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54 Usine de Chorzow Fond Arret PDF
54 Usine de Chorzow Fond Arret PDF
INTERNATIONALE
SERIE A - NO I7
Le 13 septembre 1928
SERIES A.-No. 17
September 13th, 1928
COLLECTION OF JUDGMENTS
No. 13
CASE CONCERNING
THE FACTORY AT CHORZOW
(CLAIM FOR JNDEMNITY)
(MERITS)
LEYDE LEYDEN
SOC~TD'DITIONS A. W. SIJTHOFF'S
A. W. SIJTHOFF PUBLISHING COMPANY
1928 1928
COUR PERMANENTE DE JUSTICE INTERNATIONALE
Prsents :
MM. ANZILOTTI,Prksident,
HUBER, ancien Prsident,
Lord FINLAY,
MM. LODER,
NYHOLM,
DE BUSTAMANTE,
ALTAMIRA,
ODA,
PESSA,
M. BEICHMANN, Jage supplant,
MM. RABEL,
1 Juges nationazrz.
EHRLICH, !
Before :
MM. ANZILOTTI,
President,
HUBER, forme^ President,
Lord FINLAY,
MM. LODER,
NYHOLM,
I
DE BUSTAMANTE,Judges,
ALTAMIRA,
ODA,
PESSA, 1
MM. RABEL,
EHRLICH, t -National Judges.
I t is submitted :
[Translation.] .
that the total of the compensation to be paid to the German
Government is 58,400,ooo Reichsmarks, plus 1,656,000 Reichs-
marks, plus interest at 6 '6 on this surn as from July 3rd,
1922, until the date of judgrnent (for the damage done to the
Oberschlesische Stickstoffwerke A.-G.) ;
that the total of the compensation to be paid to the Ger-
man Government is 20,17g,ooo Reichsmarks for the damage done
to the Bayerische Stickstoffwerke A.-G.
It follows that, as regards the Oberschlesische, the German
Government (a) reverts to the surn of 58,400,ooo as on
b) fixe 1.656.000 la valeur du capital d'exploitation cette
date ; c) demande sur ces deux sommes les intrts 6 % jus-
qu' la date de l'arrt, en renoncant au calciil forfaitaire avanc
dans le Mmoire.
Er1 ce qui concerne la conclusion 3) de la Requte du Gou-
vernement allemand, il y a noter, dans la suite de la pro-
cdure, des modifications tant de forme que de fond.
Pour ce qui est de la forme, l'alina e) de la conclusion 3
de la Requte constitue, dans le Mmoire, elle seule une
nouvelle conclusion 3, tandis que la substance des alinas a) -
d) de la conclusion 3 de la Requte a t verse dans une
nouvelle conclusion 4 a) - d) du Mmoire. Dans ces condi-
tions, il est prfrable de retracer les modifications survenues
chacun des alinas de la conclusion 3 primitive.
L'alina 3 a) est ainsi libell dans le Mmoire (o il porte
le n o 4 a) :
[T~anslation.]
that the Polish Government should pay, within one month
from the date of judgment, the compensation due to the Ober-
schlesische Stickstoffwerke Conipany for the taking possession
of the working capital and the compensation due to the Baye-
rische Stickstoffwerke Company for the period of exploitation
from July 3rd, 1922, to the date of judgrnent.
[Translation.]
In the alternative it is submitted that set-off is only
permissible if the Polish Government puts fonvard for this
purpose a claim in respect of a debt recognized by the German
Government or established by a judgrnent given between the
two Governments.
Turning lastly to paragraph 3 (e) of the submissions in the
Application, it is to be observed that this reappears unchanged
in submission 3 of the Case. On the other hand, in the written
Reply, whilst the submission of the Application is repeated,
the following alternative is added :
[Translation.j
I t is submitted that the Polish Government should be
obliged to cease the exploitation of the factory and of the
chemical equipment for the transformation of nitrate of lime
into ammonium nitrate, etc.
With this addition, this submission also appears in the oral
reply in the following fonn :
[Translation.]
in the alternative. should the Court not adopt the points
of view set out in paragraphs 55 and 57 of the Reply, i t is
submitted that the Polish Government should be obliged to
cease the exploitation of the factory or of the chemical
equipment for the production of ammonium nitrate, etc.
Plaise la Cour :
c(
A. Pour ce qui concerne 1'Oberschlesische:
1) dbouter le Gouvernement requrant de sa demande ;
I t is submitted :
JTranslation.]
A. In regard to the Oberschlesische :
(1) that the applicant Government's claim should be dis-
missed ; .
(2) in the alternative, that the claim for indemnity should be
provisionally suspended ;
(3) as a further alternative, in the event of the Court award-
ing some compensation, that such compensation should
only be payable: (a) after the previous withdrawal by the
said Company of the action brought by it and pending
before the German-Polish Mixed Arbitral Tribunal in regard
to the Chorzow factory and after the forma1 abandonment
by it of any claim against the Polish Government in res-
pect of the latter's taking possession and exploitation of
the Chorzow factory; (b) when the civil action brought
against the said Company by the Polish Government in
respect of the validity of the entry of its title to owner-
ship in the land register has been finally decided in favour
of the Oberschlesische.
(4) In any case, it is submitted that the German Govern-
ment should, in the first place, hand over to the Polish
Government the whole of the shares of the Oberschlesische
Stickstoffwerke, de la valeur nominale de IIO .ooo .ooo de
marks dont il dispose en vertu du contrat du 24 dcembre
1919.
B. Pour ce qui concerne la Bayerische
1) a) dbouter le Gouvernement requrant de sa demande en
indemnit pour le pass, pour autant qu'elle dpasse
la somme de ~.ooo.ooo de Reichsmarks;
b) allouer pro Jzttztro une rente annuelle de 250.000 Reichs-
marks payable partir du ~ e rjanvier 1928 jusqu'au
31 maPs 1941 ;
c) dire et juger que ces indemnits ne seront payables
qu'aprs le retrait pralable par ladite Socit de sa
requte pendante au Tribunal arbitral mixte germano-
polonais relative l'usine de Chorzow, et aprs sa
renonciation, en bonne et due forme, toute prtention
contre le Gouvernement polonais du chef de la prise en
possession et de l'exploitation de l'usine de Chorzow ;
2 ) dbouter le Gouvernement requrant de sa conclusion no 3,
tendant ce qu'il soit dit et jug que, jusqu'au 30 juin
1931, aucune exportation de chaux azote et de nitrate
d'ammoniaque n'aura lieu en Allemagne, dans les tats-
Unis d'Amrique, en France et en Italie.
C. Pour ce qui concerne I'Ober~hlesische et la Bayerische
en commun:
rejeter la conclusion no 4 tendant ce qu'il soit dit et jug
que le Gouvernement polonais n'est pas autoris compenser,
contre la crance susdite du Gouvernement allemand d'tre
indemnis, sa crance rsultant des assurances sociales en
Haute-Silsie ; qu'il ne peut se prvaloir d'aucune autre com-
pensation contre ladite crance d'indemnit, et que les paie-
ments viss sous 4 a) - c) seront effectus sans aucune dduc-
tion au compte des deux Socits prs la Deutsche Bank
Berlin.))
P O I N T DE FAIT.
T H E FACTS.
The facts underlying the present suit have already been suc-
cinctly stated or referred to in Judgments Nos. 6, 7, 8 and
II, given by the Court on August z5th, 1925, May zgth, 1926,
July z6th, 1927, and December 16th, 1927.
The present judgment, however, must deal with the so-called
case of the factory at Chorz6w from a point of view with which
the Court has not hitherto had to concern itself, namely, that
of the nature-and, if necessary, the amount and method of
payment-of the reparation which may be due by Poland in
consequence of her having, as established by the Court in
Judgment No. 7, adopted an attitude not in conformity with
the Geneva Convention of May 15th, 1922. Accordingly, it is
necessary, before approaching the point of law raised by the
German Application of February 8th, 1927, briefly to trace
out the relevant facts from this particular standpoint.
On March 5th, 1915, a contract was concluded between the
Chancellor of the German Empire, on behalf of the Reich, and
the Bayerische, according to which that Company undertook
"to establish for the Reich and forthwith to begin the construc-
tion of", amongst other things, a nitrate factory at Chorzow
in Upper Silesia. The necessary lands were to be acquired on
et inscrits son nom dans le livre foncier. Les installations
mcaniques devaient tre tablies conformment aux brevets et
licences ainsi qu'aux expriences de la Socit, qui s'enga-
geait diriger, jusqu'au 31 mars 1941, l'exploitation de l'usine,
en utilisant l'ensemble des brevets, licences, expriences et
innovations, amliorations et perfectionnements, ainsi que tous
contrats de fournitures et de livraisons qui lui revenaient. Dans
ce but, une section spciale de la Socit devait tre tablie ;
elle serait soumise, dans une certaine mesure, au contrle du
Reich, qui avait le droit de participer, pour chaque adne
financire, l'excdent rsultant de l'exploitation. Le Reich
avait le droit de rsilier au 31 mars de chaque anne partir
du 3 r mars 1926, aprs pravis de quinze mois, la direction de
l'usine par la Socit. Cette rsiliation pouvait avoir lieu dj
partir du 31 mars 1921, toujours aprs pravis de quinze
mois, si la participation du Reich l'excdent n'atteignait pas
un niveau dtermin.
* * *
THE LAW.
-
-7
I t follows from the foregoing that the application is designed
to obtain, in favour of Gemany, reparation the amount of
which is determined by the damage suffered by the Oberschle-
sische and Bayerische. Three fundamental questions anse :
II.
III.
'
The Court considers that it should confine itself to rejecting
the submission whereby the Polish Government asks for a
.
suspension, since by so doing and by o v e d n g the objec-
tions raised by the Polish Government on the basis of Article
256 of the Treaty of Versailles, i t is deciding in conformity
with the German submission to the extent that that submission
is well-founded ; the Court cannot, in fact, consider the sub-
mission in question in so far as i t relates to third parties
who are not specified.
III.
IV.
La Cour,
statuant contradictoirement,
par neuf voix contre trois,
1) dcide et juge que, en raison de l'attitude prise par le
Gouvernement polonais vis--vis des Socits anonymes Ober-
schlesische Stickstoffwerke et Bayerische Stickstoffwerke et
constate par la Cour comme n'tant pas conforme aux dis-
positions des articles 6 et suivants de !a Convention de Genve,
le Goilvernement polonais est tenu de payer, titre de rpara-
tion, au Gouvernement allemand une indemnit correspondant
au prjudice subi par lesdites Socits du chef de ladite atti-
tude ;
Le Prsident :
(Sign) D. ANZILOTTI.
Le Greffier-adjoint :
(Sign) PAULRUEGGER.
(Paraph) D.' A.
(Paraph) P. R.
JUDGMENT No. 13.-CHORZ~W FACTORY (MERITS) 65
(Signed) D . ANZILOTTI,
President . '1>
(Signed) PAULRUEGGER,
Deputy-Registrar .
(Initialled) D. A.
(Initialled) P. R.