417.00/263

The Chargé in Nicaragua (Dennis) to the Secretary of State

No. 310

Sir: Referring to my Despatch No. 302, of November 25, 1926 in regard to the proposed Mixed Claims Commission, I have the honor to transmit a translation, made by the High Commissioner, Mr. Hill, of the law providing for this Commission as voted by Congress on December 1st.

I have [etc.]

Lawrence Dennis
[Enclosure—Translation]

Law Enacted December 1, 1926, by the Nicaraguan Congress, Providing for the Establishment of a Claims Commission58a

The Senate and House of Deputies of the Republic of Nicaragua Decree

  • Art. 1. There shall be established, with its seat in the Capital of the Republic, a Tribunal or Commission of Claims, which shall hear and decide, without further appeal, all the claims for war exactions, requisitions and war damages to property which are unpaid and pending against the State from October 25, 1925 up to the date of the reestablishment of peace.
  • Art. 2. The Commission of Claims shall be formed of three members: one of the Conservative Party, one of the Liberal Party and a third shall be the Commissioner for the Department of State of the United States on the High Commission. The two Nicaraguan members shall be named by the Executive.
  • Art. 3. The decisions of the Commission shall be made by the three members, with the obligation that each one shall indicate his respective vote. The Commission will decide all matters by a majority vote.
  • Art. 4. The Commission of Claims will decide all claims as arbiters.
  • Art. 5. The Commission shall be installed in the Capital of the Republic within fifteen days after the reestablishment of peace. Within this period it shall issue its regulations and rules of procedure. Five days after the issuance of these, the Commission will begin to function. The Claims shall be presented in the form and [Page 462] with the requisites required in the said regulations. Notice of the installation and copy of the regulations shall be published in the Gaceta.
  • For the purpose of this Article the official date of the reestablishment of peace shall be the date publicly and officially proclaimed by the Executive.
  • Art. 6. Nicaraguan citizens and juridic persons and foreign citizens and companies shall have equal rights to present themselves before the Commission. Those who do not present their claims within six months after the installation of the Commission, will not be able to do so later and will lose the right to any indemnization either judicial or extrajudicial.
  • Art. 7. There shall be considered as Claims against the State, the exactions, requisitions and war damages caused by both parties in the civil strife of 1926; but the benefits of this law shall not accrue to either individual foreigners or foreign companies who have taken part in the revolutions in Nicaragua, or those who belong to countries which have furnished arms to aid said revolutions.
  • Art. 8. Each member of the Commission shall enjoy a salary of three hundred cordovas per month.
  • Art. 9. The Secretary of the Commission shall be a Nicaraguan named by the Commission and shall enjoy a salary of one hundred cordovas per month. The Commission may dispose of two thousand Cordovas per year for the office expense and expenses of investigation, upon which it may decide, and [all] in accordance with the dispositions of the Regulations.
  • Art. 10. All the members of the Commission shall remain in the Capital and not be absent during office days except for duly justifiable cause. In case that any member shall persistently absent himself without cause or for any motive should become incapacitated for the fulfillment of his duties, the remaining members shall notify the Executive who shall proceed immediately to the appointment of the person to replace the negligent or incapacitated member. The newly appointed member shall meet the requirements of Art. 2.
  • Art. 11. The functions of the Commission shall terminate within one year from the date of the installation. Within this period all matters presented and resolved by the Commission shall be decided and published.
  • Art. 12. The Executive shall provide the funds necessary to make the payments to which the State shall become obligated by the decisions of the Commission.
  • Art. 13. The Treasury shall be represented before the Commission by a lawyer named by the Executive to who[m] shall be given the legal notifications and hearings. This lawyer shall enjoy a salary of one hundred and fifty cordovas per month.
  • Art. 14. The claims shall be presented to the Commission by the claimant or claimants personally or by a representative with power of attorney duly authorized by notary or by local civil judge, in the forms and with the requisites which the regulations of procedure of the Commission may demand. The documents on presentation and resolution shall be in [on] unstamped paper.

Given [at] the session halls of the House of the Senate.

  1. The President of Nicaragua on December 3, 1926, ordered the law to be carried out. It was published in La Gaceta No. 275, December 6, 1926. (417.00/265, 270.)