Full story
Supreme Court revives claims
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Thursday in an 8-1 decision siding with Havana Docks Corp. in a long-running fight over property seized by Fidel Castro’s regime after the Cuban Revolution, reviving claims tied to cruise operations in Havana.
“By an 8-1 vote, the justices revived claims filed by a U.S. company, Havana Docks”
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the court that the federal appeals court in Atlanta was wrong to dismiss the claims, holding that “the cruise lines used confiscated property to which Havana Docks owns the claim.”
The case returns to lower courts, where “hundreds of millions of dollars in damages remain at stake,” and it centers on Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, a 1996 law that allows U.S. nationals to sue companies accused of “trafficking” in property confiscated by Havana.
The dispute involves cruise lines including Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line, and MSC Cruises that docked in Havana between 2016 and 2019 as travel restrictions eased under former President Barack Obama, before President Donald Trump activated the provision in 2019.
Justice Elena Kagan was the lone dissenter, arguing Havana Docks no longer had a legal property interest during the period when the cruise lines used the port because its concession had expired in 2004.
Dissent and legal framing
In the majority’s framing, the cruise lines’ use of Havana port facilities was enough to establish use of “property which was confiscated by the Cuban Government,” and the Supreme Court did not end the case outright.
Justice Elena Kagan dissented, arguing that “what Havana Docks owned was only a property interest allowing it to use those docks for a specified time,” and that the decision would allow plaintiffs to recover for trafficking in property that was not theirs.
ABC News reported that the ruling is not a final decision, but it came as the Trump administration increased pressure on Cuba, including Wednesday’s indictment of former Cuban President Raúl Castro in the 1996 downing of civilian planes flown by Miami-based exiles.
SCOTUSblog described how the case hinged on whether “property which was confiscated by the Cuban Government” referred to Havana Docks’ right to use the docks or to the docks themselves, and said the majority concluded the confiscated docks were “tainted—off limits—such that anyone who uses the property can be liable.”
The Supreme Court’s decision also left unresolved other defenses for the lower courts to address, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Justice Brett Kavanaugh flagging concerns about the possibility of “a potentially unlimited amount of money” if the statute is read broadly.
Broader Cuba litigation stakes
The ruling arrives alongside another Supreme Court dispute involving ExxonMobil, where Exxon argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to obtain compensation for assets seized by the Cuban government in 1960 under the Helms-Burton Act’s Title III.
“Exxon is seeking more than a billion dollars in compensation”
Zonebourse Suisse reported that Exxon is seeking more than a billion dollars in compensation from Cuban state entities for the oil and gas assets seized in 1960, and that the other case concerns whether Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line, and MSC Cruises should be held liable for using docks built by an American company.
The same reporting said Exxon’s request followed a lower court ruling that Cuban state entities could invoke foreign sovereign immunity, and Exxon’s attorney Morgan Ratner argued the decision rested on an “implausible reading” that made the lawsuits “largely ineffective.”
CNN tied the Supreme Court’s revival of the cruise claims to the Trump administration’s ramping up of economic and political pressure on Cuba, noting that the decision came a day after the Department of Justice indicted former Cuban President Raúl Castro.
In the cruise case, CNN reported that Havana Docks built Havana’s piers in 1905 for the Cuban government on the condition that it would operate the port for 99 years, and that Castro’s government seized the docks shortly after coming to power.
