§ THE EARL OF SELBORNEMy Lords, I beg to ask the noble Lord opposite whether His Majesty's Government have considered the case of the seventy-three enemy vessels, with a gross tonnage of 93,354 tons, which Mr. Churchill stated on February 10 in the House of Commons are now detained in the ports of the United Kingdom; whether this number and tonnage represent all the enemy 556 vessels that are now so detained; how long those vessels have been thus detained; whether he can say why His Majesty's Government have not instructed Mr. Attorney-General to apply to the Prize Court for a condemnation of these vessels; and whether there is any reason why, in default of such an application by the Attorney-General to the Prize Court for condemnation of any enemy vessel, the captors of such vessel may not themselves apply for its condemnation.
§ LORD ISLINGTONIncluding a number of small vessels, the total number of ships belonging to enemy subjects detained in the United Kingdom is eighty-three, with a total gross tonnage of 100,448 tons. All these vessels were seized in ports in the United Kingdom at the outbreak of war with the countries to which they respectively belong, and have since been detained. The Attorney-General has applied to the Prize Court for adjudication in each case, and the order of the Court was that the vessel should be detained until further orders. The cases have thus been dealt with, and there is no reason to reopen them. The detention of the ships rather than their condemnation is in accordance with the Sixth Hague Convention, 1907, ratified by His Majesty's Government in 1909. The judgments of the Prize Courts have been so framed, however, that in the event of reciprocal treatment not being obtained for British ships which were seized in enemy ports on the declaration of war, the Crown will be at liberty to apply to the Court for condemnation of the ships. The Crown, acting through the officers of Customs and Excise, is the captor of these ships.