R. Ribas Y Hijo v. United States

Background

A ship owned by Spanish subjects was taken by the United States Army and Navy during the war with Spain and used by the Army’s Quartermaster Department. The Spanish owners sued in the federal court in Porto Rico to recover the value of the vessel’s use. The case reached this Court after the lower court dismissed the lawsuit.

Reasoning

The Court examined whether the owners could sue the United States under the statute that lets people bring monetary claims (the Tucker Act). The Court found the claim was not based on the Constitution, any act of Congress, a government regulation, or any contract. Instead, the seizure occurred during active war and was treated as an act of war against enemy property, so the claim sounded in tort (a personal wrong) rather than contract. The Court also relied on the peace treaty with Spain, which expressly waived many claims arising before the treaty’s ratification and assigned other claims to be handled between the two governments. Because the treaty covers the owners’ claim, and because tort claims like this are not suits the Tucker Act authorizes against the United States, the Court affirmed the dismissal.

Real world impact

The ruling means foreign owners whose ships were seized as enemy property during the war cannot recover payment in this way. Treaty language can bar individual claims that arose before peace was ratified. The decision narrows when the Tucker Act allows money suits against the United States, excluding wartime torts in these circumstances.