The Case of the S.S.

Lotus
France v. Turkey
 On August 2nd, 1926, towards midnight, between five and six nautical miles to the North of Cape Sigri,
Mitylene (High seas), a collision occurred between the French mail steamer Lotus during the watch of
the first lieutenant of the ship, Monsieur Demons, a French citizen, and the Turkish collier Boz-Kourt,
commanded by its captain Hassan Bey.

 Cut in two the Turkish ship sank; ten of the persons who were on board were able to be saved by the
Lotus, but eight others who were Turkish nationals were drowned.

 The French mail steamer then continued on its course towards Constantinople where it arrived on August
3rd. The Turkish police proceeded to hold an inquiry into the collision. On August 4th, the captain of the
Lotus 97 handed in his master’s report at the French Consulate transmitting a copy thereof to the harbour
master.

 On the following day, August 5th, Lieutenant Demons was requested to go ashore to give evidence. The
examination, the length of which resulted in delaying the departure of the French steamer, led to the
placing under arrest of Lieutenant Demons—without previous notice moreover being given to the French
Consul-General—and of the Captain of the Boz-Kourt.

 This arrest was alleged to have been effected in order to ensure that the criminal prosecutions instituted
against these two officers, on a charge of manslaughter brought on the complaint of the families of the
victims of the collision, should follow its normal course.

 The case was heard from August 28th onwards by the Criminal Court of Stamboul before which it had
been brought; that Court gave judgment affirming its jurisdiction to which Lieutenant Demons had
pleaded. The proceedings were resumed on September 11th, when Lieutenant Demons demanded his
release on bail; this request was complied with on September 13th, the bail being fixed at 6,000 Turkish
pounds.

 On September 15th, the Court sentenced Lieutenant Demons to eighty (80) days imprisonment and a fine
of twenty-two pounds, and the other accused to a slightly more severe penalty.

 From the outset of the proceedings taken against M. Demons, the French Government had made protest
to the Turkish Government and had demanded in particular that the matter should be withdrawn from
the Turkish courts and transferred to the French courts.

 Referencing Article 15 of the Convention of Lausanne of July 24th, 1923, respecting conditions of
residence and business and jurisdiction, which refers the contracting Parties to the principles of
international law as regards the delimitation of their respective jurisdiction.

This clause is as follows:

"Subject to the provisions of Article 16, all questions of jurisdiction shall, as between Turkey
and the other contracting Powers, be decided in accordance with the principles of international
law."

 Under the Convention respecting conditions of residence and business and jurisdiction signed at
Lausanne on July 24th, 1923, and the principles of international law, jurisdiction to entertain criminal
proceedings against the officer of the watch of a French ship, in connection with the collision which
occurred on the high seas between that vessel and a Turkish ship, belongs exclusively to the French
Courts;

 France posits the following arguments:

(a)since the collision occurred on the high seas, France claimed that the state whose flag the
vessel flew had exclusive jurisdiction over the matter.

(b) as, accordingly, the Convention of Lausanne of July 24th, 1923, construed in the light of
these circumstances and intentions, does not allow the Turkish Courts to take cognizance of
 criminal proceedings directed against a French citizen for crimes or offences committed outside
Turkey;

 As a result of repeated representations, the Government of Angora declared on September 2nd that it
would have no objection to the reference of the dispute as regards jurisdiction to the Permanent Court of
International Justice (PCIJ); the French Government having on the 6th of the same month given its full
consent to the proposed solution, the two Parties appointed their plenipotentiaries who, on October 12th,
1926, signed at Geneva a Special Agreement.

 By the Special Agreement, the Court was asked to decide:

(1) whether Turkey had “contrary to Article 15 of the Convention of Lausanne of July 24th, 1923,
respecting conditions of residence and business and jurisdiction, acted in conflict with the principles
of international law—and if so, what principles—by instituting . . . against M. Demons as well as
against the captain of the Turkish steamship, joint criminal proceedings in pursuance of Turkish
law”; and

(2) secondly, “should the reply be in the affirmative, what pecuniary reparation is due to M. Demons”.

 Both Parties filed a Case on March 1st, 1927, and a Counter-Case on May 24th following. The suit was
entered on the list of cases for the Twelfth (ordinary) Session of the Court held from June 15th to
December 16th, 1927.

ISSUE
Did Turkey violate international law when Turkish courts exercised jurisdiction over a crime committed
by a French national, outside Turkey? If yes, should Turkey pay compensation to France?

RULING
No. Turkey, by instituting criminal proceedings against Demons, did not violate international law of territorial
jurisdiction.

 "Under international law, everything that isn't prohibited is permitted."

 Since the offence produced its effects on the Turkish ship, no rule of international law exists prohibiting
the Turkish authorities from taking proceedings against Demons because of the fact that he was on board
the French ship.

 The PCIJ found that customary international law gave France jurisdiction, but it didn't give
them exclusive jurisdiction.

 The judges of the majority recognized the competence of the State of Turkey to enact a criminal statute
extending to the negligent conduct of a French citizen while on duty as Officer-of-the-Watch of a French
ship, at the time of her collision on the high seas - and therefore outside Turkey's territorial waters - with
a ship flying the Turkish flag. The collision caused the sinking of the Turkish ship and also the death of
eight of her passengers who were of Turkish nationality.

 This is easily comprehensible if the manner in which collisions give rise to conflicts between two
jurisdictions of different States be taken into account: thus, in this particular case, there was on the one
hand an act or an omission on board the Lotus; on the other hand, the e ects of that act were felt on board
the Boz-Kourt; these two elements are, juridically speaking, inseparable, so much so that their separation
would render the o ence non-existent.

 Neither the exclusive jurisdiction of either State, nor the limitations of the jurisdiction of each to the
occurrences which took place on the respective ships, would appear calculated to satisfy the requirements
of justice and effectively to protect the interests of the two States. It is only natural that each should be
able to exercise jurisdiction and to do so in respect of the incident as a whole. It is therefore a case of
concurrent jurisdictions.

 Criminal Jurisdiction: Territorial Jurisdiction, France alleged that the flag State of a vessel
has exclusive jurisdiction over offences committed on board the ship in high seas. The Court disagreed.
 It held that France, as the flag State, did not enjoy exclusive territorial jurisdiction in the high seas in
respect of a collision with a vessel carrying the flag of another State (paras 71 – 84). The Court held that
Turkey and France both have jurisdiction in respect of the whole incident: in other words, there
was concurrent jurisdiction.

 The Court held that a ship in the high seas is assimilated to the territory of the flag State. This State may
exercise its jurisdiction over the ship, in the same way as it exercises its jurisdiction over its land, to the
exclusion of all other States. In this case, the Court equated the Turkish vessel to Turkish territory.
The Court held that the “… offence produced its effects on the Turkish vessel and consequently in a
place assimilated to Turkish territory in which the application of Turkish criminal law cannot be
challenged, even in regard to offences committed there by foreigners.” The Court concluded that Turkey
had jurisdiction over this case. It further said:

 If, therefore, a guilty act committed on the high seas produces its effects on a vessel flying another flag
or in foreign territory, the same principles must be applied as if the territories of two different States
were concerned, and the conclusion must therefore be drawn that there is no rule of international law
prohibiting the State to which the ship on which the effects of the offence have taken place belongs, from
regarding the offence as having been committed in its territory and prosecuting, accordingly, the
delinquent.”

 The Court observes, in the first place, that the territorial character of criminal law is not an absolute
principle of international law and by no means coincides with territorial sovereignty: indeed, though it is
true that in all systems of criminal law the principle of its territorial character is fundamental, the greater
part of these systems none the less extend their scope to cover offences committed abroad and they do
so in ways which vary from State to State.