The" Gul Djemal"
Headline: Court rejects immunity for a Turkish government-owned ship used in private trade and allows a supplier to collect after the master’s lone claim of sovereign protection is denied.
Holding: The Court held that a foreign government-owned ship engaged in commercial trade cannot assert sovereign immunity through only the master’s protest, so the supplier may recover because the vessel was chartered for private commerce and no diplomatic protection was presented.
- Allows suppliers to recover from government-owned ships used in private trade.
- Limits sovereign immunity claims asserted only by a ship’s master.
- Encourages formal diplomatic protection before courts will honor immunity claims.
Summary
Background
A private supplier says it furnished supplies and services in New York in November 1920 to prepare the steamship Gul Djemal for an Atlantic voyage and then sued when the ship was arrested to recover payment. The ship was the absolute property of the Turkish Government, manned and paid by that government, and was operating under a one-voyage commercial charter to carry passengers and goods for hire. Diplomatic relations between the United States and Turkey had been severed at the time, and the Spanish Ambassador was representing Turkish interests in the United States.
Reasoning
The Court considered whether the master of the ship could claim sovereign immunity and block the suit simply by objecting to the court’s jurisdiction. The Court explained that immunity from suit for a sovereign-owned vessel engaged in ordinary commerce cannot be established by a lone protest from the ship’s master unless that person is an accredited representative with authority to vindicate the sovereign. Although the master was a reserve naval officer, he was not shown to be acting in a naval capacity or to have authority beyond his role as master. Applying earlier decisions, the Court affirmed the lower court’s denial of immunity and let the supplier’s claim stand.
Real world impact
This decision means that suppliers and creditors can pursue payment from a foreign government’s ship when that ship is used in private commercial trade and no formal diplomatic protection is presented. It also makes clear that courts expect an authorized government representative or an appropriate diplomatic suggestion before recognizing sovereign immunity in such cases.
Dissents or concurrances
Justice Holmes agreed with the result of the case but wrote only to concur in the outcome.
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