''The Schooner Exchange v. M'Faddon'', 11 U.S. (7 Cranch) 116 (1812), is a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Supreme Court case on the jurisdiction of federal courts over a claim against a friendly foreign military vessel visiting an American port. The court interpreted customary international law to determine that there was no jurisdiction.

Background

The schooner ''Exchange'', owned by John McFaddon and William Greetham, sailed from

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, on October 27, 1809, for San Sebastián, Spain. On December 30, 1810, the ''Exchange'' was seized by order of

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

. The ''Exchange'' was then armed and commissioned as a French warship, under the name of ''Balaou''. When the vessel later docked in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

because of storm damage, McFaddon and Greetham filed an action in the United States Court for the District of Pennsylvania to seize the vessel, claiming that it had been taken illegally. The district court found that it did not have jurisdiction over the dispute. On appeal, the Circuit Court for the District of Pennsylvania reversed the decision of the district court and ordered the district court to proceed to the merits of the case.

Decision

The Supreme Court reversed the circuit court's decision and affirmed the district court's dismissal of the action. Chief Justice

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

delivered the opinion of the Supreme Court. He noted that by the definition of sovereignty, a state has absolute and exclusive jurisdiction within its own territory but it could also, by implied or express consent, waive jurisdiction. Moreover, Marshall also noted that, under customary international law, jurisdiction was presumed to be waived in a number of situations. For instance, visiting foreign sovereigns and their diplomatic representatives were generally free from the jurisdiction of domestic courts. Similarly, a state granting permission for a foreign army free passage across its territory generally implied a waiver of jurisdiction over that army. That custom was established so firmly and necessarily for international relations that it would be wrongful for a country to violate it without prior notice. Marshall further noted that while the right of free passage by an army usually had to be explicitly granted (likely because such passage inevitably involves physical damage of some sort), by maritime custom, a nation's ports were presumptively open to all friendly ships. While a nation could close its ports to the warships of another country, it would have to issue some form of declaration to do so. Without such a declaration, a friendly foreign warship could enter a nation's port with its implied consent. Marshall further distinguished the difference between private merchant ships and citizens, who are subject to a nation's jurisdiction when they enter its ports with the nation's implied consent, and military ships. Namely, private ships do not carry with them the sovereign status of military ships and the privileges that accompany it. Therefore, Marshall concluded that "a principle of public nternationallaw sthat national ships of war, entering the port of a friendly power open for their reception, are to be considered as exempted by the consent of that power from its jurisdiction." Applying that analysis to the facts at hand, Marshall found that the courts did not have jurisdiction over the case.

Significance

The decision is regarded as the "first definitive statement of the doctrine of foreign

state immunity The doctrine and rules of state immunity concern the protection which a state is given from being sued in the courts of other states. The rules relate to legal proceedings in the courts of another state, not in a state's own courts. The rules devel ...

." Also, the unwillingness of the Court to find jurisdiction without action by the political branches of government, along with some explicit dicta, led to a tradition of great deference by the courts to official and individual determinations of immunity by the

US State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

.25 A.L.R.3d 322 (Originally published 1969) That system was not revised in favor of judicial interpretations until the passage of the

Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 (FSIA) is a United States law, codified at Title 28, §§ 1330, 1332, 1391(f), 1441(d), and 1602–1611 of the United States Code, that established criteria as to whether a foreign sovereign nation ( ...

in 1976.

References

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