The Owners of the Ship Shin Kobe Maru v Empire Shipping Company Inc

The Owners of the Ship Shin Kobe Maru (applicant) sought special leave to appeal from a decision of the lower courts to the High Court of Australia. Empire Shipping Company Inc. was the respondent. The dispute concerned matters of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, with the applicant seeking to raise a constitutional issue regarding the interpretation of section 76(iii) of the Australian Constitution.

The primary legal issue before the High Court was the meaning and scope of section 76(iii) of the Constitution, which grants the Parliament the power to make laws with respect to "Admiralty and maritime jurisdiction." The applicant argued that this constitutional provision, and consequently the Admiralty Act, had not been definitively interpreted by the High Court since the decision in *The Kalibia* (1910). The applicant contended that the lower courts had not provided a clear definition of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, and that the scope of section 76(iii) required clarification.

The applicant's counsel submitted that the reasoning in *The Kalibia* was influenced by Australia's status as a dominion rather than an independent nation at the time, and that a contemporary interpretation of section 76(iii) was necessary. The applicant proposed to provide more detailed notices of the constitutional issue if special leave were granted, to ensure clarity for the Court and the Attorney-General. The Court was also provided with copies of the Admiralty Act and indexed materials for its use.