprisals for restricting German Commerce , dated 27 November 1939 (ff 117-118), and a press statement, issued by the Press Section of the Ministry of Economic Warfare, dated 28 November 1939, relating to the issue of the Order in Council A regulation issued by the sovereign of the United Kingdom on the advice of the Privy Council. (f 120);
- correspondence relating to a Danish tanker, the Eleonora Maersk (also spelt Elonora Maersk and Eleanora Mearsk ) which arrived in Bahrain from Iran, in April 1940. In a letter to the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. (Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Geoffrey Prior) the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. at Bahrain (Hugh Weightman) stated that the Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. has received instructions from the East Indies Commander-in-Chief that the vessel should be sent to Karachi, presumably as prize (ff 121-124);
- a Department of Commerce notification, dated 31 August 1940, stating that measures taken against German shipping can now be applied to Italian shipping (f 131);
- communications relating to prize procedure in respect of Finland, Hungary, Rumania [Romania] and Japan (ff 139-142).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (144 folios)
- Arrangement
The file’s contents are arranged in approximate chronological order, from the earliest item at the front to the latest at the end. The file notes at the end of the file (ff 144-145) mirror the chronological arrangement.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 146; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 2-6, f 60, and ff 119-143, the intermediate folios being skipped; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.
Pagination: two printed booklets are present in the file (see ff 6-59 and ff 61-114); these booklets each have their own original printed pagination sequence. The file notes at the back of the file (144-145) have also been paginated using pencil.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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‘File 28/2 War. Prize jurisdiction in the Persian Gulf states’ [120r] (239/292), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/675, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100025289613.0x000028> [accessed 4 June 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/2/675
- Title
- ‘File 28/2 War. Prize jurisdiction in the Persian Gulf states’
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:121v, 123r:145v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence