Neutrality (Law)

Neutrality law governs the legal status of a state that takes no side in an armed conflict and the reciprocal rights and duties between belligerents and neutrals. At sea its core is codified in Hague Convention XIII of 1907 (rights and duties of neutral powers in naval war): a neutral’s territorial sea is inviolable, belligerent warships may make only limited stays in neutral ports, and a neutral must not supply warships or arms to a belligerent. Belligerents may visit and search neutral merchant ships for contraband on the high seas and condemn contraband as prize; the San Remo Manual (1994) restates this body of law for modern conflict.