6. An appeal shall always lie to the plenary session or the Chamber from any order made by a member of the Commission sitting singly, within thirty days after service of such order upon the party concerned.

7. The revision of a final decision may not be requested of the Commission except upon the grounds of the discovery of a fact which is of such a nature as to exercise decisive influence, and of which the Commission and the party requesting revision had been unaware before the pronouncement of the decision. The Commission sitting in plenary session shall decide whether such a revision is warranted.

ARTICLE 14

1. The proceedings shall consist of two parts: written and oral, Oral proceedings may be dispensed with if both parties so request.

2. The Commission shall determine rules of procedure consistent with the present Charter. These rules may provide for the rendering of judgments on default if a party fails to appear or to file pleadings. They may also provide for the assignment to any member of the Commission of special duties.

ARTICLE 15

1. The Commission may adopt rules of assessment for court costs, including rules enabling persons to sue or be sued in forma pauperis. 2. In general, each party to a proceeding shall pay its own costs. However, the Commission may make an order as to the costs of parties in exceptional cases, recording its reasons as a part of the judgment, where the proceedings have been found to be malicious or vexatious.

PART IV-ADMINISTRATION AND EXPENSES

ARTICLE 16

1. Each of the Signatory States and any State acceding to the present Charter shall bear the full charge by way of salary and allowances of each of the members of the Commission appointed by itself.

2. The operating costs of the Commission (including the salaries and allowances of the neutral members) shall be borne equally by the Three Powers, on the one hand, and the Federal Republic, on the other.

3. The administration of the Commission, the accommodations of the Commission, its members and its staff, the salaries and allowances of the neutral members, staff appointments and staff salaries shall be regulated by a subsidiary administrative agreement between the Signatory States.

PART V-FINAL CLAUSES

ARTICLE 17

1. The present Charter shall enter into force on the entry into force of the Convention.

2. Any State may accede to the present Charter by written notifi

cation addressed to each of the Signatory States through diplomatic channels and by the deposit with the Federal Government of an instrument of accession to the present Charter. The present Charter shall be binding on each acceding State as of the date of deposit of its instrument of accession.

3. Any State which accedes to the present Charter shall be deemed to become thereby a principal party to the agreement between the Signatory States contained in Chapter Five and Chapter Ten of the Convention.

4. Any State acceding to the present Charter agrees to be bound by decisions of the Arbitration Tribunal pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article 9 of its Charter concerning the extent of the jurisdiction of the Commission.

18. AGREEMENT ON THE TAX TREATMENT OF THE FORCES AND THEIR MEMBERS, MAY 26, 1952, AS AMENDED BY SCHEDULE V TO THE PROTOCOL ON THE TERMINATION OF THE OCCUPATION REGIME IN THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY, OCTOBER 23, 19542

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND THE FRENCH REPUBLIC,

and

THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY

Agree as follows:

ARTICLE 1-TAX TREATMENT OF THE FORCES

1. The forces (which expression in this Agreement shall have the meaning given in paragraph 5 of Article 1 of the Convention on the Rights and Obligations of Foreign Forces and their Members in the Federal Republic of Germany,3 hereinafter referred to as the "Forces Convention") shall be exempt from taxes which are levied in accordance with German taxation legislation in effect on the entry into force of the present Agreement, except as otherwise provided in the present Agreement.

2. Customs duties and other taxes on imports and exports of the Forces are dealt with in Article 34 of the Forces Convention; excise taxes on the purchase by the Forces of goods in the Federal Republic are dealt with in paragraph 1 and turnover tax on deliveries to, and services for, the Forces in paragraph 2 of Article 33 of that Convention. 3. Tax exemption in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article shall not apply, to the extent that taxes are due as a result of com

1 As of Dec. 31, 1955, there had been no accessions to this convention. The Bonn Agreements of 1952 as Amended by the Paris Protocol of 1954 (S. Doc. No. 11, 84th Cong., 1st sess.), pp. 125-127. For the 1952 text of this agreement, see S. Execs. Q and R, 82d Cong., 2d sess., pp. 131–133.

3 Supra, pp. 498-538.

mercial trading by the Forces in the German economy nor to property used for this purpose, nor shall it apply to the excise tax on goods manufactured by the Forces in Germany, to the tax on Bills of Exchange, or to the Transportation Tax.

4. The liability of the Forces to German taxes on the acquisition and ownership of real property shall be dealt with in a special agreement, in the event that the Forces in the future acquire real property.

5. The treatment of the Forces in respect of taxes which may be introduced after the entry into force of the present Agreement shall be the subject of special agreements.

ARTICLE 2-TAX TREATMENT OF MEMBERS OF THE FORCES

1. Subject to the provisions of this or any other applicable agreement between the Signatory States, "members of the Forces" (which expression in this Agreement shall have the meaning given in paragraph 7 of Article 1 of the Forces Convention) shall be liable to taxes levied in accordance with existing German taxation legislation provided, however, that this provision shall not deprive a member of the Forces of any benefits which exists [exist] by reason of an intergovernmental agreement with the Federal Republic and which he could otherwise claim.

2. If, after the entry into force of the present Agreement, any law is enacted in the Federal Republic concerning new direct taxes, or levies which have the effect of direct taxes, its application to members of the Forces shall be the subject of a special agreement between the Signatory States, which shall be concluded without delay. 3. For the basis of tax liability under German law

(a) a person shall not be deemed to have acquired residence or domicile in the Federal territory by reason of his presence as a member of the Forces therein. This shall not apply in respect of the insurance tax, insofar as concerns the payment of an insurance premium to an insurer who has his normal place of business in the Federal territory. Further, the fact that no residence is established in the Federal territory shall not mean that members of the Forces are to be regarded as foreign purchasers for the purpose of the turnover tax legislation;

(b) movable property, whatever its origin, situated in the Federal territory by reason of the presence of its owner as a member of the Forces, and intended for his personal or domestic use, shall be deemed not to be situated in the Federal territory. In the case of motor vehicles, this provision shall apply only when they bear registration plates, issued by the Forces.

4. Additionally to the exemption from taxation conferred by paragraph 3 of this Article, members of the Forces shall be exempt from all German taxes and levies on payments which they receive as remuneration for their official activities with the Forces in the Federal territory. Further, they shall enjoy the taxation benefits which are granted by German taxation legislation to military personnel.

ARTICLE 3-BEER TAX

1. Beer which is procured by the Forces directly from a German manufacturer shall be exempt from excise tax. The exemption from taxation shall apply only to purchases by the official procurement agencies of the Forces for consumption by the Forces or their members.

2. Beer which the Forces or their members bring into the Federal territory under the provisions of Articles 34 and 35 of the Forces Convention shall be exempt from excise tax.

3. Whenever the Forces procure beer, they shall certify that the beer, which is to be described exactly as to type and quantity, is intended exclusively for consumption by the Forces or their members.

ARTICLE 4-TAX TREATMENT OF ORGANIZATIONS AND ENTERPRISES SERVING THE FORCES

1. Except as may otherwise be provided in special agreements between the Signatory States, the tax exemptions contained in Articles 1 and 2 of the present Agreement shall apply to the organizations and enterprises, and their employees, referred to in Article 36 of the Forces Convention; provided, however, that they shall apply to the enterprises referred to in sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph 2 of that Article with the following exceptions:

(a) taxation of their employees;

(b) taxation on their income and profits;

(c) taxation on their business property in the Federal territory. 2. The tax exemption contained in Article 3 of the present Agreement shall apply only to those organizations referred to in paragraph 1 of Article 36 of the Forces Convention whose service to the Forces includes the sale of beer to the members of the Forces.

ARTICLE 5-JURISDICTION OF ARBITRATION TRIBUNAL

All disputes arising between the Three Powers and the Federal Republic under the provisions of the present Agreement, which the parties are not able to settle by negotiations or by other means agreed between all the Signatory States, shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the Arbitration Tribunal established by Article 9 of the Convention on Relations between the Three Powers and the Federal Republic of Germany signed at Bonn on 26 May 1952, in the same manner and with the same effect as though the present Agreement were listed in paragraph 1 of Article 8 of that Convention as a related Convention.2

1. [Deleted.]

2. [Deleted.]

3. [Deleted.]

ARTICLE 6-FINAL PROVISIONS

4. The present Agreement shall be deposited in the archives of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, which will furnish

1 Supra, pp. 489-490.

2 Art. 5 has been inserted by a protocol, signed on July 26, 1952. [Footnote in original.]

each Signatory State with certified copies thereof and notify each State of the date of the entry into force of the present Agreement.

IN FAITH WHEREOF the undersigned representatives duly authorized thereto by their respective Governments have signed the present Agreement.

Done at BONN this twenty-sixth day of May, 1952, in three texts, in the English, French and German languages, all being equally

authentic.

19. CONVENTION ON THE PRESENCE OF FOREIGN FORCES IN THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY, OCTOBER 23, 1954 1

In view of the present international situation and the need to ensure the defence of the free world which require the continuing presence of foreign forces in the Federal Republic of Germany, the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the French Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany agree as follows:

ARTICLE 1

1. From the entry into force of the arrangements for the German Defence Contribution,2 forces of the same nationality and effective strength as at that time may be stationed in the Federal Republic.

2. The effective strength of the forces stationed in the Federal Republic pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article may at any time be increased with the consent of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany.

3. Additional forces of the States parties to the present Convention may enter and remain in the Federal territory with the consent of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany for training purposes in accordance with the procedures applicable to forces assigned to the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, provided that such forces do not remain there for more than thirty days at any one time. 4. The Federal Republic grants to the French, the United Kingdom and the United States forces the right to enter, pass through and depart from the territory of the Federal Republic in transit to or from Austria (so long as their forces continue to be stationed there) or any country Member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization,

1 S. Execs. L and M, 83d Cong., 2d sess., pp. 89-90. Approved by the President Apr. 7, 1955; entered into force May 6, 1955.

2 See the Protocols of Oct 23, 1954, to the North Atlantic Treaty and the Brussels Treaty; infra, pp. 871-873 and 972-989. See also the Final Act of the London Conference, Oc. 3, 1954, infra, pp. 1474-1491.