Captor

In International Law. A belligerent who has taken property from an enemy or from an offending belligerent. The term also designates a belligerent who has captured the person of an enemy. Formerly, goods taken in war were adjudged to belong to the captor; they are now considered to vest primarily in the state or sovereign, and belong to the individual captors only to the extent that the municipal laws provide. Captors are responsible to the owners of the property for all losses and damages, when the capture is tortious and without reasonable cause in the exercise of belligerent rights. But if the capture is originally justifiable, the captors will not be responsible, unless by subsequent misconduct they become trespassers ab initio; 1 C. Rob. Adm. 93, 9G.

See The Flying Fish, 2 Gall. Littlejohn, 1 Pet. Adm. 116, Fed. Cas. No. 6,153; The London Packet, 1 Mas. 14, Fed. Cas. No. 8,474.