The Schooner Exchange v. Mcfaddon
11 U.S. 116 (1812)
Procedural History:
Appeal from reversal of dismissal of claim of ownership.
Overview:
-Two Americans (Pl claimed that they owned and were entitled to possession of the schooner Exchange. They claimed they had seized the schooner Exchange on the high seas and that they now owned it and were entitled to possession of the ship.
-The United States Attorney (D) claimed that the United States and France were at peace and that a public ship of the Emperor of France had been compelled by bad weather to enter the port of Philadelphia and was prevented by leaving by process of the court.
-The district court granted the United States' (D) request to dismiss the claims of ownership and ordered that the ship be released. The circuit court reversed, and the United States (D) appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Issue:
Are national ships of war entering the port of a friendly powe• to be considered as exempted by the consent of that power from its jurisdiction?
Rule:
National ships of war entering the port of a friendly power are to be considered as exempted by the consent of that power from its jurisdiction.
Analysis:
-This case implicated the absolute form of sovereign immunity from judicial jurisdiction.
-The Court highlighted three principles: the exemption of the person of the sovereign from arrest or detention within a foreign country; the immunity that all civilized nations allow to foreign ministers; that a sovereign is understood to cede a portion of his territorial jurisdiction when he allows troops of a foreign prince to pass through his dominions .
Outcome:
(Marshall, C.J.l Yes. National ships of war entering the port of a friendly power are to be considered as exempted by the consent of that power from its jurisdiction.
-The jurisdiction of the nation within its own territory is exclusive and absolute.
-The Exchange, a public armed ship, in the service of a foreign sovereign, with whom the United States is at peace, and having entered an American port open for her reception, must be considered to have come into the American territory, under an implied promise, that while necessarily within it, and demeaning herself in a friendly manner, she should be exempt from the jurisdiction of the country. Reversed.
11 U.S. 116 (1812)
Procedural History:
Appeal from reversal of dismissal of claim of ownership.
Overview:
-Two Americans (Pl claimed that they owned and were entitled to possession of the schooner Exchange. They claimed they had seized the schooner Exchange on the high seas and that they now owned it and were entitled to possession of the ship.
-The United States Attorney (D) claimed that the United States and France were at peace and that a public ship of the Emperor of France had been compelled by bad weather to enter the port of Philadelphia and was prevented by leaving by process of the court.
-The district court granted the United States' (D) request to dismiss the claims of ownership and ordered that the ship be released. The circuit court reversed, and the United States (D) appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Issue:
Are national ships of war entering the port of a friendly powe• to be considered as exempted by the consent of that power from its jurisdiction?
Rule:
National ships of war entering the port of a friendly power are to be considered as exempted by the consent of that power from its jurisdiction.
Analysis:
-This case implicated the absolute form of sovereign immunity from judicial jurisdiction.
-The Court highlighted three principles: the exemption of the person of the sovereign from arrest or detention within a foreign country; the immunity that all civilized nations allow to foreign ministers; that a sovereign is understood to cede a portion of his territorial jurisdiction when he allows troops of a foreign prince to pass through his dominions .
Outcome:
(Marshall, C.J.l Yes. National ships of war entering the port of a friendly power are to be considered as exempted by the consent of that power from its jurisdiction.
-The jurisdiction of the nation within its own territory is exclusive and absolute.
-The Exchange, a public armed ship, in the service of a foreign sovereign, with whom the United States is at peace, and having entered an American port open for her reception, must be considered to have come into the American territory, under an implied promise, that while necessarily within it, and demeaning herself in a friendly manner, she should be exempt from the jurisdiction of the country. Reversed.
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