Page:Harvard Law Review Volume 32.djvu/302

266 266 HARVARD LAW REVIEW ACTIONS AGAINST THE PROPERTY OF SOVEREIGNS COURTS and text-writers have long been in agreement that a sovereign cannot be sued in his own courts without his con- sent. It has also been generally accepted as a principle of inter- national law that courts will not entertain a suit against a foreign sovereign if objection to the jurisdiction is made. Out of these two doctrines the rule has been developed that the public property of a sovereign falls within his general immunity. This last rule has become of great importance since governments in recent years have widely extended the scope of their ownership and control. The immunity accorded the property of sovereigns has not been limited to actions which have as their object an adjudication of title that shall be binding upon the "whole world." The immu- nity has also attached to actions which attempt to reach simply the interest which particular defendants have in property. The immunity, therefore, covers both actions in rem, as that term is used in admiralty, and actions which are sometimes called actions in rem, but are perhaps better described as actions quasi in rem. There are some early obscure precedents referred to by Bynker- shoek, but the first case of any significance in this subject is The Exchange} Marshall, speaking for a unanimous court, refused to take jurisdiction of a libel against an armed ship which was part of the French naval forces. The basis of his decision was the in- ternational comity supposed to exist between nations, according to which each sovereign waived a part of his territorial jurisdic- tion in favor of every other sovereign. The reason given for this custom was the mutual benefit accruing to the several sovereigns from the impiied agreement to respect one another's dignity and independence. The waiver of jurisdiction was said to be made in favor of the person of the sovereign, his ambassador, his armies passing by consent through another country, and his armed ships coming into a friendly port. 1 7 Cranch (U. S.) ii6 (1812).