The Zamora (Privy Council, 1916)

The Zamora was a 1916 Privy Council prize appeal concerning the proposed requisition of neutral copper cargo seized aboard a neutral vessel. It is a historical judgment about British Prize law and prize courts, not a present universal code for requisition or sanctions.

Parties and procedure

British forces captured the Swedish vessel Zamora and brought it before a Prize Court. The Crown sought to requisition the copper cargo before final adjudication under an Order in Council. The captor, Crown, cargo owner, Prize Court and Judicial Committee held distinct procedural roles.

The Board held that a British prize court administers international law and is not bound to give effect to executive directions inconsistent with that law. It recognised a narrowly conditioned judicial power to permit requisition where urgent military necessity was proved and safeguards applied.

Result and limits

The requisition application failed because the evidence did not establish the necessary urgent need. The judgment therefore recognised a conditional power while rejecting its exercise on the record. It should not be summarised as an unconditional Crown right to take neutral property.

The case arose under the Naval Prize Act 1864 and wartime Orders including the Reprisals Orders in Council (UK, 1915 and 1917). Its reasoning about a municipal prize court and executive orders does not automatically bind every national court or establish the full modern law of the Right of angary.

Modern significance

The judgment remains important for judicial independence, evidence of necessity and the relationship between domestic executive action and international law. Comparisons with modern designation litigation are analytical only. Modern sanctions, asset freezes and forfeiture use different statutes, procedures and property rules.

Sources

1. British and Irish Legal Information Institute, *The Zamora*.
2. United States Office of the Historian, Contemporary judgment text.
3. United Kingdom legislation, Naval Prize Act 1864.
4. United Kingdom Supreme Court, Discussion of *The Zamora*.