1
*
11944
76
decisions that the Court will not
exercise its jurisdiction against
Ships owned by
the Sovereign Jurisdiction.
It should however be observed that this privilege
of exemption
from arrest is the result, as Sir Robert Phillimore well shows in the 2nd Volume
of
his work,
International Law p.367,
of strict International or natural
not Right;
it is a
concession
to
Comity!
It is clear that, if any
nation were
to depart from the present established usage by allowing the Ships
of other nations to be arrested
by civil process in its Ports, the same
course would be adopted in
regard to its Ships in the Ports
of
other Countries. It is
a mere
...
indulgence of the Comity of Nations.
But although exemption from
Arrest is now
accorded to Ships "owned"
exclusively
by the Sovereign Power,