Can the Japanese Fishermen and Their Families Sue the US?

[minty_green]

As promised, I found the Federal Tort Claims Act, which can be found at 28 U.S.C. 2671-2680. Section 2674 is the main waiver of sovereign liability:

The United States shall be liable, respecting the provisions of this title to tort claims, in the same manner and to the same extent as a private individual under like circumstances, but shall not be liable for interest prior to judgment or for punitive damages.

So no punitive damages in any event, WB. Also, it turns out there is no problem with the fact that this is a military incident. Here’s the relevant part of section 2680, which is the list of exceptions to the general waiver of immunity:

The provisions of [FTCA] shall not apply to … (j) Any claim arising out of the combatant activities of the military or naval forces, or the Coast Guard, during time of war.

Again, however, I want to stress that I know nothing about that maritime treaty that was mentioned earlier,* so I don’t know how it would interact with the FTCA.

*Incidentally, Tranquilis, Flight 800 suits are governed by the Warsaw Convention, which is indeed a treaty, but only applies to international flights. It has no impact on shipping, AFAIK. I think your $50,000 figure is about right under Warsaw, however.

[Tranquilis]

*Originally posted by minty green *
***Incidentally, Tranquilis, Flight 800 suits are governed by the Warsaw Convention, which is indeed a treaty, but only applies to international flights. It has no impact on shipping, AFAIK. I think your $50,000 figure is about right under Warsaw, however. **

I went back and looked it up, Yeah: Air Carriers are limited under the Warsaw Convention, which, as ammended, limits to $75,000 any recovery for loss of life. The other treaty is the CONVENTION ON LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR MARITIME CLAIMS, 1976, which concerns surface (and perhaps, submarine) vessels. I think the limitations under that treaty have been adequately covered at this point.