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Havana Docks Corporation v. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.

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Supreme Court of the United States
Havana Docks Corporation v. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.
Term: 2025
Court: United States Supreme Court
Important dates
Argument: February 23, 2026
Court membership
Chief Justice John Roberts • Clarence Thomas • Samuel Alito • Sonia Sotomayor • Elena Kagan • Neil Gorsuch • Brett Kavanaugh • Amy Coney Barrett • Ketanji Brown Jackson

Havana Docks Corporation v. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. is a case scheduled for argument before the Supreme Court of the United States on February 23, 2026, during the court's October 2025-2026 term.

HIGHLIGHTS
  • The questions presented: "The question presented here applies in every case brought under Title III, and will determine whether that provision continues to advance U.S. foreign policy toward Cuba: whether a plaintiff must prove that the defendant trafficked in property confiscated by the Cuban government as to which the plaintiff owns a claim (as the statute requires), or instead that the defendant trafficked in property that the plaintiff would have continued to own at the time of trafficking in a counterfactual world "as if there had been no expropriation" (as the divided Eleventh Circuit panel held below)."[1]
  • The outcome: The appeal is pending adjudication before the U.S. Supreme Court.


    • The case came on a writ of certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. To review the lower court's opinion, click here.

    Timeline

    The following timeline details key events in this case:

    • February 23, 2026: The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument.
    • October 3, 2025: The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.
    • March 6, 2025: Havana Docks Corporation appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
    • October 22, 2024: The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed in part the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida’s ruling that Havana Docks is a U.S. national under Title III of the Helms-Burton Act. It also reversed the district court’s judgments in favor of Havana Docks for the conduct that occurred between 2016 and 2019. Lastly, the court of appeals remanded the case back to the district court regarding the trafficking claims against Carnival based on conduct from 1996 to 2001.

    Questions presented

    The petitioner presented the following questions to the court:[1]

    Questions presented:
    “ The question presented here applies in every case brought under Title III, and will determine whether that provision continues to advance U.S. foreign policy toward Cuba: whether a plaintiff must prove that the defendant trafficked in property confiscated by the Cuban government as to which the plaintiff owns a claim (as the statute requires), or instead that the defendant trafficked in property that the plaintiff would have continued to own at the time of trafficking in a counterfactual world "as if there had been no expropriation" (as the divided Eleventh Circuit panel held below).[2] ”

    Oral argument

    Audio

    Audio of the case will be posted here when it is made available.

    Transcript

    A transcript of the case will be posted here when it is made available.

    Outcome

    The case is pending adjudication before the U.S. Supreme Court.

    October term 2025-2026

    See also: Supreme Court cases, October term 2025-2026

    The Supreme Court began hearing cases for the term on October 6, 2025. The court's yearly term begins on the first Monday in October and lasts until the first Monday in October the following year. The court generally releases the majority of its decisions by mid-June.[3]


    See also

    External links

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Supreme Court of the United States, " HAVANA DOCKS CORPORATION V. ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES, LTD. QP", October 3, 2025
    2. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
    3. ↑ SupremeCourt.gov, "The Supreme Court at Work: The Term and Caseload," accessed January 24, 2022
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