672
Scalia, J., concurring
Instead, the core function of service is to supply notice of the pendency of a legal action, in a manner and at a time that affords the defendant a fair opportunity to answer the complaint and present defenses and objections.25 Seeing service in this light, and in view of the uniform system Rule 4 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides, we are satisfied that the service "forthwith" provision of Suits in Admiralty Act, 46 U. S. C. App. § 742, has been displaced by Rule 4, and therefore has no current force or effect.
* * *
For the reasons stated, the judgment of the Court of Appeals affirming the dismissal of Henderson's complaint is reversed, and the case is remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
It is so ordered.
Justice Scalia, with whom Justice Kennedy joins, concurring.
I join the opinion of the Court. I write separately to make clear that it is not my view, and I do not understand the Court to hold, that no procedural provision can be jurisdictional. It assuredly is within the power of Congress to condition its waiver of sovereign immunity upon strict compliance with procedural provisions attached to the waiver, with the result that failure to comply will deprive a court of
U. S. 273, 287 (1983). But cf. Honda v. Clark, 386 U. S. 484 (1967) (Trading with Enemy Act § 34(f) provided a 60-day claim-filing limitation; Court applied traditional equitable tolling principles to preserve petitioners' cause of action where similar suit was filed within 60-day limitation).
25 See Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co., 339 U. S. 306, 314 (1950) (to qualify as adequate, notice generally must "apprise interested parties of the pendency of the action and afford them an opportunity to present their objections"). See also Von Mehren & Trautman, Jurisdiction to Adjudicate: A Suggested Analysis, 79 Harv. L. Rev. 1121, 1134 (1966) (recognizing notice as a matter separate from bases of adjudicatory jurisdiction); 4 Wright & Miller, supra, § 1063, at 225 (same).
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