Declaration of Neutrality of the Arthurian Federation
Rights and Duties of the Arthurian Federation as a Neutral StateFor the purpose of the permanent maintenance of its external independence and the inviolability of its territory, the Arthurian Federation of its own free will declares its neutrality. This neutrality shall be permanent and reinforced by armed force. The Federation shall be resolved to defend and maintain this neutrality with all means at its disposal.Rights of the Arthurian Federation as a Neutral State
- The territory of the Arthurian Federation is inviolable.
- States or non-state actors are forbidden to:
- Move troops or convoys of either munitions of war or supplies across the territory of the Arthurian Federation;
- Erect on the territory of the Arthurian Federation a wireless telegraphy station or other apparatus for the purpose of communicating with military forces on land or sea;
- Use any of the above installations established by them before the war on the territory of the Arthurian Federation for purely military purposes, and which has not been opened for the service of public messages.
- Corps of combatants cannot be formed nor recruiting agencies opened on the territory of the Arthurian Federation to assist states or non-state actors. This shall not apply to individuals who cross from the Arthurian Federation's territory to offer their services to another state or non-state actor.
- The Arthurian Federation is not obliged to prevent the export or transport, on behalf of one or other states or non-state actors, of arms, munitions of war, or, in general, of anything which can be of use to an army or a fleet.
- The Arthurian Federation is not obliged to forbid or restrict the use on behalf of other states or non-state actors of telegraph or telephone cables or of wireless telegraphy apparatus belonging to it or to companies or private individuals.
- The above two rights shall be impartially applied by it to all states or non-state actors by the Arthurian Federation. The Arthurian Federation must see to the same obligation being observed by companies or private individuals owning telegraph or telephone cables or wireless telegraphy apparatus.
- The fact of the Arthurian Federation resisting, even by force, attempts to violate its neutrality cannot be regarded as a hostile act.
- The Arthurian Federation may authorise the passage over its territory of the sick and wounded belonging to the armies of states or non-state actors, on condition that the transports bringing them shall carry neither personnel nor war material. In such a case, the Arthurian Federation is bound to take whatever measures of safety and control are necessary for the purpose. The sick or wounded brought under the these conditions into Arthurian territory by a state or non-state actor must be guarded by the Arthurian Federation so as to ensure their not taking part in the military operations.
- The nationals of the Arthurian Federation shall be considered as neutrals.
- The following acts shall be considered as impartial:
- Furnishing supplies or loans to one belligerent in a conflict, provided that the person who furnishes the supplies or who makes the loans lives neither in the territory of another party to the conflict nor in territory occupied by that party, and that the supplies do not come from these territories;
- Services rendered in matters of police or civil administration.
- The Arthurian Federation shall lose its rights as a neutral state if:
- It commits hostile acts against another state or non-state actor;
- It commits acts in favour of a belligerent in a conflict, including vocally supporting one belligerent over the other;
- It joins a military alliance;
- It permits another state or non-state actor to establish a military base or installation on its territory.
Duties of the Arthurian Federation as a Neutral State
- The Arthurian Federation must not allow any of the acts outlined in Sections 2, 3 or 11 to occur within its territory.
- The Arthurian Federation, when it receives on its territory troops belonging to a belligerent army to a conflict, shall intern them, as far as possible, at a distance from the theatre of war. It may keep them in camps and even confine them in fortresses or in places set apart for this purpose. It shall decide whether officers can be left at liberty on giving their parole not to leave Arthurian territory without permission.
- The Arthurian Federation shall supply the interned with the food, clothing, and relief required by humanity. At the conclusion of peace, negotiations shall be enacted with belligerents to make good the expenses caused by the internment.
- The Arthurian Federation, when it receives escaped prisoners of war, shall leave them at liberty. If it allows them to remain in its territory it may assign them a place of residence. The same rule applies to prisoners of war brought by troops taking refuge in Arthurian territory.
Rights and Duties of the Arthurian Federation as a Neutral State in the Maritime Domain
- Any act of hostility, including capture and the exercise of the right of search, committed by the warships of other states or non-state actors in Arthurian territorial waters shall constitute a violation of Arthurian neutrality and is strictly forbidden.
- When a ship has been captured in Arthurian territorial waters, the Arthurian Federation must employ, if the prize is still within its jurisdiction, the means at its disposal to release the prize with its officers and crew, and to intern the prize crew. If the prize is not in the jurisdiction of the Arthurian Federation, the captor government, on the demand of the Federation, must liberate the prize with its officers and crew.
- A prize court cannot be set up by another state or non-state actor on Arthurian territory or on a vessel in Arthurian waters.
- Other states or non-state actors are forbidden to use Arthurian ports and waters as a base of naval operations against their adversaries, and in particular to erect wireless telegraphy stations or any apparatus for the purpose of communicating with their forces on land or sea.
- The supply, in any manner, directly or indirectly, by the Arthurian Federation to a belligerent in a conflict, of warships, ammunition, or war material of any kind whatever, is forbidden.
- The Arthurian Federation is not bound to prevent the export or transit, for the use of a belligerent in a conflict, of arms, ammunition, or, in general, of anything which could be of use to an army or fleet.
- The Arthurian Federation is obliged to employ the means at its disposal to prevent the fitting out or arming of any vessel within its jurisdiction which it has reason to believe is intended to cruise, or engage in hostile operations, against a state or non-state actor with which that government is at peace.
- The Arthurian Federation must apply impartially to all belligerents in a conflict the conditions, restrictions, or prohibitions made by it in regard to the admission into its ports, roadsteads, or territorial waters, of belligerent warships or of their prizes.
- The neutrality of the Arthurian Federation is not affected by the mere passage through its territorial waters of warships or prizes belonging to belligerents in a conflict.
- The Arthurian Federation may allow warships of belligerents in a conflict to employ its licensed pilots.
- Warships of belligerents in a conflict are not permitted to remain in the ports, roadsteads, or territorial waters of the Arthurian Federation for more than twenty-four hours, except in the cases covered by the present Declaration. If the Federation, upon informed of the outbreak of hostilities, learns that a warship of a belligerent in a conflict is in one of its ports or roadsteads, or in its territorial waters, it must notify the said ship to depart within twenty-four hours.
- Warships of a belligerent in a conflict may not prolong their stay in Arthurian ports beyond the permissible time except on account of damage or stress of weather. They must depart as soon as the cause of the delay is at an end. The regulations as to the question of the length of time which these vessels may remain in Arthurian ports, roadsteads, or waters, do not apply to warships devoted exclusively to religious, scientific, or philanthropic purposes.
- The maximum number of warships of a belligerent in a conflict which may be in one of the ports or roadsteads of the Arthurian Federation simultaneously shall be three.
- When warships belonging to different belligerents in a conflict are present simultaneously in an Arthurian port or roadstead, a period of not less than twenty-four hours must elapse between the departure of the ship belonging to one belligerent and the departure of the ship belonging to the other. The order of departure is determined by the order of arrival, unless the ship which arrived first is so circumstanced that an extension of its stay is permissible. A belligerent warship may not leave an Arthurian port or roadstead until twenty-four hours after the departure of a merchant ship flying the flag of its adversary.
- In Arthurian ports and roadsteads belligerent war-ships may only carry out such repairs as are absolutely necessary to render them seaworthy, and may not add in any manner whatsoever to their fighting force. The authorities of the Arthurian Federation shall decide what repairs are necessary, and these must be carried out with the least possible delay.
- Belligerent warships may not make use of Arthurian ports, roadsteads, or territorial waters for replenishing or increasing their supplies of war material or their armament, or for completing their crews.
- Belligerent warships may only revictual in Arthurian ports or roadsteads to bring up their supplies to the peace standard. Similarly these vessels may only ship sufficient fuel to enable them to reach the nearest port in their own country. If the ships are not supplied with fuel within twenty-four hours of their arrival, the permissible duration of their stay is extended by twenty-four hours.
- Belligerent warships which have shipped fuel to an Arthurian port may not within the succeeding three months replenish their supply any Arthurian port.
- A prize may only be brought into an Arthurian port on account of unseaworthiness, stress of weather, or want of fuel or provisions. It must leave as soon as the circumstances which justified its entry are at an end. If it does not, the Arthurian Federation shall employ the means at its disposal to release it with its officers and crew and to intern the prize crew.
- If, notwithstanding the notification of the Arthurian Federation, a belligerent warship does not leave an Arthurian port where it is not entitled to remain, the Federation shall take such measures as it considers necessary to render the ship incapable of taking the sea during the war, and the commanding officer of the ship must facilitate the execution of such measures. When a belligerent ship is detained by the Federation, the officers and crew are likewise detained. The officers and crew thus detained may be left in the ship or kept either on another vessel or on land, and may be subjected to the measures of restriction which it may appear necessary to impose upon them. A sufficient number of men for looking after the vessel must, however, be always left on board. The officers may be left at liberty on giving their word not to quit Arthurian territory without permission.
- The exercise by the Arthurian Federation of the rights and duties laid down in the present Declaration should under no circumstances be considered as an unfriendly act by one or other belligerent in a conflict.
Be it enacted by the Arthurian Federation on 4 Bloðmanuður, 989 A.R.
