Case: Havana Docks Corporation v. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., et al., No. 24-983
Lower Court: Eleventh Circuit
Docketed: 2025-03-13
Status: Granted
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 C...
On February 23, 2026, the Court heard oral argument in Havana Docks Corporation v. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. The argument featured divided time, with Richard D. Klingler presenting for the petitioner and the government’s position represented by an Assistant to the Solicitor General, following the Court’s January 12 order granting the Solicitor General leave to participate. E. Joshua Rosenkranz and Paul D. Clement argued for the respondent cruise lines.
The underlying dispute concerns the LIBERTAD Act’s Title III, which allows U.S. nationals to sue persons who “traffic” in property confiscated by the Cuban government. The Eleventh Circuit, in a divided decision, held that plaintiffs must show they would have retained ownership of the property in a counterfactual world absent the expropriation. That framing effectively asks courts to reconstruct an alternative history of Cuban property ownership. See the Wikipedia entry and the Oyez case page for additional background.
The statutory question is narrow but consequential for every pending Title III case. Havana Docks argues the text requires only that the defendant trafficked in property as to which the plaintiff holds a recognized confiscation claim. The Eleventh Circuit’s counterfactual test adds a burden the statute does not plainly impose and may be unworkable in practice, given the difficulty of reconstructing Cuban property law across decades.
Seven amicus briefs were filed, including submissions from the Cruise Lines International Association and travel industry groups, signaling the commercial stakes for the case. The Court’s resolution will set the evidentiary standard for Title III claims nationwide and may determine whether the private enforcement mechanism Congress created remains a viable tool of U.S. foreign policy toward Cuba.