MARITIME LAW

also called Admiralty Law, or Admiralty, the body of legal rules that governs ships and shipping. The transportation of goods and passengers by water is one of the earliest forms of commercial activity on record, and scattered references in ancient documents to maritime regulations are known. The 6th-century Byzantine compilation known as the Digest of Justinian includes references to such regulations, several of which indicate that the island of Rhodes had anciently had an important and influential maritime code. Rome appears to have borrowed heavily from the Rhodian maritime laws, and from Rome's contributions there gradually evolved a uniform body of maritime law for the Mediterranean region. Eventually, certain Italian cities formulated their own maritime codes, which interrupted for a time the uniformity of the laws of the area. The next major body of maritime laws was compiled at Barcelona in the 13th century, called the Consolat de Mar (Consulate of the Sea). This extensive maritime code was soon adopted throughout other places in the Mediterranean, restoring a measure of uniformity. Owing in part to the rise of nationalism and to greater expansion of shipping, maritime law began to become more diverse in the late Renaissance. Separate maritime codes were enacted in Sweden (1667), France (1681), and Denmark (1683). In England an admiralty court was established around 1360. Modern British Admiralty courts, operating without a jury, still try cases involving marine collisions and salvage; however, other types of cases involving marine actions are usually tried in the Commercial Court. The United States has no equivalent type of court; maritime cases fall within the jurisdiction of the federal district courts. A claimant is also free to sue in a state court, provided that the defendant is a citizen of the same state. Several features are characteristic of maritime law. One is the lien, or claim on the vessel and cargo as security. Most types of maritime claims, whether arising from breach of contract, injury or damage, or salvage service, give rise to such liens. Maritime claim pleadings, called libels in maritime terminology, are of two types: in personam, or in rem. Libels brought in personam are directly enforceable against an individual, usually the shipowner. More distinctive of maritime law, however, are libels brought in rem, enforceable against the ship or cargo. Maritime liens arise in all cases in which a ship is involved whether stemming from negligent navigation, from the negligence of ship personnel, or from the unseaworthiness of the ship. Another characteristic feature of maritime law is that a shipowner is permitted to limit his liability in most cases to the value of the ship. The idea of liability limitation is an ancient one and appeared long before the advent of any form of insurance. It is probably a recognition of the extreme risks involved in shipping, designed to protect the shipowner from the often prohibitive burden of liability that he would otherwise be forced to bear. The effect was that a shipowner could satisfy his liability by turning over the ship and cargo to the claimants. If the ship was a total loss, the claimants therefore received nothing. This limitation of liability has been modified somewhat in modern maritime codes. Collision is another matter addressed by maritime law. A colliding vessel is responsible for damage to another ship or structure only if the collision is caused by negligence, intent, or fault of the vessel. In certain circumstances there is a presumption of fault, as when a moving vessel collides with a stationary object or vessel. Regulations differ on how compensation is determined when the colliding vessels share blame. Salvage is another subject of maritime law. When a maritime property is saved from loss or damage from the sea, the salvager is entitled to a reward, the amount depending upon a number of factors. A related idea is that of general average, referred to in the Digest of Justinian; if part of a cargo must be jettisoned to save the remainder, the loss is averaged or shared by the owners of the property that was saved. Marine insurancethe oldest-known form of insuranceplays a critical role in the shipping industry and comprises an extremely complex branch of maritime law. Shipowners carry hull insurance to cover damage to their ships. To protect themselves against claims by third parties, they carry protection and indemnity insurance. Maritime law has a distinctive status with respect to other types of law. In some ways it is a species of international law, for uncertain courts of one nation often look to the practice of other nations for guidance. It is also based heavily on long-established traditions, in the process preserving some practices whose rationale is not entirely clear. Although nations can and do adopt their own laws (and many have codified their own maritime laws in the 20th century), there is an increasing tendency to make maritime laws uniform. Many international conferences have been convened on specific parts of maritime law. The chief organization overseeing maritime law is the International Maritime Committee (or Comit Maritime International), composed of the maritime law associations of several nations. also called admiralty law, or admiralty, the body of legal rules that governs ships and shipping. In English-speaking countries, admiralty is sometimes used synonymously, but in a strict sense the term refers to the jurisdiction and procedural law of courts whose origins may be traced to the office of Admiral. Although etymologically maritime law and law of the sea are identical, the former term is generally applied to private shipping law, whereas the latter, usually prefixed by international, has come to signify the maritime segment of public international law. The Convention on the Law of the Sea, on the other hand, is a UN agreement regarding territorial waters, sea lanes, and ocean resources. The Convention was originally signed by 119 nations on Dec. 10, 1982. Additional reading E. Benedict, The Law of American Admiralty, vol. 14, 6th ed. by A.W. Knauth (194041), and vol. 56B, 7th ed. by A.W. and C.R. Knauth (196869), is the standard American text on admiralty practice. Included in British Shipping Laws are K. McGuffie, P.A. Fugeman, and P.V. Gray, Admiralty Practice (1964); N. Singh, International Conventions of Merchant Shipping (1963); and the following standard British texts: Sir Joseph Arnould, The Law of Marine Insurance and Average, 15th ed. by Lord Chorley and C.T. Bailhache, 2 vol. (1961); T. Carver, Carriage by Sea, 12th ed. by R.P. Colinvaux, 2 vol. (1971); R. Lowndes and G.R. Rudolph, The Law of General Average, 9th ed. by J.F. Donaldson, C.T. Ellis, and C.S. Staughton (1964); and R.G. Marsden, The Law of Collisions at Sea, 11th ed. by K. McGuffie (1961). G. Ripert, Droit Maritime, 4th ed., 3 vol. (195053), is the most respected modern French text on maritime law. G. Gilmore and C.L. Black, Jr., The Law of Admiralty (1957), is the leading modern, single-volume text on American maritime law. Sir William R. Kennedy, Civil Salvage, 4th ed. by K. McGuffie (1958), is the leading text on salvage law. J.W. Griffin, The American Law of Collision (1949), is the standard American text on the law of marine collision. Sir Thomas E. Scrutton, Scrutton on Charter Parties and Bills of Lading, 17th ed. by Sir William L. Mcnair, Sir Alan A. Mocatta, and M.J. Mustill (1964), is the best known work on the subject. M.J. Norris, The Law of Seamen, 3rd ed. (1970), is a widely used American text. F.R. Sanborn, Origins of the Early English Maritime and Commercial Law (1930), is an excellent inquiry into the sources of English maritime law. J.H. Wigmore, A Panorama of the World's Legal Systems (1936), contains an account of the origins and early development of maritime law. T.L. Mears, The History of the Admiralty Jurisdiction, in Select Essays in Anglo-American Legal History, vol. 2 (1907), offers a fair survey. Later comprehensive studies include Christopher Hill, Maritime Law (1981); R.P. Anand, Origin and Development of the Law of the Sea (1983); D.P. O'Connell, The International Law of the Sea (1982); E. Langavant, Droit de la mer, 3 vol. (197983); Ren Rodire, Droit maritime, 9th ed., (1982); and John N. Moore, Ocean Law, 2 vol. (1982).