The U.S. Department of Justice is preparing to reactivate long-dormant naval prize courts to facilitate the military interception of Iranian oil tankers and expedite the transfer of seized cargoes into U.S. ownership.
Sea-news.az reports that Bloomberg published this information citing three knowledgeable sources.
Aaron Reitz, a federal prosecutor from Houston, confirmed the report to the agency, stating that the department plans to utilize prize courts, known as an “ancient institution of maritime law.”
The revival of this mechanism will allow U.S. prosecutors to more swiftly transfer oil and other commodities confiscated from adversarial or neutral vessels into U.S. possession. The confiscated property will subsequently be sold, with the proceeds directed to the state budget.
Prize courts are a maritime law mechanism granting a government the legal authority during wartime to capture and confiscate enemy vessels and cargoes. This system was widely used in the 18th and 19th centuries—particularly by Great Britain and the United States—to disrupt adversary commerce and bolster state treasuries.
Under the procedure, an intercepted vessel is brought into port, and a court investigates the legality of the capture, ruling on the formal confiscation and sale of the ship and its cargo.
The United States has virtually abandoned this mechanism since the Spanish-American War of 1898, and the system became effectively defunct following World War II. In recent decades, authorities have instead relied on civil asset forfeiture procedures to seize sanctions-evading vessels; however, these alternative processes are considerably more protracted and allow for broader third-party intervention.
