46 U.S.C. § 30306
Section 30306 · Foreign cause of action
This is the Death on the High Seas Act
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 7 court decisions — leading case 813 F. Supp. 1185 - Carnival Cruise Lines v. Red Fox Industries, Inc. (1993)
Most recently applied in 174 F. Supp. 3d 1345 - Martins v. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (March 2016)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
When a cause of action exists under the law of a foreign country for death by wrongful act, neglect, or default on the high seas, a civil action in admiralty may be brought in a court of the United States based on the foreign cause of action, without abatement of the amount for which recovery is authorized.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 30306 46 App.:764. Mar. 30, 1920, ch. 111, §4, 41 Stat. 537. The words “a civil action in admiralty may be brought in a court of the United States based on the foreign cause of action” are substituted for “such right may be maintained in an appropriate action in admiralty in the courts of the United States” for clarity and consistency. The words “any statute of the United States to the contrary notwithstanding” are omitted as unnecessary.