Background On 2 August 1926 the S.S.
Lotus, a French
steamer, collided with the S.S.
Bozkourt, a Turkish steamer, in a region just north of
Mytilene (
Greece). As a result of the accident, eight Turkish nationals aboard the
Bozkourt drowned when the vessel was torn apart by the
Lotus. Turkey proceeded to arrest the
Lotus's captain, Mr. Demons; he was subsequently charged and condemned by the Turkish Courts for the damage and the deaths caused by the accident.
Appeal to the PCIJ France protested against Turkish actions, claiming that, since the crime was committed in
high seas, any charge against Mr. Demons belonged to the
flag State jurisdiction, i.e. to the French judiciary. On 7 September 1927, the case was presented before the
Permanent Court of International Justice, the judicial branch of the
League of Nations, the predecessor of the
United Nations. France accused Turkey of illegally arresting Mr. Demons in violation of
international law. France proffered case law, through which it attempted to show at least state practice in support of its position. However, those cases involved ships that both flew the flag of the same state. The Court, therefore, by a bare majority, rejected France's position, stating that there was no rule to that effect in
international law.
Lotus principle The '''
Lotus principle
or Lotus approach'
, usually considered a foundation of international law, says that sovereign states may act in any way they wish so long as they do not contravene an explicit prohibition. The application of this principle – an outgrowth of the Lotus'' case – to future incidents raising the issue of jurisdiction over people on the high seas was changed by article 11 of the
Convention on the High Seas. The convention, held in
Geneva in 1958, laid emphasis on the fact that only the flag state or the state of which the alleged offender was a national had jurisdiction over sailors regarding incidents occurring on the high seas.
Subsequent evolution of international law This "
flag state principle" has since also been implemented in
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), e.g. in article 92 and, in regards to enforcement of environmental legislation, article 217(1). The principle has also been used in arguments against the reasons of the
United States of America for opposing the existence of the
International Criminal Court (ICC). ==Mahmut Esat Bozkurt==