Reprisals

The forcibly taking a thing by one nation which belonged to another, in return or satisfaction for an injury committed by the latter on the former. Vattel, bk. 2, c. 18, § 342; 1 Bl. Comm. c. 7. (1) General reprisals take place by virtue of commissions delivered to officers and citizens of the aggrieved state, directing them to take the persons and property belonging to the offending state wherever found. (2) Negative reprisals take place when a nation refuses to fulfill a perfect obligation which it has contracted, or to permit another state to enjoy a right which it justly claims. (3) Positive reprisals consist in seizing the persons and effects belonging to the other nation, in order to obtain satisfaction. (4) Special reprisals are such as are granted in times of peace to particular- individuals who have suffered an injury from the citizens or subjects of the other nation. Reprisals are used between nation and nation to do themselves justice, when they cannot otherwise obtain it. Congress has Reprisals are made in two ways, — either by embargo, in which case the act is that of the state, or by letters of marque and reprisal, in which case the act is that of the citizen, authorized by the government. See 2 Brown, Civ. Law, 334.

The forcible taking by one nation of a thing which belonged to another, in return or satisfaction for an injury committed by the latter on the former. Vattel, b. 2, c. 18, s. 342; 1 Bla. Com. c. 7. Positive reprisals consist in seizing the persons and effects belonging to the other nation, in order to obtain satisfaction. Negative reprisals take place when a nation refuses to fulfil a perfect obligation which it has contracted, or to permit another state to enjoy a right which it justly claims. Special reprisals are such as are granted in times of peace to particular individuals who have suffered an injury from the citizens or subjects of the other nation. General reprisals take place by virtue of commissions delivered to officers and citizens of the aggrieved state, directing them to take the persons and property belonging to the offending state wherever found. Where an individual is injured by a foreign state he must first apply to its courts, if possible, and it is only when refused redress there that his own government can claim to interfere. Similarly where the injury is to a state, compensation should be demanded before recourse is had to reprisal. Risley, Law of War 57. An instance of reprisal occurred in December, 1897, when Germany threatened bombardment at Hayti unless the government within eight hours saluted the German flag and made compensation to an injured German subject. See Letters op Marque. Reprisals are made in two ways, either by embargo, in which case the act is that of the state, or by letters of marque and See 2 Brown, Civ. Law 334. Such letters are generally granted for a refusal to pay debts, for an unwarrantable suspension of treaty obligations, denial of evident justice, or a refusal to pay indemnity for losses. One of the last instances of a letter of reprisal was in 1778 when the King of France gave authority of reprisal to certain people whose vessels had been seized by the British government for carrying contraband of war; Snow, Int. Law 76. Congress has the power to grant letters of marque and reprisal. U. S. Const, art. 1, s. 8, cl. 11. The property seized in making reprisals is preserved while there is any hope of obtaining satisfaction or justice; as soon as that hope disappears, it is confiscated, and then the reprisal is complete; Vattel, b. 2, c. 18, § 342. See Boyd’s Wheat. Int. Law. The term is now used in the sense of retaliation in general, and the act is directed not merely against property of the state or of its citizens, but against the citizens themselves, their liberty, and even their lives. II Opp. §§ 33-43. While applied more strictly to acts falling short of actual war, the term also includes acts of retaliation in time of war done for the purpose of checking excesses committed by the enemy in violation of the laws of war. Spaight, War Rights on Land, 461-470.

war. The forcibly taking a thing by a nation which belonged to another, in return or satisfaction for an injury committed by the latter on the former. Vatt. B. 2,ch. 18, s. 342; 1 Bl. Com. ch. 7. Reprisals are used between nation and nation to do themselves justice, when they cannot otherwise obtain it. Congress have the power to grant letters of marque (q. v.) and reprisal. Const. art. 1, 8. 8, cl. 11. Reprisals are made in two ways, either by embargo, in which case the act is that of the state; or, by letters of marque and reprisals, in which case the act is that of the citizen, authorised by the government. Vide 2 Bro. Civ. Law, 334.