Admiralty Rules (Amendment)

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

STATUTORY RULES 1990 No

Issued by the Authority of the Attorney-General

Admiralty Act 1988

Admiralty Rules (Amendment)

The purpose of the Admiralty Rules (Amendment) is to make

minor variations and improvements to the practice and

procedure of Courts exercising jurisdiction under the Admiralty Act 1988 (‘the Act’).

The amendments confirm that Courts exercising jurisdiction under the Act may authorise Masters of those Courts to exercise powers and functions and perform duties in the Admiralty jurisdiction. The duties envisaged are those of a judicial nature such as the assessment of the damages. The amending Rules also enable the Marshal of a Court to authorise a person to exercise powers or functions or perform duties on his or her behalf. Prior to the amendment the Marshal was the only person who could carry out certain functions and this proved inconvenient, particularly in relation to the arrest of vessels in remote places. The balance of the changes made relate to the forms in the Schedule to the Rules. A more detailed explanation of the Admiralty Rules (Amendment) is attached.

ATTACHMENT

Details of Changes to Admiralty Rules

The details of the proposed amendments to the Admiralty Rules which would be made by the Admiralty Rules (Amendment) are as follows:

Rule 1 is a formal provision.

Rule 2 will omit existing Rule 4 (2) of the Admiralty Rules and replace it with a new text. The effect of this amendment will be to confirm that the Master of a Court is able to exercise powers or functions or perform duties in the Admiralty jurisdiction conferred by the Admiralty Act (“the Act”). It will also enable the Marshal of a Court to appoint persons to exercise powers or functions or perform duties on his or her behalf. For example, a Marshal will be able to authorise another person to arrest a vessel. This will be of particular advantage where the arrest is to occur in a remote place. While such an authorisation could initially be given orally it must be followed by a written authorisation.

Rule 3 will amend Rule 22(2) of the existing Rules by allowing each court to determine the form of the Statement of Claim. The existing rules requires a Statement of Claim to be in a standard form, and in some Courts this form is different to that normally used.

Rule 4 will delete the word “only” from the existing Rule 43(1). This is consequential to the changes made by Rule 2 and is necessary to enable the Marshal to appoint persons to arrest vessels on his or her behalf.

Rule 5.1 will substitute new footnotes 5 and 6 in Form 1 in the Schedule to correct a misleading impression given by the original footnotes.

Rule 5.2 will replace the original Form 6 with a new Form 6. This change is consequent upon the deletion of the standard Statement of Claim from the Rules.              Form 6 now includes the warning concerning the time for entering an appearance after service of the writ commencing proceedings.

Rule 5.3 will remove Form 8 so as to enable each Court to determine the form of the Statement of Claim to be used in that Court.