The US Department of Justice is drawing up plans to reactivate maritime prize courts, a judicial mechanism rooted in 18th- and 19th-century naval warfare that has sat dormant since the Second World War, according to three people familiar with the deliberations. The move is designed to give federal prosecutors a fast legal route to condemn Iranian oil tankers and their cargo captured under a US naval blockade, with seized goods sold and the proceeds transferred to the Treasury.
Aaron Reitz, the Houston-based US attorney whose office is partnering with the Justice Department's headquarters on the initiative, publicly confirmed the effort. The department is "now reviving" prize courts, he said, describing them as "an ancient body of maritime law," according to Bloomberg Law.
Prize courts allow a belligerent state to formally condemn enemy or neutral vessels and their cargo seized at sea. They were common tools of naval power through the 19th century but fell largely out of use after the Spanish-American War of 1898 and have been entirely dormant since the Second World War. The statutory framework that authorises them remains written into US law. In recent decades, the US has instead relied on civil forfeiture laws and sanctions enforcement to seize ships, a civilian legal approach rather than a wartime one.
The current push comes amid an active US naval blockade of Iran, a context the administration argues justifies applying wartime legal tools. The plans remain unfinished. It is not yet known when any district court will formally adopt prize court rules, which specific vessels or cargo may be targeted, or whether the administration has secured inter-agency or congressional backing.
Two people who spoke anonymously identified the Southern District of Texas federal trial court as the preferred venue. Prize courts can operate out of any US district court with jurisdiction over the port where a captured ship arrives.
The initiative serves two stated purposes. It is intended to reinforce the Iran blockade legally and, by channelling proceeds from cargo sales into the Treasury, to help offset the financial cost of the conflict, according to people familiar with the plans.
Legal challenges are widely expected. Shipping companies whose vessels are seized are likely to contest the proceedings, and victims of Iranian-sponsored terrorism may file competing claims against seized assets, according to Fox Business.
Maritime attorney Allison Luzwick warned that applying prize court authority under modern conditions will be contested. "Great strides have been made in international law and the law of war since the late 1800s, and all of that is going to come into play," she told Bloomberg. How neutral-flag shipping nations whose vessels might be caught up in prize seizures will respond remains unclear.
The prize court revival is the second time this year the administration has reached for an obscure judicial system. In July, it brought the first-ever case before the Alien Terrorist Removal Court, a tribunal that had never previously been used since its creation. Both moves reflect a broader pattern of the administration dusting off dormant statutory mechanisms to meet the demands of an active conflict footing.
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