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By
agreement signed at Rome, May 20, 1912, French and Italian
governments undertook to establish a commission of inquiry
"conformably to Part III of the Hague Convention of October 18,
1907" focusing on the circumstances related to the capture and
detention of the French mail steamer Tavignano by Italian
vessel on January 25, 1912, as well as firing upon Camouna
and Gaulois by an Italian torpedo boat on the same day. The
commission was composed of three members, two naval officers
appointed by the French and Italian governments and a naval officer
named by the British government. It was entrusted with the task of
investigating, marking and determining the exact geographic point
where Tavignano was captured and where Camouna and Gaulois
were pursued and fired upon, of determining exactly the hydrography,
configuration and nature of the coast and of the neighboring banks;
and of making a written report on the results of its investigation.
It was to meet at Malta, with power to meet elsewhere, and to make
its report within fifteen days after its first meeting. On points
not covered by the agreement, it should have been guided by the
provisions of the Hague Convention of 1907. After holding 23
meetings, the commission, on July 23, 1912, made a report,
which because of the uncertainty of the evidence and documents
presented to it, was very inconclusive. On November 8, 1912, the
French and Italian Governments agreed to submit the Tavignano
Case to an arbitral tribunal previously created to deal with the Carthage
and Manoube cases; this tribunal should have pronounced upon
the facts, decide questions of law, and determine the amount of
reparation which could have been due. On May 2, 1913 before the
tribunal had begun its deliberations, an agreement was reached by
which the Italian government undertook to pay to the French
Government the sum of 5000.00 francs to indemnify the individuals
who had suffered losses, and the French government undertook the
consider the affair as definitely settled.
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