716 



PRIZE. 



IK* be condemned as prie. This is the Ameri- 

 can practice, which differs, in the order of the 

 proceedings, from the English, the latter issuing 

 ill.- monition before the filing of the libel. 

 2. Upon the return of the monition, the parties who 

 have any interest, and mean to assert any claim, 

 appear and put in their claim, under oath ; and as 

 soon as such claim is put in, the cause is ripe for a 

 hearing. If the ship or any part of the cargo is 

 neutral, the master usually puts in a claim in behalf 

 of the owners, or it is put in by the consul of his 

 nation, or by the accredited correspondents or agents 

 of the claimant. If the captors have been guilty of 

 any delay in instituting proceedings, the claimant 

 may procure a monition from the court, requiring 

 them to proceed to adjudication. If no claim is put 

 in on the return day of the process, the default is 

 entered on the records; but it is not now usual to 

 proceed to a final decree of condemnation until a 

 year and a day after the return of the monition, 

 except in cases where, from the evidence, there is a 

 strong presumption that the property belongs to the 

 enemy. But after a year and a day, condemnation 

 goes of course, unless a claim is interposed. 3. No 

 claim is permitted to be put in, unless by the master 

 or correspondent, or agent of the owner, or by the 

 consul of the nation. A mere stranger, having no 

 interest, is not permitted to claim. It has been 

 already stated, that a claimant in a prize court must 

 be the general owner of the property. If he has 

 but a lien, or is a mere insurer, or a mortgagee not 

 in possession, he cannot maintain any claim, for 

 reasons which are founded in the incompetency of 

 such a court satisfactorily to investigate such claims. 

 There are certain other cases, in which claims will 

 not be allowed to be interposed, but are rejected as 

 incompetent : thus no claim is admitted which stands 

 in direct opposition to the ship's papers and docu- 

 ments on board, and preparatory examinations, at 

 least after the war has commenced ; no person is 

 permitted to claim, where the transaction is in vio- 

 lation of the municipal laws of his own country ; nor 

 in a case where the trade is prohibited by the law 

 of nations, or the law of nature ; or is a gross viola- 

 tion of his duties as a belligerent ; in all such cases 

 the claimant is held not to have a persona standi in 

 judicio; and, his claim being rejected, the cause 

 stands as if there were no claim at all interposed. 

 The ship's papers, and examinations upon the stand, 

 ing interrogatories, are never allowed to be seen 

 until after the claim is filed, so that the party may 

 not have an opportunity to frame it to meet the 

 exigency of the evidence. 4. Supposing the claim 

 to be interposed by a competent party, and in a 

 valid manner, the cause is then to be heard. The 

 hearing is, in the first instance, confined altogether 

 to the ship's papers and documents on board, and 

 the preparatory examinations taken upon the stand- 

 ing interrogatories. No extrinsic evidence is ad- 

 mitted on either side ; for it is a general rule of the 

 prize courts, that the evidence to acquit or condemn 

 must, in the first instance, come from the papers 

 and parties found on board. 5. If, upon the hear- 

 ing, a case for condemnation or acquittal is satisfac- 

 torily made out, the court will at once proceed to 

 make the proper decree. But if the case be doubt- 

 ful, and the evidence unsatisfactory, then it becomes 

 a case for further proof. The captors are rarely 

 allowed, unless under special circumstances, to make 

 further proof ; but the claimant is allowed to make 

 tu:ther proof unless he has forfeited this privilege 

 by his own misconduct, or that of his agents, or the 

 posture of the case shows that he cannot safely be 

 trusted with further proof. The claim to make 

 further proof is a matter not of strict right, but of 



sound discretion in the court. It is usually allowed 

 where th<> party has acted with good faith and pro- 

 priety ; it is always denied where he is guilty of 

 gross misconduct or fraud. If further proof is de- 

 nied in a case which requires it, the result is, that 

 a decree of condemnation follows ; for the burden 

 of showing that the property is not good prize rests 

 on the claimant. And where further proof is al- 

 lowed, it is usually made by affidavits and testimony 

 taken under commission ; and if then it proves still 

 unsatisfactory, it is deemed conclusive evidence that 

 the property is hostile, or that there has been some 

 misconduct, which justifies condemnation. Further 

 proof is never allowed where there are false or 

 colourable papers on board ; or where any papers 

 are thrown overboard ; or where there has been a 

 spoliation of papers ; or where there has been a 

 covering and concealment of enemy interests ; or 

 where the master and crew, upon the preparatory 

 examinations, have been guilty of gross prevarica- 

 tion or falsehood ; or where there is a false destina- 

 tion ; or where there is a want of good faith in the 

 claimant; or where the case appears to be inca- 

 pable of any fair explanation. 6. During the pen- 

 dency of the proceedings, which are sometimes 

 protracted to a great length of time, owing to acci- 

 dental circumstances, an unloading of the cargo 

 often becomes necessary. This may be procured 

 upon a suitable application to the court, for the court 

 has a virtual custody and possession of the property, 

 from the moment of the proceedings in rem being 

 commenced. If the property be perishable, the 

 court has also authority to decree a sale of it, upon 

 the application of either party ; and it often pro- 

 ceeds to direct a sale upon the consent of both par- 

 ties, where the property is not perishable. And 

 where a sale has been made, the proceeds are sub 

 ject to the order of the court, as a substituted fund 

 for the original property; and if not brought into 

 court, they may, in the discretion of the court, be 

 ordered to be deposited in the registry. In cases 

 of the capture of neutrals, application is often made 

 for a delivery of the property upon bail, or security, 

 by way of stipulation for the value ; and when so 

 given, the bail becomes a substitute for the pro- 

 perty, and is subject, in the same manner, to the 

 orders of the court ; but no such delivery will be 

 made, according to the practice of the prize court, 

 until after a hearing of the cause, unless upon the 

 consent of both parties. If, upon the hearing, the 

 case is one for further proof, and the neutral has not 

 disabled himself from producing it by his own mis- 

 conduct, the court is then in the habit of allowing 

 a delivery of the property to the claimant, upon an 

 appraisement, and giving bail. And if the claim- 

 ant will not take it, it is sometimes delivered, upon 

 an appraisement and bail, to the captors. 7. After 

 the cause has been finally heard, a decree is entered, 

 either of acquittal or condemnation, of the whole or 

 of part. A decree of acquittal will be with or 

 without damages and costs to the claimant, accord- 

 ing to circumstances. If there was probable cause 

 of capture (as has been already stated,) no damages 

 or costs will be given to the claimant ; but costs and 

 expenses are usually, in such cases, decreed the 

 captors. If the capture is without probable cause, 

 costs and damages to the claimant usually follow. 

 If a decree of condemnation is pronounced, the 

 claimant is made responsible for the expenses and 

 costs of the captors by reason of the claim. 8. A 

 decree of condemnation being pronounced, it often 

 remains a question to whom the condemnation is to 

 be, whether to the government or to the captors. 

 In cases of captures by public ships, or by non- 

 j commissioned vessels, the decree of condemnation 



