Declaration Of War - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition declaration-of-war

Definition :

Declaration of war. The formal announcement by one nation of an intention to treat another nation as an enemy and to commence hostilities, agreed to be necessary by the Hague Convention, 1907. In modern times the future belligerents, generally, are in a state of war before any declaration of war is made. Before this Convention was signed, in the war between Russia and Japan, the Japanese ambassador, on the 6th February, 1904, notified to Russia the rupture of negotiations and the cessation of diplomatic relations, hostile operations were commenced by Japan on the 8th February, and formal declarations of war were not made until the 10th of February by Japan, and 11th February by Russia. The British Declaration of War on Germany was made on the 4th August, 1914, after an ultimatum.

The force of a declaration of war is equal to that of an Act of Parliament prohibiting intercourse with the enemy except by the king's license. As an act of State done by virtue of the prerogative it carries with it all the force of law, Esposito v. Bowden, (1857) 7 E&B 781