Lotus case judgment (P.C.I.J. Series A No. 10)

E851646

decision of the Permanent Court of International Justice international court judgment landmark case in international law

Lotus case judgment (P.C.I.J. Series A No. 10) is a landmark 1927 decision of the Permanent Court of International Justice that addressed the scope of state jurisdiction in international law following a collision on the high seas.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (6)

Label	Occurrences
The Lotus Case	2
Judgment of the Permanent Court of International Justice in S.S. Lotus (1927)	1
Lotus case judgment (P.C.I.J. Series A No. 10) canonical	1
S.S. Lotus case judgment	1
The Lotus case	1
judgment of the Permanent Court of International Justice in the Lotus case	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T10259576 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Lotus case judgment (P.C.I.J. Series A No. 10)
Context triple: [Publications of the Permanent Court of International Justice, Series A, No. 10, alternativeName, Lotus case judgment (P.C.I.J. Series A No. 10)]

A. International Court of Justice case France v. United Kingdom (1953)
The International Court of Justice case France v. United Kingdom (1953) was a territorial dispute in which the ICJ adjudicated sovereignty over the Channel Islands groups of Les Écréhous and Minquiers between the two states.
B. Contracting Parties to the Permanent Court of Arbitration
The Contracting Parties to the Permanent Court of Arbitration are the states that have acceded to the PCA’s founding conventions and thereby participate in and support its intergovernmental framework for international dispute resolution.
C. Chamber of Summary Procedure of the International Court of Justice
The Chamber of Summary Procedure of the International Court of Justice is a smaller, specially constituted body of the Court designed to handle certain cases more expeditiously than the full bench.
D. Statute of the Permanent Court of International Justice
The Statute of the Permanent Court of International Justice was the foundational legal instrument establishing the structure, jurisdiction, and procedures of the League of Nations’ principal judicial body, the predecessor to today’s International Court of Justice.
E. Registry of the International Court of Justice
The Registry of the International Court of Justice is the Court’s permanent administrative and judicial support organ, responsible for managing its proceedings, records, and communications.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Lotus case judgment (P.C.I.J. Series A No. 10)
Target entity description: Lotus case judgment (P.C.I.J. Series A No. 10) is a landmark 1927 decision of the Permanent Court of International Justice that addressed the scope of state jurisdiction in international law following a collision on the high seas.

A. International Court of Justice case France v. United Kingdom (1953)
The International Court of Justice case France v. United Kingdom (1953) was a territorial dispute in which the ICJ adjudicated sovereignty over the Channel Islands groups of Les Écréhous and Minquiers between the two states.
B. Contracting Parties to the Permanent Court of Arbitration
The Contracting Parties to the Permanent Court of Arbitration are the states that have acceded to the PCA’s founding conventions and thereby participate in and support its intergovernmental framework for international dispute resolution.
C. Chamber of Summary Procedure of the International Court of Justice
The Chamber of Summary Procedure of the International Court of Justice is a smaller, specially constituted body of the Court designed to handle certain cases more expeditiously than the full bench.
D. Statute of the Permanent Court of International Justice
The Statute of the Permanent Court of International Justice was the foundational legal instrument establishing the structure, jurisdiction, and procedures of the League of Nations’ principal judicial body, the predecessor to today’s International Court of Justice.
E. Registry of the International Court of Justice
The Registry of the International Court of Justice is the Court’s permanent administrative and judicial support organ, responsible for managing its proceedings, records, and communications.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	decision of the Permanent Court of International Justice ⓘ international court judgment ⓘ landmark case in international law ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	S.S. Lotus case judgment ⓘ linked to: Lotus case judgment (P.C.I.J. Series A No. 10) The Lotus case ⓘ linked to: Lotus case judgment (P.C.I.J. Series A No. 10)
applicantState	France ⓘ
areaOfLaw	jurisdiction in international law ⓘ law of the sea ⓘ public international law ⓘ
bindingOn	parties to the dispute (France and Turkey) ⓘ
citation	P.C.I.J. Series A, No. 10 ⓘ
consequence	criminal prosecution of French officer Lieutenant Demons in Turkey ⓘ
considered	landmark decision of the Permanent Court of International Justice ⓘ leading case on state jurisdiction in international law ⓘ
court	Permanent Court of International Justice ⓘ
decisionDate	1927-09-07 ⓘ
disputeBetween	France ⓘ Turkey ⓘ
factPattern	collision caused deaths of Turkish nationals ⓘ
frequentlyCitedIn	cases and literature on extraterritorial jurisdiction ⓘ textbooks on public international law ⓘ
holding	Turkey did not act in conflict with international law by instituting criminal proceedings against the French officer ⓘ
influenced	development of the permissive view of state jurisdiction in international law ⓘ later debates on jurisdiction in the law of the sea ⓘ scholarly concept of the "Lotus principle" ⓘ
keyIssue	whether Turkey could exercise criminal jurisdiction over a French officer following a collision on the high seas ⓘ
languageOfJudgment	French ⓘ
legalQuestion	whether exclusive jurisdiction belonged to the flag state of the vessel on the high seas ⓘ
originatingIncident	collision between French steamship Lotus and Turkish collier Boz-Kourt ⓘ
originatingIncidentLocation	high seas ⓘ
partyState	French Republic ⓘ Republic of Turkey ⓘ linked to: Turkey
placeOfCourt	The Hague ⓘ
principleArticulated	absence of a prohibitive rule does not equal prohibition in international law ⓘ international law leaves to states a wide measure of discretion in asserting jurisdiction ⓘ states may exercise jurisdiction unless there is a prohibitive rule of international law ⓘ
relatedVessel	Boz-Kourt ⓘ S.S. Lotus ⓘ
respondentState	Turkey ⓘ
result	claims of France rejected ⓘ
seriesNumber	Series A No. 10 ⓘ linked to: Series A
status	final judgment ⓘ
subjectMatter	jurisdiction over incidents on the high seas ⓘ permissive nature of international law regarding state jurisdiction ⓘ scope of state criminal jurisdiction in international law ⓘ
successorBody	International Court of Justice (as successor to the PCIJ, not to the specific case) ⓘ linked to: International Court of Justice
temporalContext	interwar period ⓘ
yearDecided	1927 ⓘ