appropriate jurisdiction as often as questions of right depending upon it are duly presented for their determination. For this purpose, where there is no treaty and no controlling executive or legislative act or judicial decision, resort must be had to the customs and usages of civilized nations, and, as evidence of these, to the works of jurists and commentators who by years of labor, research, and experience have made themselves peculiarly well acquainted with the subjects of which they treat. Such works are resorted to by judicial tribunals, not for the speculations of their authors concerning what the law ought to be, but for trustworthy evidence of what the law really is.The Supreme Court decision reversed the district court and ordered that the proceeds of the auctions, as well as any profits made from the vessels' cargo, be restored to the claimants "with damages and costs." Fuller's dissent Justice Fuller delivered a dissenting opinion, which was joined by Justices Harlan and McKenna. Fuller essentially agreed with the federal government's position, arguing that the capture of fishing vessels as prizes was both in accordance with customary international law and militarily necessary, and that any exemption is under the discretion of the President as the nation's executive. See also Garcia-Mir v. Meese List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 175 References United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Fuller Court United States admiralty case law 1900 in international relations 1900 in United States case law Cuba–United States relations Spanish–American War Prize warfare External links The Paquete Habana Case Brief Abridged version of the case