An Act to protect the rights of vessels of the United States on the high seas and in territorial waters of foreign countries
PL 83-680 (H.R.9584), enacted 08/27/1954

68 S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 680-AUG. 27, 1954 
883 
further that the terms 'attorney for the government' and 'United States 
attorney', as used in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, shall, 
when applicable to cases arising under the laws of Guam, mean the 
Attorney General of Guam or such other person or persons as may be 
authorized by the laws of Guam to act therein." 
SEC. 2. The amendment made by section 1 shall be deemed to be in 
effect as of August 1,1950. 
SEC. 3. No conviction of a defendant in a criminal proceeding in the 
District Court of Guam heretofore had shall be reversed or set aside 
on the ground that the defendant was not indicted by a grand jury or 
tried by a petit jury. 
SEC. 4. If any particular provision of this Act, or the application 
thereof to any person or circumstances, is held invalid, the remainder 
of the Act and the application of such provision to other persons or 
circumstances shall not be affected thereby. 
Approved August 27, 1954. 
Definitions. 
Effective date. 
Nonreversal of 
prior Conviction. 
Separability. 
Public Law 680 
CHAPTER 1018 
AN ACT 
To protect the rights of vessels of the United States on the high seas and in 
territorial waters of foreign countries. 
August 27. 19S4 
[H. R. 9584] 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, That for the purposes 
of this Act the term "vessel of the United States" shall mean any 
private vessel documented or certificated under the laws of the United 
States. 
SEC. 2. In any case where— 
(a) a vessel of the United States is seized by a foreign country 
on the basis of rights or claims in territorial waters or the high 
seas which are not recognized by the United States; and 
(b) there is no dispute of material facts with respect to the 
location or activity of such vessel at the time of such seizure, 
the Secretary of State shall as soon as practicable take such action as 
he deems appropriate to attend to the welfare of such vessel and its 
crew while it is held by such country and to secure the release of such 
vessel and crew, 
SEC. 3. In any case where a vessel of the United States is seized by a 
foreign country under the conditions of section 2 and a fine must be 
paid in order to secure the prompt release of the vessel and crew, the 
owners of the vessel shall be reimbursed by the Secretary of the Treas-
ury in the amount certified to him by the Secretary of State as being 
the amount of the fine actually paid. 
SEC. 4. The provisions of this Act shall not apply with respect to 
a seizure made by a country at war with the United States or a seizure 
made in accordance with the provisions of any fishery convention or 
treaty to which the United States is a party. 
SEC. 5. The Secretary of State shall take such action as he may deem 
appropriate to make and collect on claims against a foreign country 
for amounts expended by the United States under the provisions of this 
Act because of the seizure of a United States vessel by such country. 
SEC. 6. There are authorized to be appropriated such amounts as may 
be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act. 
Approved August 27, 1954. 
Seizure of U. S. 
v e s s e l s on high 
seas, etc. 
A c t i o n by Sec-
retary of State. 
N o n applicabili-
ty. 
Appropri ation.