1.  This Order may be cited as the Consular Relations (Merchant Shipping) (French Republic) Order 1970 and shall come into operation on 1st January 1971.

2.  The Interpretation Act 1889 shall apply for the interpretation of this Order as it applies for the interpretation of an Act of Parliament.

3.—(1) The French Republic is designated for the purposes of section 6 of the Consular Relations Act 1968 (which relates to detention on board ship for disciplinary offences).

(2) For the purposes of the said section as applied by virtue of paragraph (1) of this Article a ship shall be treated as belonging to the French Republic if it is registered under the law of the French Republic.

(3) Nothing in this Order shall apply to any ship of war.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This Order, which is made pursuant to the Consular Relations Act 1968, provides, in relation to ships (other than ships of war) of the French Republic, for the detention on board of a member of the crew for a disciplinary offence to be treated as not unlawful except in certain cases.

It gives effect to the relevant provisions of the Consular Convention between the United Kingdom and the French Republic which was signed at Paris on 31st December 1951 (Cmnd. 617).