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in them to deterioration; except in the case of written or printed matter, it shall be done in thepresence of the addressee, or of a fellow POW duly delegated by him or her. 481The delivery to POWs of individual or collective consignments shall not be delayedunder the pretext of difficulties of censorship. 4829.20.6.2 Prohibitions of Correspondence. Any prohibition of correspondenceordered by parties to the conflict, either for military or political reasons, shall be only temporaryand its duration shall be as short as possible. 4839.21 PRIVATE LEGAL MATTERS OF POWS9.21.1 Civil Capacity. POWs shall retain their full civil capacity that they enjoyed at thetime of their capture. 484 Their retention of their full civil capacity at the time of capture meansthat the law that applied to them before becoming a POW would continue to apply to them. 485The Detaining Power may not restrict the exercise, either within or without its ownterritory, of the rights such capacity confers, except in so far as the captivity requires. 486 Thus,POWs may, to the extent consistent with their detention, continue to exercise the civil capacitythat they would have in their own country under that country’s law. 487 For example, to thedegree permitted by captivity, POWs may take legal steps that they were able to take before481 GPW art. 76 (“The examination of consignments intended for prisoners of war shall not be carried out underconditions that will expose the goods contained in them to deterioration; except in the case of written or printedmatter, it shall be done in the presence of the addressee, or of a fellow-prisoner duly delegated by him.”).482 GPW art. 76 (“The delivery to prisoners of individual or collective consignments shall not be delayed under thepretext of difficulties of censorship.”).483 GPW art. 76 (“Any prohibition of correspondence ordered by Parties to the conflict, either for military orpolitical reasons, shall be only temporary and its duration shall be as short as possible.”).484 GPW art. 14 (“Prisoners of war shall retain the full civil capacity which they enjoyed at the time of theircapture.”).485 GPW COMMENTARY 149 (“The 1949 Diplomatic Conference considered it necessary to clarify the 1929 textestablishing the civil capacity of prisoners of war. It was recalled that this capacity is always determined by law,whether the legislation of the country of origin of the internee or that of his country of domicile. But the prisonerwill never be considered as ‘resident’ in the country of detention solely by virtue of the fact that he is in captivity.The legislation of his country of origin will, therefore, be applicable in most cases as that is also the country ofdomicile of the majority of prisoners. There are other possibilities, however, and for that reason the Stockholmdraft, which only referred to the law of the country of origin, was amended by the Geneva Conference, so as to referinstead to the ‘civil capacity which they enjoyed at the time of their capture’.”).486 GPW art. 14 (“The Detaining Power may not restrict the exercise, either within or without its own territory, ofthe rights such capacity confers except in so far as the captivity requires.”).487 II-A FINAL RECORD OF THE DIPLOMATIC CONFERENCE OF GENEVA OF 1949 249 (“General DILLON (United Statesof America) fully agreed with the United Kingdom Delegate's observations regarding the second paragraph. Asregards the third paragraph, he felt that a prisoner of war should be accorded all the civil rights that he would have inhis own country, under his own country's legislation. He could not exercise them in the country of the DetainingPower, but could, on the other hand, exercise them in a prisoner of war camp. If he was a notary public, forinstance, he could draw up authentic documents for his fellow prisoners and transmit them through the ProtectingPower.”).577