"DOJ plans to revive maritime prize courts" Topic

US Attorney Aaron Reitz says the Southern District of Texas is ready to adjudicate captured vessels and cargo

Fox Business: link

US Attorney Aaron Reitz says the Southern District of Texas is ready to adjudicate captured vessels and cargo

Fox Business: link

Don't "prize courts" only apply in the case of Privateers?
Which are illegal by international law?

Oh, well. If POTUS thinks it's Way Cool, there's nothing more to be said.

International law lol

Well, he is known for how well he follows the law so I am sure this won't happen once he knows it is against international law. I mean its not like we blew up small boats in international waters.

Hey, it's all in the interest of justice, says the Texas guy with the greatest ports in the Gulf of America.

Imagine the legal hilarity when the captured prizes are split between the officers and crew of the capturing crew of capturing ship!
Will there be disputes among the nearby ships?
😄🍺🤔🥃🎼🎶

Yes, if rum is involved.

I do not believe that the jurisdiction of a "prize court" was traditionally limited to adjudicating the capture and sale of vessels by privateers. While prize courts were creatures of statute, they traditionally would deal with the capture and auction of any enemy vessel captured by a US Naval vessel, including vessels legally operating as privateers. The government gets the largest cut and then the captain and officers of the capturing vessel could become well off from their earnings from captured prizes. I forget the breakdown of the payments, however, while the officers received the lion's share, every member of the crew could expect some payment out of an award. There were prize cases arising from the Civil War and I recall running across an unsuccessful prize case arising from the Spanish American War, while doing legal research as a young lawyer. While it is probably easier to deal with a merchant vessel prize, captured naval vessels were also "sold" as prizes to the government by the capturing vessel.

I recall a line from a movie involving sailing ships ("Master and Commander," perhaps) in which the crew was encouraged by the captain before the big battle with the battle cry of "for the prize."

As the value of the cargo is generally included in the prize calculation, I am not sure how a modern prize court would handle drug runners. Do you assign the street value of the drugs seized or do you give the cargo no value because of the nature of the cargo. If the value is zero, then it would seem as if there is no real benefit to the crew of the capturing vessel. Assigning a value to the cargo of vessels such as oil tankers would be easier, however, I can see all sorts of problems in trying to deal with a situation such as a Russian "shadow fleet" tanker seized around the world. That gets into serious "political" issues considering only Ukraine is currently at war with Russia. The only basis for seizure of Russian shadow fleet assets would be declared economic sanctions, none of which include a "prize" component. I believe the EU countries that have seized Russian vessels for sanctions violations have talked about selling the vessels and cargo to help finance Ukraine. I would think that such a step would be the final "line in the sand" to Russia. Brother Vlad would have no real option but to start a war with "the West." He would claim that the seizure of the vessels would be tantamount to piracy.

If I recall correctly, prize cases could be adjudicated by a prize court in any neutral country, not just the country of the capturing vessel. For example, if a Confederate vessel was captured by a Union vessel off the coast of Portugal, the US vessel could take the prize into a Portuguese port where the prize claim could be adjudicated. The Portuguese court would declare the captured vessel a prize and order the sale. The vessel would then be sold with the funds paid over the the captain of the capturing vessel as the representative of US government, unless there was a US Consulate. The prize monies would then be divided in the US according the US law. I do not recall if the amount of the prize money depended upon the way in which the prize was captured (after a battle or simply taken). Salvage claims generally will be awarded depending upon the degree of effort used by the salving vessel. I do not know if that concept extends to prize captures.

Thanks for the factual, historical comments, Red Jacket. Cheers!

Red Jacket
Thanks for the well researched and intelligent post. A cut above the usual responses to this type of post.

A "Prize Court" is authorized by the DOJ, not the President.
While the term was originally applied to naval vessels and cargoes, it now will also apply to vehicles and equipment seized in human trafficking and other land-based smuggling arrests.

Adopted by the General Assembly on 7 December 2022, the United Nations Convention on the International Effects of Judicial Sales of Ships, also known as the "Beijing Convention on the Judicial Sale of Ships", establishes a harmonized regime for giving international effect to judicial sales, while preserving domestic law governing the procedure of judicial sales and the circumstances in which judicial sales confer clean title. By ensuring legal certainty as to the title that the purchaser acquires in the ship as it navigates internationally, the Convention is designed to maximize the price that the ship is able to attract in the market and the proceeds available for distribution among creditors, and to promote international trade.

The basic rule of the Convention is that a judicial sale conducted in one State Party which has the effect of conferring clean title on the purchaser has the same effect in every other State Party (article 6). The basic rule is subject only to a public policy exception (article 10).

The Convention regime prescribes additional rules which establish how a judicial sale is given effect after completion. The first is a requirement that the ship registry deregister the ship or transfer registration at the request of the purchaser (article 7). The second is a prohibition on arresting the ship for a claim arising from a pre-existing right or interest (i.e. a right or interest extinguished by the sale) (article 8). The third is the conferral of exclusive jurisdiction on the courts of the State of judicial sale to hear a challenge to the judicial sale (article 9). To support the operation of the regime and to safeguard the rights of parties with an interest in the ship, the Convention provides for the issuance of two instruments: a notice of judicial sale (article 4) and a certificate of judicial sale (article 5). It also establishes an online repository of those instruments which is freely accessible to any interested person or entity (article 11). The Convention regime is "closed", in the sense that it applies only among States Parties (article 3), but "not exclusive", in the sense that it does not displace other bases for giving effect to judicial sales, for instance under more favourable domestic law regimes (article 14).

Maritime prize courts are national (municipal) courts that apply international law to judge the legality of capturing enemy or neutral vessels and cargo DURING WARTIME.

Under international rules, a civilian or neutral merchant vessel can only be captured under specific conditions, such as carrying contraband, running a blockade, or using fake documents

Now the U.S. Department of Justice announced plans to reactivate dormant prize court frameworks to streamline the seizure and sale of detained oil tankers and cargo during naval blockades, transferring proceeds to the national treasury.

Armand

While Armand brings up excellent points in his post, there is one point I would argue. In using the phrase "during wartime", there is a point that has been continuously made since the Quasi-War with France (1798-1801) that the President can execute "limited war", without said declaration or approval of The Congress.

This was one result from the Supreme Court case Bas v. Tingy 4 Dall 37, which actually had nothing to do with that definition, although it became part of the case, but it was about prizes and the proceeds resulting from recapture of a merchant vessel.

In the case of sanctioned tankers, there is legal precedent.

In the case of some of the other things mentioned, well, it could be interesting to see how those play out in the courts.

Eric

Agree my friend… I decided to use large letters for "During Wartime"… but I forgot to do the same with OR USING FAKE DOCUMENTS… which could perfectly apply to the phantom fleets of Russia, China, North Korea, etc.

Armand

As for cargo I thought the cargo was then sold on so don't think illegal items (which could include ivory, artifacts etc see To Catch a Smuggler) would gain any prize money.

The two things that would gain "prize money" would be the ship itself and the cargo. The value of the cargo would be determined by comparing market value and something similar for the ship as well. Whether or not the prize and her cargo would be indemnified for that amount depends on the court.

Eric

The value of the cargo may end up being auctioned off… I imagine that the auction mafia that exists in each country can agree on a very low price for the merchandise…

Armand

Not if "they" may want to encourage seizures. 🙄