This article analyzes the practices and politics of Caribbean prize courts at the turn of the nineteenth century, in order to better understand the dynamics of these peculiar legal institutions on the ground in one of the most volatile inter-imperial maritime spaces of the period. The focus is on the daily operation of the courts, the relationship between different regional courts (within and between empires), and, importantly, on their role within wider Caribbean networks. The article asks how knowledge about these courts was shared within the trans- imperial networks of the region. Court shopping was a common practice and claimants would often go out of their way to take captures or cases to specific courts, either within a single empire or even in a different imperial jurisdiction, but how did potential claimants come to be so familiar with the characteristics of individual administrations and magistrates? And how did they disseminate this information? The story of Caribbean prize courts is the story of order-making at different, sometimes clashing, levels. While the legal regime around prizes can be seen as an ordering mechanism for interactions between empires, the Caribbean saw its own order-building project driven less by decision-­makers in faraway metropoles and more by individual actors within the region, equally likely to exploit, support, or circumvent the legal mechanisms set up by officials. These regional groups were especially likely to act against the prize regime when it posed a challenge to the sanctity of their private property, be it goods or enslaved.

中文翻译：

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加勒比地区的奖品法庭政治和区域秩序


本文分析了 19 世纪之交加勒比奖法院的实践和政治，以便更好地了解这些奇特的法律机构在当时最动荡的帝国间海洋空间之一的实地动态。重点是法院的日常运作、不同地区法院之间的关系（帝国内部和帝国之间），重要的是，它们在更广泛的加勒比网络中的作用。文章询问了有关这些法院的知识是如何在该地区的跨帝国网络内共享的。法院购物是一种常见的做法，索赔人通常会不遗余力地将捕获或案件带到特定的法院，要么在单个帝国内，要么在不同的帝国管辖区，但潜在的索赔人是如何如此熟悉各个政府和地方法官的特点的呢？他们又是如何传播这些信息的呢？加勒比地区奖状球场的故事就是在不同、有时是相互冲突的层面上制定秩序的故事。虽然围绕奖品的法律制度可以被视为帝国之间互动的秩序机制，但加勒比地区自己的秩序建设项目较少由遥远大都市的决策者推动，而更多地由该地区的个人行为者推动，同样有可能利用、支持或规避官员建立的法律机制。当奖品制度对其私有财产（无论是商品还是奴隶）的神圣性构成挑战时，这些地区团体特别有可能采取行动反对奖品制度。