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  • Lotus Case (France v. Turkey)

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    Nicole Deocaris
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    The Lotus Case involved a collision between a French mail steamer and a Turkish collier on the high seas that resulted in the sinking of the Turkish ship and the loss of eight Turkish lives. The captain of the French ship, Demons, was arrested in Turkey and prosecuted for negligence. Demons argued the Turkish court lacked jurisdiction. However, the Permanent Court of International Justice ruled that Turkey was not prohibited under international law from prosecuting Demons, as the effects of the incident were felt in Turkey due to the sinking of the Turkish ship and loss of Turkish lives. While international law restricts a state from exercising jurisdiction in another state's territory, it does not prohibit Turkey from exercising jurisdiction over an incident with effects in

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    The Lotus Case involved a collision between a French mail steamer and a Turkish collier on the high seas that resulted in the sinking of the Turkish ship and the loss of eight Turkish lives. The captain of the French ship, Demons, was arrested in Turkey and prosecuted for negligence. Demons argued the Turkish court lacked jurisdiction. However, the Permanent Court of International Justice ruled that Turkey was not prohibited under international law from prosecuting Demons, as the effects of the incident were felt in Turkey due to the sinking of the Turkish ship and loss of Turkish lives. While international law restricts a state from exercising jurisdiction in another state's territory, it does not prohibit Turkey from exercising jurisdiction over an incident with effects in

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    74 views1 page

    Lotus Case (France v. Turkey)

    Uploaded by

    Nicole Deocaris
    The Lotus Case involved a collision between a French mail steamer and a Turkish collier on the high seas that resulted in the sinking of the Turkish ship and the loss of eight Turkish lives. The captain of the French ship, Demons, was arrested in Turkey and prosecuted for negligence. Demons argued the Turkish court lacked jurisdiction. However, the Permanent Court of International Justice ruled that Turkey was not prohibited under international law from prosecuting Demons, as the effects of the incident were felt in Turkey due to the sinking of the Turkish ship and loss of Turkish lives. While international law restricts a state from exercising jurisdiction in another state's territory, it does not prohibit Turkey from exercising jurisdiction over an incident with effects in

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 1

    Lotus Case (France v.

    Turkey)
    Facts: A collision occurred shortly before midnight on the 2nd of August 1926 between the
    French mail steamer Lotus and the Turkish collier Boz-Kourt. The French mail steamer was
    captained by a French citizen by the name Demons while the Turkish collier Boz-Kourt was
    captained by Hassan Bey. The Turks lost eight men after their ship cut into two and sank as a
    result of the collision.
    Although the Lotus did all it could do within its power to help the shipwrecked persons, it
    continued on its course to Constantinople, where it arrived. On the 5th of August, Lieutenant
    Demons was asked by the Turkish authority to go ashore to give evidence. After Demons was
    examined, he was placed under arrest without informing the French Consul-General and Hassan
    Bey. Demons was convicted by the Turkish courts for negligence in allowing the accident to
    occur.
    This basis was contended by Demons on the ground that the court lacked jurisdiction over him.
    Issue: Whether the exercise of Turkish criminal jurisdiction over Demons for an incident that
    occurred on the high seas contravened international law.
    Ruling: No, the Permanent Court of International Justice held that Turkey, by instituting
    criminal proceedings against Lieutenant Demons, had not acted in conflict with the principles of
    international law. The Court found that the French contention that Turkey, in order to have
    jurisdiction, should be able to point to some title of jurisdiction recognized by international law
    as opposed to generally accepted international law, as referred to by Article 15. It stated that the
    first restriction imposed by international law upon a State was that it could not exercise its power
    in any form in the territory of another State.
    However, this does not imply that international law prohibits a state from exercising jurisdiction
    in its own territory, in respect of any case that relates to acts that have taken place abroad which
    it cannot rely on some permissive rule of international law. In this situation, it is impossible to
    hold that there is a rule of international law that prohibits Turkey from prosecuting Demons
    because he was aboard a French ship. This stems from the fact that the effects of the alleged
    offense occurred on a Turkish vessel. Hence, both states here may exercise concurrent
    jurisdiction over this matter because there is no rule of international law in regards to collision
    cases to the effect that criminal proceedings are exclusively within the jurisdiction of the state
    whose flag is flown.

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