Janvrin v. Smith

SPRAGUE, District Judge.

This is a libel of review by which the court is asked to open for a re-hearing a final decree of this court, made in June, 1841. It has been frequently asserted that a court of admiralty has no power to review its own decree, after the expiration of the term at which it was passed. This assertion is rested upon some of the doctrines of the civil law, which regards courts, like arbitrators, as funeti offi-cio, after a final decree has been made and the tribunal has adjourned. But a court, unlike arbitrators, is a permanent tribunal, with continuing powers; one of which…