Zu Weimar v. Elicofon (1981)

United States District Court for the Eastern District of N.Y.

Zu Weimar v. Elicofon, 536 F. Supp. 829 (1981)

RE: Continuity of Laws in Occupied Territory

Excerpt:

The international law principle of continuity of laws dictates that upon a change in sovereignty the laws of the former sovereign remain in effect until displaced by the laws of the new sovereign.^[17] We see no reason that the principle should not extend to laws promulgated by a temporary occupation government to maintain order . . . . . . .

[12] It is a well settled principle of international law that when a new government takes control over a territory, the law of the former sovereign remains in effect unless replaced by the new [sovereign] as "the law of the land." Fremont v. United States, 58 U.S. (17 How.) 542, 15 L. Ed. 241 (1855); United States v. Perot, 98 U.S. (8 Otto) 428, 25 L. Ed. 251 (1879); United States v. Chaves, 159 U.S. 452, 16 S. Ct. 57, 40 L. Ed. 215 (1895); See Whiteman, Digest of International Law 539. . . . . .

[17] See citations in footnote 12 of this opinion, supra.

Kunstsammlungen Zu Weimar v. Elicofon, 536 F. Supp. 829
(E.D.N.Y. 1981)