US, complainant-appellant VS William Fowler, Et Al, defendants-appellees

Jurisdiction: Crime on high seas

1. The two defendants and appellees, Fowler et al, have been accused of the theft of sixteen
(16) bottles of champagne of the value of $20 on 12 August 1901 while on board the transport
Lawton (US vessel). Lawton was then navigating the high seas.
2. Defendants:
The Court of First Instance (CFI) was without jurisdiction to try the crime charged since the
crime was committed on the high seas and not in manila, or within the territory comprising the
Bay of Manila or upon the 3-mile limit which the jurisdiction extends.
3. Prosecution:
The court has original jurisdiction in all criminal cases in which the penalty exceeds 6 months
imprisonment or a fine over $100. The Military General and Civil Commission admiralty has
jurisdiction over all vessels flying the flag of the United States and the same was vested in the
CFI of Manila.
4. SC:
ACT.No.400, states that the Philippines has jurisdiction only with the crimes committed in a ship
registered in the Philippines or those within the territorial jurisdiction of the Philippines. Lawton is
neither a ship registered in the Philippines nor within the territorial jurisdiction of the Philippines.
Our courts are without jurisdiction to take cognizance of a crime committed on board the same.