Section 16p. 16

PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW COMPENDIUM VOLUME II

appropriate cases a reasonable time limit, and after such

warning has remained unheeded.

In particular, hospital ships may not possess or use a

secret

code

for

their

wireless

or

other

means

of

communication.

Art 35. The following conditions shall not be considered as

depriving hospital ships or sick-bays of vessels of the

protection due to them:

(1) The fact that the crews of ships or sick-bays are armed

for the maintenance of order, for their own defence or

that of the sick and wounded.

(2)

The

presence

on

board of apparatus exclusively

intended to facilitate navigation or communication.

(3) The discovery on board hospital ships or in sick-bays of

portable arms and ammunition taken from the wounded,

sick and shipwrecked and not yet handed to the proper

service.

(4) The fact that the humanitarian activities of hospital

ships and sick-bays of vessels or of the crews extend to

the care of wounded, sick or shipwrecked civilians.

(5) The transport of equipment and of personnel intended

exclusively for medical duties, over and above the normal

requirements.

Chapter IV. Personnel

Art 36. The religious, medical and hospital personnel of

hospital ships and their crews shall be respected and

protected; they may not be captured during the time

they are in the service of the hospital ship, whether or not

there are wounded and sick on board.

Art 37. The religious, medical and hospital personnel

assigned to the medical or spiritual care of the persons

designated in Articles 12 and 13 shall, if they fall into the

hands of the enemy, be respected and protected; they

may continue to carry out their duties as long as this is

necessary for the care of the wounded and sick. They shall

afterwards

be

sent

back

as

soon

as

the

Commander-in-Chief, under whose authority they are,

considers it practicable. They may take with them, on

leaving the ship, their personal property.

If, however, it prove necessary to retain some of this

personnel owing to the medical or spiritual needs of

prisoners of war, everything possible shall be done for

their earliest possible landing.

Retained personnel shall be subject, on landing, to the

provisions of the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration

of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed

Forces in the Field of August 12, 1949.

Chapter V. Medical Transports

Art

38.

Ships

chartered

for

that

purpose

shall

be

authorized to transport equipment exclusively intended

for the treatment of wounded and sick members of

armed forces or for the prevention of disease, provided

that the particulars regarding their voyage have been

notified to the adverse Power and approved by the latter.

The adverse Power shall preserve the right to board the

carrier ships, but not to capture them or seize the

equipment carried.

By agreement amongst the Parties to the conflict, neutral

observers may be placed on board such ships to verify the

equipment carried. For this purpose, free access to the

equipment shall be given.

Art 39. Medical aircraft, that is to say, aircraft exclusively

employed for the removal of the wounded, sick and

shipwrecked, and for the transport of medical personnel

and equipment, may not be the object of attack, but shall

be respected by the Parties to the conflict, while flying at

heights, at times and on routes specifically agreed upon

between the Parties to the conflict concerned.

They shall be clearly marked with the distinctive emblem

prescribed in Article 41, together with their national

colours, on their lower, upper and lateral surfaces. They

shall be provided with any other markings or means of

identification which may be agreed upon between the

Parties to the conflict upon the outbreak or during the

course of hostilities.

Unless

agreed

otherwise,

flights

over

enemy

or

enemy-occupied territory are prohibited.

Medical aircraft shall obey every summons to alight on

land or water. In the event of having thus to alight, the

aircraft with its occupants may continue its flight after

examination, if any.

In the event of alighting involuntarily on land or water in

enemy or enemy-occupied territory, the wounded, sick

and shipwrecked, as well as the crew of the aircraft shall

be prisoners of war. The medical personnel shall be

treated according to Articles 36 and 37.

Art 40. Subject to the provisions of the second paragraph,

medical aircraft of Parties to the conflict may fly over the

territory of neutral Powers, land thereon in case of

necessity, or use it as a port of call. They shall give neutral

Powers

prior

notice

of

their

passage over the said

territory, and obey every summons to alight, on land or

water. They will be immune from attack only when flying

on routes, at heights and at times specifically agreed

upon between the Parties to the conflict and the neutral

Power concerned.

The neutral Powers may, however, place conditions or

restrictions on the passage or landing of medical aircraft

on their territory. Such possible conditions or restrictions

shall be applied equally to all Parties to the conflict.

Unless otherwise agreed between the neutral Powers

and the Parties to the conflict, the wounded, sick or

shipwrecked who are disembarked with the consent of

the

local authorities on neutral territory by medical

aircraft shall be detained by the neutral Power, where so

required by international law, in such a manner that they

cannot again take part in operations of war. The cost of

their accommodation and internment shall be borne by

the Power on which they depend.

Chapter VI. The Distinctive Emblem

Art 41. Under the direction of the competent military

authority, the emblem of the red cross on a white ground

shall be displayed on the flags, armlets and on all

equipment employed in the Medical Service.

Nevertheless, in the case of countries which already use

as emblem, in place of the red cross, the red crescent or

the red lion and sun on a white ground, these emblems

are

also

recognized

by

the

terms

of

the

present

Convention.

Art 42. The personnel designated in Articles 36 and 37

shall wear, affixed to the left arm, a water-resistant armlet

bearing the distinctive emblem, issued and stamped by

the military authority.

Such personnel, in addition to wearing the identity disc

mentioned in Article 19, shall also carry a special identity

card bearing the distinctive emblem. This card shall be

water-resistant and of such size that it can be carried in

the pocket. It shall be worded in the national language,

shall mention at least the surname and first names, the

date of birth, the rank and the service number of the

bearer, and shall state in what capacity he is entitled to

the protection of the present Convention. The card shall

bear the photograph of the owner and also either his

signature or his fingerprints or both. It shall be embossed

with the stamp of the military authority.

The identity card shall be uniform throughout the same

armed forces and, as far as possible, of a similar type in

the armed forces of the High Contracting Parties. The

Parties to the conflict may be guided by the model which

is annexed, by way of example, to the present Convention.

© Compiled by RGL

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