120 



the State which carried out the seizure may 

 decide upon the penalties to be imposed, and 

 may also determine the action to be taken 

 with regard to the ships, aircraft or prop- 

 erty, subject to the rights of third parties 

 acting in good faith. 



Article 20 



Where the seizure of a ship or aircraft 

 on suspicion of piracy has been effected 

 without adequate grounds, the State making 

 the seizure shall be liable to the State the 

 nationality of which is possessed by the ship 

 or aircraft, for any loss or damage caused 

 by the seizure. 



Article 21 



A seizure on account of piracy may only 

 be carried out by warships or military air- 

 craft, or other ships or aircraft on govern- 

 ment service authorized to that effect. 



Article 22 



1. Except where acts of interference de- 

 rive from powers conferred by treaty, a war- 

 ship which encounters a foreign merchant* 

 ship on the high seas is not justified in board- 

 ing her unless there is reasonable ground for 

 suspecting: 



(a) That the ship is engaged in piracy; 

 or 



{b) That the ship is engaged in the 

 slave trade; or 



{c) That, though flying a foreign flag 

 or refusing to show its flag, the ship is, in 

 reality, of the same nationality as the 

 warship. 



2. In the cases provided for in sub-para- 

 graphs {a), (i>) and (c) above, the warship 

 may proceed to verify the ship's right to fly 

 its flag. To this end, it may send a boat 

 under the command of an officer to the sus- 

 pected ship. If suspicion remains after the 

 documents have been checked, it may pro- 

 ceed to a further examination on board the 

 ship, which must be carried out with all 

 possible consideration. 



3. If the suspicions prove to be unfounded, 

 and provided that the ship boarded has not 

 committed any act justifying them, it shall 

 be compensated for any loss or damage that 

 may have been sustained. 



Article 23 



1. The hot pursuit of a foreign ship may 

 be undertaken when the competent author- 

 ities of the coastal State have good reason to 

 believe that the ship has violated the laws 

 and regulations of that State. Such pursuit 

 must be commenced when the foreign ship 

 or one of its boats is within the internal 

 waters or the territorial sea or the contiguous 

 zone of the pursuing State, and may only 

 be continued outside the territorial sea or 

 the contiguous zone if the pursuit has not 

 been interrupted. It is not necessary that, 

 at the time when the foreign ship within the 

 territorial sea or the contiguous zone receives 

 the order to stop, the ship giving the order 

 should likewise be within the territorial sea 

 or the contiguous zone. If the foreign ship 

 is within a contiguous zone, as defined in 

 article 24 of the Convention on the Terri- 

 torial Sea and the Contiguous Zone, the pur- 

 suit may only be undertaken if there has 

 been a violation of the rights for the protec- 

 tion of which the zone was established. 



2. The right of hot pursuit ceases as soon 

 as the ship pursued enters the territorial sea 

 of its own country or of a third State. 



3. Hot pursuit is not deemed to have 

 begun unless the pursuing ship has satisfied 

 itself by such practicable means as may be 

 available that the ship pursued or one of its 

 boats or other craft working as a team and 

 using the ship pursued as a mother ship are 

 within the limits of the territorial sea, or as 

 the case may be within the contiguous zone. 

 The pursuit may only be commenced after 

 a visual or auditory signal to stop has been 

 given at a distance which enables it to be 

 seen or heard by the foreign ship. 



