PART III-PROCEEDINGS ARTICLE 13 The official languages of the Tribunal shall be French, English, and German. ARTICLE 14 Proceedings before the Tribunal shall be instituted by a written petition filed with the Tribunal which shall contain a statement of the facts giving rise to the dispute, reference to the provisions of the Convention or the present Charter or the related Conventions which are invoked, legal argument, and conclusions. ARTICLE 15 1. The parties shall be represented by agents. They may be assisted by counsel. 2. Such agents and counsel shall enjoy immunity from suit in respect of acts performed in the exercise of their duties. ARTICLE 16 1. The presiding member may summon the agents in order to be informed of their wishes concerning the time limits and conduct of the proceedings. 2. The presiding member shall set the time limits for the submission of pleadings and shall prescribe all the measures necessary for the conduct of the proceedings. 3. Certified copies of all documents submitted by either party shall be immediately forwarded to the other party through the Registrar. ARTICLE 17 The proceedings shall consist of two parts; written and oral. Oral proceedings may be dispensed with if both parties so request. ARTICLE 18 1. Written proceedings shall consist of a statement of the complainant's case, the defendant's answer and, unless the Tribunal directs otherwise, a reply and a rejoinder. 2. Counterclaims shall be permissible. ARTICLE 19 1. Oral proceedings shall consist of the complainant's argument, the defendant's argument and, unless the Tribunal directs otherwise, a reply and a rejoinder, as well as hearings of witnesses and experts. 2. The Tribunal shall have power to demand the production of evidence, documentary or other, to require the attendance of witnesses to testify, to request expert opinion, and to direct inquiries to be made. 3. In the event that a party does not produce evidence which in the opinion of the Tribunal is relevant to the issues before it and which such party possesses or is in a position to procure, the Tribunal shall proceed to give its decision notwithstanding the absence of such evidence. 4. The presiding member or any other member of the Tribunal may put questions to the parties, witnesses and experts. 5. A written record of the oral proceedings shall be kept and shall be signed by the presiding member and the Registrar. ARTICLE 20 All decisions of the Tribunal shall be based on the Convention, the present Charter and the related Conventions. The Tribunal shall, in the interpretation of such Conventions, apply the generally accepted rules of international law governing the interpretation of treaties. ARTICLE 21 1. The Tribunal shall decide by majority vote. 2. Judgments shall state the reasons on which they are based. 3. Judgments shall be signed by the presiding member and by the Registrar. 4. Judgments shall be final and not subject to appeal. 5. In the case of a difference of opinion as to the meaning or scope of a judgment, the Tribunal may construe it by an interpretative judgment, on the application of either party and after having heard both parties. ARTICLE 22 The revision of a judgment may not be requested of the Tribunal except upon the grounds of the discovery of a fact which is of such a nature as to exercise a decisive influence, and of which the Tribunal and the party requesting revision had been unaware before the pronouncement of the judgment, always provided that such ignorance was not due to negligence on the part of the party requesting the revision. ARTICLE 23 1. Unless the Tribunal directs otherwise, each party to proceedings before the Tribunal shall pay its own costs. 2. The Tribunal shall bear the costs in respect of witnesses whose attendance it has required and expert opinions and inquiries which it has ordered. ARTICLE 24 The Tribunal shall determine its own rules of procedure consistent with the present Charter. PART IV-ADVISORY OPINIONS ARTICLE 25 1. The Tribunal may, at the joint request of the Governments of the Three Powers and of the Federal Government, give an advisory opinion on any matter arising out of the Convention or the present Charter or the related Conventions, with the exception of those questions with which it would not have been competent to deal if they had been referred to it in the form of a dispute. 2. The Tribunal may, at the request of an authority referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 9 of the present Charter or at the request of the presiding member of such an authority, give an advisory opinion on the competence of such authority. 3. Advisory opinions shall not be binding. 15. CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF FOREIGN FORCES AND THEIR MEMBERS IN THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY, MAY 26, 1952, AS AMENDED BY SCHEDULE II TO THE PROTOCOL ON THE TERMINATION OF THE OCCUPATION REGIME IN THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY, OCTOBER 23, 1954 1 THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 1 THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND, THE FRENCH REPUBLIC, and THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY Agree as follows: PART ONE-GENERAL ARTICLE 1-DEFINITIONS In the present Convention and the Annexes hereto the following terms shall be given the meanings hereinafter indicated: 1. The Federal territory: The territory in which the Federal Republic exercises jurisdiction, including its waters and the air space over such territory and waters. 2. The Three Powers: The United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the French Republic. 3. Other Sending State: Any Power, other than one of the Three Powers, which, by agreement with the Three Powers or any one of them, has Forces stationed in the Federal territory on the entry into force of the present Convention; and any other Power which may in future have Forces stationed in the Federal territory, (a) if before the entry into force of the arrangements for the German Defence Contribution, by agreement with the Three Powers, or any one of them, so far as such other Power does not, 1 The Bonn Agreements of 1952 as Amended by the Paris Protocol of 1954 (S. Doc. No. 11, 84th Cong., 1st sess.), pp. 19-57. For the 1952 text of this convention, see S. Execs. Q and R, 82d Cong., 2d sess., pp. 89-124. 2 See the Protocols of Oct. 23, 1954, to the North Atlantic Treaty and to the Brussels Treaty; infra, pp. 871-873 and 972-989. with the consent of the Three Powers, conclude a separate Convention with the Federal Republic concerning the status of its Forces, and (b) if after the entry into force of the arrangements for the German Defence Contribution, by agreement with the Federal Republic. 4. The Power concerned: That Power whose rights and obligations are concerned in the particular case, namely: (a) in the case of one of the Three Powers, that Power; (i) that one of the Three Powers which has been named as the Power concerned on the basis of an agreement, to be notified to the Federal Government, between the Sending State and the Three Powers or any one of them; or (ii) the Sending State itself to the extent to which it assumes vis-à-vis the Federal Republic, by an agreement concluded with the Three Powers or any one of them, after ascertaining the views of the Federal Government, all or certain of the rights and obligations arising out of the present Convention, and gives the Federal Government formal notification thereof; for the remaining rights and obligations, one of the Three Powers to be notified to the Federal Republic in accordance with item (i) of this sub-paragraph. 5. The Forces: The armed Forces of the Three Powers and of other Sending States stationed in the Federal territory. 6. The authorities of the Forces: The authorities of the Forces of the Power concerned. 7. Members of the Forces: (a) Persons who, by reason of their military service relationship, are serving with the armed Forces of the Three Powers or other Sending State and are present in the Federal territory (military personnel); (b) Other persons who are in the service of such armed Forces or attached to them, with the exception of persons who are nationals neither of one of the Three Powers nor of another Sending State and have been engaged in the Federal territory; provided that any such other persons who are stationed outside the Federal territory or Berlin shall be deemed to be members of the Forces only if they are present in the Federal Territory on duty (followers). The following are considered "members of the Forces": dependents who are the spouses and children of persons defined in subparagraphs (a) and (b) of this paragraph or close relatives who are supported by such persons and for whom such persons are entitled to receive material assistance from the Forces. The definition "members of the Forces" shall include Germans only if they enlisted or were inducted into, or were employed by, the armed Forces of the Power concerned in the territory of that Power and at that time either had their permanent place of residence there or had been resident there for at least a year. 8. Germans: Germans within the meaning of German law. 9. Accommodation: Land, including all property permanently attached thereto, and all rights of use related to land, including such property, used or to be used by the Forces within the Federal territory. 10. Installations: Land, buildings or part thereof, and all property permanently attached thereto, which, pursuant to the provisions of the present Convention, are allotted for the exclusive use or occupancy (im ausschliesslichen Besitz) of the Forces. This definition shall not apply to Article 20 of the present Convention. ARTICLE 2-OBSERVANCE OF GERMAN LAW: POLITICAL ACTIVITY 1. The members of the Forces shall observe German law, and the authorities of the Forces shall undertake and be responsible for the enforcement of German law against them, except as otherwise provided in the present or in any other applicable Convention or agreement. 2. The members of the Forces shall abstain from any activity inconsistent with the spirit of the present Convention and shall in particular refrain from any political activity. ARTICLE 3-GENERAL OBLIGATIONS 1. In asserting the rights and immunities accorded to them under the present Convention, the Forces shall give due consideration to German interests, public and private, particularly by taking into account the capacity of the German economy and the essential domestic and export requirements of the Federal Republic and West Berlin. 2. The German authorities shall exercise the powers which they have under the Basic Law in the fields of legislation, administration and judicial action so as to ensure the protection and security of the Forces and their members and of the property of the Forces and their members, and to ensure the satisfaction of the requirements of the Forces and the performance of the obligations of the Federal Republic as provided in the present Convention. 3. The provisions of Annex A to the present Convention shall enter into force simultaneously with the present Convention. They shall apply also to offences committed in the Federal territory against the armed Forces of the Three Powers stationed in Berlin. The Federal Republic shall not reduce the legal protection afforded by the provisions of this Annex. 4. The German authorities shall not subject or, within the scope of their power, permit the subjection of the Forces and their members, or the property of the Forces and their members, to prejudiced or less favourable treatment, other than that which is, in accordance with international law and practice, established by law with respect to aliens ordinarily resident in the Federal territory. 1 Germany, 1947-1949: The Story in Documents (Department of State publication 3556; 1950), pp. 283-305. |