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Title 50 — War and National Defense

Chapter 39 — Spoils of War

§ 2205. Construction

Statutory text

Nothing in this chapter shall apply to—

(1)

the abandonment or failure to take possession of spoils of war by troops in the field for valid military reasons related to the conduct of the immediate conflict, including the burden of transporting such property or a decision to allow allied forces to take immediate possession of certain property solely for use during an ongoing conflict;

(2)

the abandonment or return of any property obtained, borrowed, or requisitioned for temporary use during military operations without intent to retain possession of such property;

(3)

the destruction of spoils of war by troops in the field;

(4)

the return of spoils of war to previous owners from whom such property had been seized by enemy forces; or

(5)

minor articles of personal property which have lawfully become the property of individual members of the armed forces as war trophies pursuant to public written authorization from the Department of Defense.

Legislative history

Reconstructed from this section’s Code source credit and amendment notes, resolved against the local Statutes at Large. Editorial notes are evidence, not the law that made the change.

  1. Spoils of War Act of 1994

    Pub. L. 103–236 title V § 556 · 108 Stat. 382

    Enacted · 50 U.S.C. § 2205

    (Pub. L. 103–236, title V, § 556, Apr. 30, 1994, 108 Stat. 483.)

    Source evidence

    Code source credit
    (Pub. L. 103–236, title V, § 556, Apr. 30, 1994, 108 Stat. 483.)

    Enacted provision · exact public law section
    SEC. 556. CONSTRUCTION. Nothing in this part shall apply to— (1) the abandonment or failure to take possession of spoils of war by troops in the field for valid military reasons related to the conduct of the immediate conflict, including the burden of transporting such property or a decision to allow allied forces to take immediate possession of certain property solely for use during an ongoing conflict; (2) the abandonment or return of any property obtained, borrowed, or requisitioned for temporary use during military operations without intent to retain possession of such property; (3) the destruction of spoils of war by troops in the field; (4) the return of spoils of war to previous owners from whom such property had been seized by enemy forces; or (5) minor articles of personal property which have lawfully become the property of individual members of the armed forces as war trophies pursuant to public written authorization from the Department of Defense.

1 of 1 references resolved to an enrolled provision

Credits

(Pub. L. 103–236, title V, § 556, , 108 Stat. 483.)

Parsed from the official OLRC USLM XML in data/usc_all/usc50.xml · release point 119-108 · OLRC build 2026-09-09

USLM identifier /us/usc/t50/s2205