Re Van der Giessen [Holland, Special Court of Cassation.]

• Jurisdiction: Holanda
• Docket Number: Case No. 161
• Date: 21 Junio 1948
• Court: Special Criminal Court (Netherlands)

Holland, Special Court of Cassation.

Case No. 161

In re Van der Giessen.

Capitulations — Legal Effects of Capitulation on Civil Population — Interpretation — Powers of Military Commander — Capitulation Clauses contrary to Public International Law — Collaboration with the Enemy — Article 52 of the Hague Regulations.

The Facts.—See Case No. 199. One of the grounds of defence on which the accused, director of a shipbuilding company which had built several vessels of war for Germany, relied was that an annex to the capitulation of the Dutch forces of May 15, 1940, had imposed on private port undertakings and shipping wharves the obligation to continue to work to full capacity.

Held: that the appeal must fail. The “Conditions for the Capitulation of the Dutch Army” contained no such provision as was alleged. The “Heads of Negotiations” (Verhandlungspunkte) included a term that the population must immediately resume the work which they were accustomed to do in time of peace (Article 8), and the “Additional Protocol” (Zusatzprotokoll) included the provision that private port undertakings and shipping wharves must continue to work to full capacity (Article 5, para. 2). Whatever concrete purport...