In 8,375 Words, Havana Docks Corporation Requests U.S. Supreme Court To Review Libertad Act Lawsuit Against Cruise Lines

QUESTION PRESENTED

“The LIBERTAD Act is an essential pillar of United States foreign policy toward Cuba’s hostile and anti American regime.  Title III of that Act creates a private right of action for United States nationals who have a claim to property confiscated by that regime against persons who traffic in that property.  22 U.S.C. § 6082(a)(1).  The Act specifies that such trafficking “undermines the foreign policy of the United States” by, among other things, “provid[ing] badly needed financial benefit” to the Cuban regime.  Id. § 6081(6).

The question presented here applies in every case brought under Title III, and will determine whether that provision continues to advance U.S. foreign policy toward Cuba: whether a plaintiff must prove that the defendant trafficked in property confiscated by the Cuban government as to which the plaintiff owns a claim (as the statute requires), or instead that the defendant trafficked in property that the plaintiff would have continued to own at the time of trafficking in a counterfactual world “as if there had been no expropriation” (as the divided Eleventh Circuit panel held below).”

No. 24-983
Title: Havana Docks Corporation, Petitioner v. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., et al.
Docketed: March 13, 2025
Lower Ct: United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Case Numbers: (23-10151, 23-10171)
Decision Date: October 22, 2024
Rehearing Denied: December 20, 2024


LINK: Mar 06 2025 Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due April 14, 2025)
LINK: Petition Proof of Service Certificate of Word Count

LINK: BRIEF OF REP. MARIO DÍAZ-BALART, SEN. RICK SCOTT, REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, REP. MARÍA ELVIRA SALAZAR, AND REP. CARLOS ANTONIO GIMÉNEZ AS AMICI CURIAE SUPPORTING PETITIONER (March 2025)

They are interested in this case because the judgment sought to be reviewed undermines a central pillar of our nation’s foreign policy on Cuba.”

Attorneys for Petitioner
Christopher Landau
Counsel of Record    
Ellis George LLP
1201 Connecticut Ave. N.W.
Suite 513
Washington, DC 20036
clandau@ellisgeorge.com    (202) 249-6900
Party name: Havana Docks Corporation

LINKS To Related Analyses

Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals Is Not Preventing Havana Docks Corporation From Appealing To The United States Supreme Court Jan 24, 2025

Cruise Lines Request 11th Circuit Court Of Appeals To Return Libertad Act Title III Lawsuit To District Court. Defendants Argue Supreme Court Unlikely To Agree To Hear Appeal By Plaintiff. Jan 3, 2025