§ 2017a. Claims authorized

The Commission is directed to receive and to determine according to the provisions of this title [sections 2017 to 2017p of this Appendix] the validity and amount of claims of nationals of the United States for—

(a) loss or destruction of, or physical damage to, property located in Albania, Austria, Czechoslovakia, the Free Territory of Danzig, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, or Yugoslavia, or in territory which was part of Hungary or Rumania on December 1, 1937, but which was not included in such countries on September 15, 1947, which loss, destruction, or physical damage occurred during the period beginning September 1, 1939, and ending May 8, 1945, or which occurred in the period beginning July 1, 1937, and ending September 2, 1945, to property in territory occupied or attacked by the Imperial Japanese military forces (including territory to which Japan has renounced all right, title, and claim under article 2 of the Treaty of Peace Between the Allied Powers and Japan) except the island of Guam: Provided, That claims for loss, destruction, or damage occurring in the Commonwealth of the Philippines shall not be allowed except on behalf of nationals of the United States who have received no payment, and certify under oath or affirmation that they have received no payment, on account of the same loss, destruction, or damage under the Philippine Rehabilitation Act of 1946 [sections 1751 to 1806 of this Appendix], whether or not claim was filed thereunder: Provided further, That such loss, destruction, or damage must have occurred, as a direct consequence of (1) military operations of war or (2) special measures directed against property in such countries or territories during the respective periods specified, because of the enemy or alleged enemy character of the owner, which property was owned, directly or indirectly, by a national of the United States at the time of such loss, damage or destruction;

(b) damage to, or loss or destruction of, ships or ship cargoes directly or indirectly owned by a national of the United States at the time such damage, loss, or destruction occurred, which was a direct consequence of military action by Germany or Japan during the period beginning September 1, 1939, and ending September 2, 1945; no award shall be made under this subsection in favor of any insurer or reinsurer as assignee or otherwise as successor in interest to the right of the insured;

(c) net losses under war-risk insurance or reinsurance policies or contracts, incurred in the settlement of claims for insured losses of ships directly or indirectly owned by a national of the United States at the time of the loss, damage, or destruction of such ships and at the time of the settlement of such claims, which insured losses were a direct consequence of military action by Germany or Japan during the period beginning September 1, 1939, and ending September 2, 1945; such net losses shall be determined by deducting from the aggregate of all payments made in the settlement of such insured losses the aggregate of the net amounts received by any such insurance companies on all policies of contracts of war-risk insurance or reinsurance on ships under which the insured was a national of the United States, after deducting expenses; and

(d) loss or damage on account of—

(1) the death of any person who, being then a civilian national of the United States and a passenger on any vessel engaged in commerce on the high seas, died or was killed as a result of military action by Germany or Japan which occurred during the period beginning September 1, 1939, and ending December 11, 1941; awards under this paragraph shall be made only to or for the benefit of the following persons in the order of priority named:

(A) widow or husband if there is no child or children of the deceased;

(B) widow or husband and child or children of the deceased, one-half to the widow or husband and the other half to the child or children of the deceased in equal shares;

(C) child or children of the deceased (in equal shares) if there is no widow or husband; and

(D) parents of the deceased (in equal shares) if there is no widow, husband, or child;

(2) injury or permanent disability sustained by any person, who being then a civilian national of the United States and a passenger on any vessel engaged in commerce on the high seas, was injured or permanently disabled as a result of military action by Germany or Japan which occurred during the period beginning September 1, 1939, and ending December 11, 1941; awards under this paragraph shall be payable solely to the person so injured or disabled;

(3) the loss or destruction, as a result of such action, of property on such vessel, as determined by the Commission to be reasonable, useful, necessary, or proper under the circumstances, which property was owned by any civilian national of the United States who was then a passenger on such vessel; and in the case of the death of any person suffering such loss, awards under this paragraph shall be made only to or for the benefit of the persons designated in paragraph (1) of this subsection and in the order of priority named therein.

(July 3, 1948, ch. 826, title II, § 202, as added Pub. L. 87–846, title I, § 103, Oct. 22, 1962, 76 Stat. 1107.)