PAPERS IN EARLY AMERICAN PRIZE CASES
| Date | 01 March 1948 |
| Published date | 01 March 1948 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb026129 |
| Pages | 90-91 |
| Author | W.A. STEINER |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
PAPERS IN EARLY AMERICAN PRIZE CASES
by W. A. STEINER
British Library
of
Political and Economic Science
FROM
the beginning of the American War of Independence naval captures
occurred and the need for a Prize Court of more than merely state juris-
diction was felt. The appropriate State Courts did, of course, exercise
jurisdiction in prize matters, but this proved inadequate in the international
and inter-state spheres.
Beginning apparently in 1776, applications in prize were made to the
Continental Congress. These seem to have been invariably appeals (except
possibly at the beginning) and were either from the first, or at least from a
very early date, referred to a Committee of the Congress.
The appellate jurisdiction thus exercised by the Continental Congress or
its Committee was unsatisfactory for two reasons:
(a) The personnel of the Committee changed frequently.
(b) The judgements had to be executed by state organs whom the Court
could not compel to do so.
Nothing drastic could be done about (b), but the situation grew more
satisfactory as time went on and the Union consolidated
itself.
As to
(a)
the
remedy was found in the establishment of a permanent 'Court of Appeals in
capture' in 1780 which took over the Congress's jurisdiction in prize and
continued in existence until it was superseded by the United States Supreme
Court in 1789. It
is
possible,
however, that the Court
was
dormant after 1787.
The Court, during its existence, filed eight opinions only (1781-7). These
are proper judgements and are printed in the second volume of the U.S.
Supreme Court Reports (2 Dallas;
1
Law. Ed.); they are reprinted in Scott
(J.
B.) ed. Prize
Cases
decided
in the
U.S.
Supreme
Court 1789-1917... (Carnegie
Endowment for International
Peace,
Division of International
Law),
Oxford,
Clarendon Press, 1923, Appendix, vol. iii, pp. 2099-138.
These eight decisions constitute only a fraction of the work of the Court.
In addition to them, 109 cases appear to have been brought before the
Continental Congress and/or its Committee and, later, the Court during the
years 1776-87. These were not reported in the technical sense of the word,
possibly because no formal opinions were delivered, but they are listed with
the relevant details (names of parties, appeal from which Court, decision
affirmed, reversed, &c.) in 131
U.S.,1
Appendix, pp. xxxv-xlix. (This
appendix is not reprinted in the Lawyers' edition.)
The National Archives of the United States now propose to microfilm all
the papers in these early cases.2 This, as appears from the above remarks,
can hardly mean the judgements, but must refer to the papers (similar to
1 U.S. Supreme Court Reports.
2 Cf. 40 Law Lib. J. (August 1947), p. 156.
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