2 Absolute and Conditional Contraband

HeadAbsolute contrabandConditional contrabandMeaningGoods of inherently military character — made for warGoods of civilian use that become contraband by their specific destinationExamplesArms, ammunition, warships, military aircraft, explosivesFood, fuel, clothing, horses, money, rolling stockDestination testEnemy territory (any destination to the enemy suffices — the absolute rule)Enemy armed forces or government (the besieged base, the fleet) — civilian-end use protectedCaptureOn any voyage to the enemy, whoever owns itOnly on proof of the military destinationRationaleThe object itself is the war instrumentThe use decides; the article is innocent The London Declaration's free-goods list (the negative catalogue): raw materials for peace, passengers' personal effects, humanitarian relief — protected from the lists' reach (the Declaration's unratified-but-evidentiary status stated). The modern overlay: the sanctions regimes' "arms embargoes" as the Security Council's contraband-successor (Unit 8's embargo — multilateral, Charter-based, not belligerent); the sanctions-evaders' interdiction operations' law.