CONDEMNATION. The sentence of a competent tribunal which declares a ship unfit for service. This sentence may be re examined and litigated by the parties inter ested in disputing it ; 5 Esp. 65; Abb. Sh. 15; 30 L. J. A. 145.
The judgment, sentence, or decree by which property seized and subject to forfeiture for an infraction of revenue, navigation, or other laws is condemned or forfeited to the gov ernment. See CAPTOR.
In International Law. The sentence or judgment of a court of competent jurisdic tion that a ship or vessel taken as a prize on the high seas was liable to capture, and was properly and legally captured and held as prize.
Some of the grounds of capture and con demnation are : violation of neutrality in time of war ; The Commercen, 2 Gall. 261, Fed. Cas. No. 3,055 ; carrying contraband goods; The Springbok, 5 Wall. (U. S.) 1, 18 L. Ed. 480; The Peterhoff, 5 Wall. (U. S.) 28, 18 L. Ed. 564; The Bermuda, 3 Wall. (U. S.) 514, 18 L. Ed. 200;' breads of blockade; The Plymouth, 3 Wall. (U. S.) 28, 18 L. Ed. 125; The Louisiana, 3 Wall. (U. S.) 170, 18 L. Ed. 85; The Admiral, 3 Wall. (U. S.) 603, 18 L. Ed. '58.
By the general practice of the law of nations, a sentence of condemnation is at present generally deemed necessary in order to divest the title of a vessel taken as a prize. Until this has been done, the orig inal owner may regain his property, al though the ship may have been in posses sion of the enemy twenty-four hours, or car ried infra prcesidia; Hall, Int. L. ; The Es trella, 4 Wheat. (U. S.) 298, 4 L. Ed. 574. A sentence of condemnation is generally bind ing everywhere ; Gelston v. Hoyt, 3 Wheat. (U. S.) 246, 4 L. Ed. 381; Croudson v. Leon ard, 4 Cra. (U. S.) 434, 2 L. Ed. 670. Title vests completely in the captors, and relates back to the time of capture ; 2 Russ. & M. 35 ; 15 Ves. 139.
Confiscation (q. v.), in technical if not in
general usage, is the act of the sovereign against a rebellious subject; condemnation as prize is the act of a belligerent against another belligerent. The former may be effected by such means as the sovereign through legal channels may please to adopt; the latter can be made only in accordance with principles recognized in the common jurisprudence of the world. Both are in rein; but confiscation recognizes the title of the original owner, while in prize the tenure of the property is qualified, provisional and destitute of absolute ownership; Winchester v. U. S., 14 Ct. Cls. 14.
The condemnation of prize property while lying in a neutral port or the port of an ally is valid ; Jecker v. Montgomery, 13 How. (U. S.) 498, 14 L. Ed. 240; 4 C. Rob. 43.
By Art. 3 of the Convention Relative to the Establishment of an International Prize Court (q. v.) the judgments of national prize courts condemning neutral ships or cargoes, or enemy cargoes on board neutral ships, may be reviewed by the International Prize Court.
The word is in general use in connection with the taking of land under the right of eminent domain, q. v. The condemnation of lands is but a purchase of them in in v'ituna, and the title acquired is but a quit claim ; Lake Merced Water Co. v. Cowles, 31 Cal. 215.
In Civil Law. A sentence or judgment which condemns some one to do, to give, or to pay something, or which declares that his claim Or pretensions are unfounded.
The word is used in this sense by common-law lawyers also ; though It is more usual to say con viction, both in civil and criminal cases; 3 Bla. Com. 291. It is a maxim that no man ought to be condemned unheard and without the opportunity of being heard.