INTERNATIONAL LAW-JURISDICTION-APPLICATION OF UNITED STATES SEAMAN'S LAWS TO FOREIGN SEAMEN ON FOREIGN VESSELS

Authors

Philip Smullin, University of Michigan Law School

Abstract

Libelants, eleven Greek seamen, signed a contract in the United States for a voyage from this country to Spain on a Greek vessel. They were discharged when the ship reached Barcelona. The shipowners made advance payments to these seamen, as they had in the past, and deducted such payments when settlements were made in the United States at the end of the voyage, a practice contrary to a federal statute. Prior to libelants' return to the United States from Spain, where they had been properly discharged, suit was instituted in their behalf for wages. Respondents paid into court a sum which, they claimed, constituted the wages due. The district court held that it lacked jurisdiction because libelants had not terminated their voyage in the United States and were not present in this country when the suit was instituted. On appeal, held, reversed. The court had jurisdiction of the wage dispute because of the violation of the statute prohibiting advances. Despite libelants' discharge in a foreign country, the statute was applicable to this case because the advances and settlements were both made in the United States, the vessel was in the United States when the suit was started, and the disputed wage balance had been paid into court. Heros v. Cockinos, ( 4th Cir. 1949) 177 F. (2d) 570.

Recommended Citation

Philip Smullin, INTERNATIONAL LAW-JURISDICTION-APPLICATION OF UNITED STATES SEAMAN'S LAWS TO FOREIGN SEAMEN ON FOREIGN VESSELS, 48 Mich. L. Rev. 1207 (1950).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol48/iss8/21