ADMIRALTY-CONFLICT OF LAWS-ERIE R. R. CO. V. TOMPKINS DISTINGUISHED IN MARITIME MATTERS

Plaintiff, a resident of Massachusetts, brought suit in the law side of the federal district court in Massachusetts for injuries sustained as a passenger aboard defendant's ship while it was docked in Sweden. Defendant, a Swedish corporation, defended on the ground that a contract stipulation as expressed on the back of plaintiff's ticket relieved it of liability. The ticket had been purchased in Sweden. The lower court, citing only American authorities, held that the. effect of the contract provision was to relieve defendant.

On appeal, held, remanded. The cause of action asserted is a maritime tort; hence the substantive law to be applied is the general maritime law as finally determined by the federal courts, including the federal conflict of laws rule, which requires that the effect of the contract provision be determined by Swedish law. Jansson v. Swedish American Line, (1st Cir. 1950) 185 F. (2d) 212.