Barratry
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 36 U.S. 213 - Waters v. Merchants' Louisville Insurance · 1837Most cited · 99 citing opinions
a peculiar and distinct risk
Barratry is a peculiar and distinct risk, for which insurers are made responsible by express stipulation only.
How the Supreme Court has restated “Barratry”
Each Supreme Court definition of “Barratry,” sized by how often later courts cited it. “Change” is measured by wording overlap with earlier definitions — a rough signal, not a semantic judgment.
How often courts cite the cases defining “Barratry”
Court decisions citing the 4 opinions that defined “Barratry” — 209 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining cases as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.
All 5 definitions, chronological · 1792–1837
- ORIGINAL
Barratry is a criminal act towards his owners, or an act done solely for his benefit, without the consent of the owners.
the terms 'villainy, knavery, cheat, malversation, trick, deceit, or fraud of the master,' are used as synonimous with it. The adjudged cases... There is no case of barratry, in which we may not perceive some fraud, or criminal conduct, in the master.
synonyms and elements
Barratry is an act committed by the master or mariners of a ship, for some unlawful or fraudulent purpose, contrary to their duty to their owners, whereby the latter sustain an injury. It follows, therefore, from the very terms of the definition, that it cannot be committed by a master who is owner for the voyage; because he cannot commit a fraud against himself.
Many attempts have been made to define the term barratry, in its marine sense; but when compared with the ideas attached to the word, as derived from the most respectable sources, such definitions will too generally be found deficient in precision or comprehensiveness; they need commentaries to apply or explain them. And it is remarkable, that the point in which all the definitions in the English or American authorities agree; to wit, that fraud must be a constituent of the act of barratry; is that in which practically all the difficulties arise. The question seems to be between 'dolus' and 'culpa,' which of those two words best conveys the sense of the law.
definition, dolus vs. culpa