§ 8855. Appointment of prize commissioners and special prize commissioners

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(a)In each judicial district there may be not more than three prize commissioners, one of whom is the naval prize commissioner. They shall be appointed by the district court for service in connection with any prize cause in which proceedings are brought under section 8853(a) or

(c)of this title. The naval prize commissioner must be an officer of the Navy whose appointment is approved by the Secretary of the Navy. The naval prize commissioner shall protect the interests of the Department of the Navy in the prize property. At least one of the other commissioners must be a member of the bar of the court, of not less than three years’ standing, who is experienced in taking depositions.

(b)A district court may appoint special prize commissioners to perform abroad, in connection with any prize cause in which proceedings are brought under section 8853(b) of this title, the duties prescribed for prize commissioners, and, in connection with those causes, to exercise anywhere such additional powers and perform such additional duties as the court considers proper, including the duties prescribed by this chapter for United States marshals. The court may determine the number and qualifications of the special prize commissioners it appoints, except that for each cause there shall be at least one naval special prize commissioner. The naval special prize commissioner must be an officer of the Navy whose appointment is approved by the Secretary. The naval special prize commissioner shall protect the interests of the Department of the Navy in the prize property.

(Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 475, § 7655; renumbered § 8855 and amended Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title VIII, §§ 807(d)(9), 809(a), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1837, 1840.)

The first sentence of subsection

(a)is reworded to make it clear that the limitation as to number applies to the number of prize commissioners who may serve in each judicial district at any one time and that the court is not precluded from making additional appointments to fill vacancies. The words “for service in connection with any prize cause in which proceedings are brought under section 7653(a) or

(c)of this title” are added to distinguish the prize commissioners from the special prize commissioners mentioned in subsection (b). The words “officer of the Navy” in subsections

(a)and

(b)are substituted for the words “naval officer, active or retired” because an officer of the Navy does not lose his status as such upon retirement, and to retain these words would open to question the many other provisions in this subtitle treating retired officers as officers.

In subsection

(b)the words “in connection with any prize cause in which proceedings are brought under section 7653(b) of this title” are substituted for the words “in cases arising under this Act” for accuracy of reference. The words “including the duties prescribed by this chapter for United States marshals” are added for clarity. Section 7662 of this title prescribes the duties of marshals. Most of these duties could not be performed by the marshals if the prize was not brought into a United States port. In such cases occurring during World War II the courts, under the authority of the 1942 Act, required the special prize commissioners to perform the duties ordinarily performed by the marshals. The words “without regard for the requirements of section 7367 of this title” are omitted as unnecessary, since that section is codified in subsection (a), and language distinguishing the prize commissioners from the special prize commissions is included in each subsection.

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