Parole

In International Law. The agreement of persons who have been taken prisoner by an enemy that they will not again take lip arms against those who captured them, either for a limited time or during the continuance of the war. Vattel, liv.

3, c. 8, § 151.

It is a sacred obligation to the fulfilment of which the national faith is pledged.

U. S. v. Wright, 5 Phila. (Pa.) 299, Fed. Cas. No. 10,777.

A parole can be given only by a commissioned officer for himself or the troops under him. And an inferior officer, if his superior is within reach, cannot give his parole without the consent of the latter. If the prisoner’s government refuse to confirm his parole, he is hound in honor to return into captivity. A captor is not bound to offer, nor a prisoner to accept, parole; it is voluntary on both sides. Giving a parole precludes only active service in the field. It is ended by the prisoner’s exchange or by peace. A prisoner who violates liis parole and is again captured may be shot as a bandit, ltisley, Law of War, 131; Spaight, War Rights on Land, 290-300. Articles 10-12 of the Convention Concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land, adopted by the Hague Peace Conference of 1899, define the obligations which a release on parole imposes upon the prisoner himself and upon his government. In Criminal Law. Tn some states acts have been passed providing for the release on parole of prisoners committed to prison upon conviction of crime.

See Prisoners.