§30907 Procedure for Hearing and Determination

Summary

Civil cases under this law are handled like regular private lawsuits. Courts use the same rules and legal ideas they would use in similar disputes between people or companies. A plaintiff can choose to treat the case as an action against the ship or cargo itself (in rem). To do that, the plaintiff must say so in the complaint, and the court must find that the same action could have been brought if the vessel or cargo had been privately owned and held. Picking an in rem action does not stop the plaintiff from also asking for relief against a person (in personam) in the same case.