In the cases provided for by this article, liberated slaves shall be disposed of in accordance with the special conventions concluded, or to be concluded, between the signatory powers. In default of such conventions, the said slaves shall be turned over to the local authority, to be sent back, if possible, to their country of origin; if not, this authority shall facilitate to them, in so far as may be in its power, the means of livelihood, and, if they desire it, of settling on the spot.

If it shall be proved by the inquiry that the vessel has been illegally arrested, there shall be clear title to an indemnity in proportion to the damages suffered by the vessel being taken out of its course.

The amount of this indemnity shall be fixed by the authority that has conducted the inquiry.

In case the officer of the capturing vessel does not accept the conclusions of the inquiry held in his presence, the matter shall be turned over to the tribunal of the nation whose flag the captured vessel has borne.

No exception shall be made to this rule, unless the disagreement arises in respect of the amount of the indemnity stipulated in Article LIII, and this shall be fixed by arbitration, as specified in the following article.

The capturing officer and the authority which has conducted the inquiry shall each appoint a referee within forty-eight hours, and the two arbitrators shall have twenty-four hours to choose an umpire. The arbitrators shall, as far as possible, be chosen from among the diplomatic, consular, or judicial officers of the signatory powers. Natives in the pay of the contracting Governments are formally excluded. The decision shall be by a majority of votes, and be considered as final.

If the court of arbitration is not constituted in the time indicated, the procedure in respect of the indemnity, as in that of damages, shall be in accordance with the provisions of Article LVIII, paragraph 2.

The cases shall be brought with the least possible delay before the tribunal of the nation whose flag has been used by the accused. However, the consuls or any other authority of the same nation as the accused, specially commissioned to this end, may be authorized by their Government to pronounce judgment instead of the tribunal.

The procedure and trial of violations of the provisions of Chapter III shall always be conducted in as summary a manner as is permitted by the laws and