In Lauritzen v. Larsen (1952), the U.S Supreme Court ruled on a case involving international maritime law and jurisdiction. The plaintiff, Jens Peter Larsen, was a Danish citizen who had been injured while working aboard a Danish ship in Havana Harbor, Cuba. He sued the defendant, Johannes Lauritzen - also a Dane and owner of the ship - for negligence under American law in an American court. The Supreme Court held that United States courts did not have jurisdiction over this dispute because it occurred between two foreign citizens on board of a foreign vessel in international waters. In its decision, the court outlined seven factors to consider when determining whether US courts can exercise jurisdiction over such cases: place of wrongful act; allegiance or domicile of injured party; allegiance of defendant shipowner; place where contract was made; accessibility to foreign forum; law of forum state (the country whose laws apply); and base operations' location.

In the dissenting opinion for Lauritzen v. Larsen, Justice Robert H. Jackson disagreed with the majority's decision to apply Danish law instead of American law in this case involving a dispute between two Danish citizens over an incident that occurred on a Danish ship while it was docked in Cuba. He argued that since both parties were now living in America and had chosen to settle their dispute there, American courts should have jurisdiction and U.S laws should be applied accordingly. He also pointed out that by applying foreign laws, U.S courts could potentially enforce rules or practices which are contrary to our own legal principles or public policy. Furthermore, he expressed concern about the practical difficulties of accurately interpreting and applying foreign laws due to language barriers and differences in legal systems.