7/24/2019 Pquete Habana and the Lola_Summary

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ThePaqueteHabana

Citation.175U.S.677(1900)

Brief

Fact

Summary.TheargumentofthefishermenwhosevesselswasseizedbytheU.S

(P)officialswasthatinternationallawexemptedcoastalfishermenfromcaptureasprizes

ofwar.

Synopsis

of

Rule

of

Law. Theargumentofthefishermenwhosevesselswasseizedbythe

U.S(P)officialswasthatinternationallawexemptedcoastalfishermenfromcaptureas

prizesofwar.

Facts. Thisappealofa districtcourtdecree,whichcondemnedtwofishingvesselsandtheir

cargoesasprizesofwar,wasbroughtbytheowners(D)oftwoseparatefishingvessels.

EachofthevesselrunninginandoutofHavanaandsailingundertheSpanishflagwasa

fishingsmackwhichregularlyengagedinfishingonthecoastofCuba.Insidethevesselswerefreshfishwhichthecrewhadcaught.

Theownersofthevesselswerenotawareoftheexistenceofa waruntiltheywerestopped

byU.S.(P)squadron.Noincriminatingmateriallikearmswerefoundonthefishermenand

theydidnotmakeanyattempttoruntheblockadeafterlearningofitsexistencenotdid

theyresisttheirarrest.Whentheowners(D)appealed,theyarguedthatbothcustomary

internationallawandwritingsofleadinginternationalscholarsrecognizedanexemption

fromseizureatwartimeofcoastalfishingvessels.

Issue.

Are

coastal

fishing

vessels

with

their

cargoes

and

crews

excluded

from

prizes

of

war?

Held.(Gray,J.).Yes.Coastalfishingvesselswiththeircargoesandcrewsareexcludedfrom

prizesofwar.Thedoctrinethatexemptscoastalfishermenwiththeirvesselsandcrews

fromcaptureasprizesofwarhasbeenknownbytheU.S.(P)fromthetimeoftheWarof

IndependenceandhasbeenrecognizedexplicitlybytheFrenchandBritishgovernments.It

isanestablishedruleofinternationallawthatcoastalfishingvesselswiththeirequipment

andsupplies,cargoesandcrews,unarmedandhonestlypursuingtheirpeacefulcallingof

catchingandbringinginfishareexemptfromcaptureasprizesofwar.Reversed.

Discussion.ChiefJusticeFullerwhohada dissentingopinionwhichwasnotpublishedin

thiscasebookarguedthatthecapturedvesselswereofsucha sizeandrangeastonotfall

withintheexemption.Hefurtherarguedthattheexemptioninanycasehadnotbecomea

customaryruleofinternationallaw,butwasonlyanactofgracethathadnotbeen

authorizedbythePresident.