Water Splash, Inc. v. Menon (16-254)
argument 16-254Water Splash, Inc. v. Menon
Supreme Court of the United States
51 min
5 speakers
8 chapters
transcribed 5 days ago
official recording ↗
Transcript
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What is the central issue before the Supreme Court in Water Splash v. Menon?
We'll hear argument next in case sixteen two fifty
four, water splash versus menon. Mr Gaston. Thank you, Mr Chief Justice, and may it please the court. At issue in this case is whether the Hague Service Convention permits service of process by mail if the state of destination does not object. Our position is that such mail service is allowed and it's a three part argument. First, purely textual evidence of meaning shows that this reading of the Treaty is at least reasonable. Second Some additional considerations, namely this court's decision in Schlunk as well as the history of events leading up to the treaty. further confirm that this is a reasonable reading of Article ten years.
How does the petitioner argue that the Hague Service Convention permits service by mail?
Councillor, your adversary um basically starts from the proposition. that um this text is unambiguous.
Yes.
Do you agree with that? proposition.
No, we do not agree the text is wholly unambiguous. We believe the text begins As very ambiguous looking at Article ten A, B and C Where A uses the word send B and C used the word affect service. And instantly just looking at that small area one says, Well, wait, what does send mean here? Does it mean send to serve, send for non service, send for both purposes? Is it the same or different than to effect serve? And we have a presumption that has been used in the statutory context. that different words are usually going to mean different things. It's not a uh irrebuttable presumption, but Even that presumption leaves ambiguity because it's
so why do you think The drafters. use those two different phrases. What's your best answer?
The the the best uh there's a practical answer and then there's a a legal answer. The the practical answer, and this involves the circumstances leading up to the treaty, is that there were three prior treaties dating back to eighteen ninety six where a French term addressee was used in the analogous provision. And that in French was also not a term of art for service. There were two other French terms of art for service and the Convention used notification and signification as terms for service and then in this section, which was six one of the earlier treaties, at least of the nineteen fifty four treaty, Uh it used the term address C. And in context it was very clear that it meant service, because there were other references to service later in that section.
And it was understood to mean service because the term in French was broad enough to cover service. And what happened In nineteen sixty four, during the drafting of the treaty adopted in nineteen sixty five, they had to prepare for the first time an English version of the Treaty, because they would have two texts, French and English, And as a practical matter, what they did is they took that language and simplified the article to which it would be part of and it lost some of its context.
Is it is it fair to say that your first argument You were talking about the first argument text, but then you seemed to me d that you went a little bit beyond text. Is one of your arguments that maybe send is ambiguous when you look at A, but when you look at B and C you know why they use the word sand and so it's not ambiguous anymore. even though it's ambiguous, uh the much better interpretation is your interpretation just by looking at A, B, and C. Is that your argument? Is that your first argument?
No, the first argument is that all there there is quite a bit of textual evidence beyond A, B, and C that suggests send in Article ten A. means serve. Right. Despite a presumption that different words usually mean different things. And and that first happens as you draw outward from A, B, and C to Article ten as a whole. Which has a right of objection. by a state of destination. So states that are party to the treaty can object to Article ten A or ten B or ten C. And if TNA means send for non service purposes, It's basically saying, okay, you can send these judicial documents for unofficial, non legal uh non binding purposes, unless the state of destination objects.
There's a a body of law uh an a body of international law regarding the way in which treaties should be interpreted.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the central issue before the Supreme Court in Water Splash v. Menon?
0:00–0:49
2
How does the petitioner argue that the Hague Service Convention permits service by mail?
0:49–5:01
3
Why do the parties disagree on whether the word “send” in Article 10 A is ambiguous?
5:01–11:23
4
What historical treaties and drafting history support a service‑by‑mail reading?
11:23–19:56
5
How do treaty‑interpretation rules and extrinsic evidence shape the analysis?
19:56–28:05
6
In what way does Texas law on service of process intersect with the treaty’s provisions?
28:05–36:47
7
Does the Hague Service Convention pre‑empt Texas law, and what do prior cases say?
36:47–45:31
8
What resolution does the Court seek on the ambiguity and pre‑emption questions?
45:31–51:16