Admiralty law

“ The deceptive lure of certainty and comprehensive symmetry should not be permitted to canceal the fact that admiralty's expansion beyond 'the ebb and flow of the tides' has been a response to demands more inclusive than those for mechanical uniformity.
Under the distribution of power between national authority and local law, admiralty has developed for more than a hundred years by rulings of the Court, but not by absolutes either of abstension or extension. ”

“ Authority is given to sue generally 'in admiralty'; this broad generic term implies a right to invoke principles of in rem and in personam liability. Furthermore, in Eastern Transportation Co. v. United States, supra, we held that authority to resort to both types of principles of admiralty liability was borne out by the fact that the Suits in Admiralty Act provided that the United States should be entitled to all the exemptions accorded to private persons under admiralty law. ”

“ The Admiralty Court has acquired remarkable prestige because nowadays foreigners more and more often refer marine disputes by consent to its jurisdiction, and it looks as if the Admiralty Law of England might soon spread all over the world like the Roman Jus Gentium. ”

“ By the general admiralty law of this country, often declared by this court, a ship, by whomsoever owned or navigated, is liable for an actionable injury resulting from the negligence of her master or crew to another vessel. ”

“ The modern law of England and America rules out of the admiralty jurisdiction all vessels propelled by oars simply because they are the smallest class and beneath the dignity of the court of admiralty ”

“ And if case lies at common law on such a state of facts, there seems to be no reason why a libel in admiralty may not lie for the wrong, whenever, as here, it was committed on the sea, and clearly within admiralty jurisdiction over torts. For the admiralty is governed by like principles and facts, as to what constitutes a tort, as prevail in an action at law for damages, and its ingredients are the same, whether happening on land or water. ”

“ Third: Since we hold that the Public Vessels Act was intended to impose on the United States the same liability (apart from seizure or arrest under a libel in rem) as is imposed by the admiralty law on the private shipowner, it remains to be considered whether petitioner states a valid cause of action under general principles of admiralty law, in rem and in personam. ”

“ There is no dearth of example of the obligation on law courts which attempt to enforce substantive rights arising from admiralty law to do so in a manner conforming to admiralty practice. Contributory negligence is not a barrier to a proceeding in admiralty or under the Jones Act, and the state courts are required to apply this rule in Jones Act actions. ”

“ But it would be beyond human achievement even of a long line of judges especially equipped for dealing with admiralty matters to have produced a wholly harmonious body of admiralty law, or to have written opinions that should not have lent themselves through largeness or looseness of statement beyond the scope of their adjudications. ”

“ The droits of admiralty were definitely surrendered for the benefit of the public by Prince George of Denmark, when lord high admiral of England in 1702. American law does not recognize any such droits, and the disposition of captured property is regulated by various acts of Congress. ”

“ The essential difference, in its very nature, between the right of material men in a court of admiralty under the law and statutes of England as judicially declared and expounded, and their right, by virtue of a local statute giving a maritime lien and a jus in re, as recognized in our own jurisprudence, is yet more clearly brought out in a later case, in which the court of appeal and the house of lords held that, even for supplies furnished in an English port to a foreign vessel, there was no lien, but a mere right to seize her upon process in admiralty. ”

“ Should a merchantman, legitimately—after having been herself attacked—or illegitimately, attack an enemy vessel, and succeed in capturing her, the prize, on condemnation, becomes droits of Admiralty and, therefore, the property of the British Government ”

“ Force, too, is no more necessary to constitute this kind of tort at sea than on land, or in admiralty than in a common law court. 3 Story, 349. That is the gist of this branch of the case. It is true, that most of the libels in admiralty for torts are for such as were caused by force, like assaults and batteries (4 Rob. Adm. 75) ; or for collision between ships on the sea, to the injury of person or property (2 Browne's Civ. and Adm. Law, 110; Dunlap's Adm. 31; Moore, 89) ”

“ He would often be unable to respond by payment—especially if the amount recovered were large. Thus, where the injury was the greatest there would be the greatest danger of a failure of justice. According to the admiralty law, the collision impresses upon the wrong-doing vessel a maritime lien. This the vessel carries with it into whosesoever hands it may come. It is inchoate at the moment of the wrong and must be perfected by subsequent proceedings. Unlike a common law lien, possession is not necessary to its validity. ”

“ There is no distinction between the continued control of admiralty over a vessel when she is in a drydock for the purpose of being repaired, and the subjection of the vessel when in a drydock for repairs to the jurisdiction of a court of admiralty for the purpose of passing upon claims for salvage services, by which it is asserted the vessel, while in the dock, was saved from destruction. ”

“ There is power, however, reserved to the crown to erect through the admiralty in any British possession any vice-admiralty court, except in India or any British possession having a representative legislature. No vice-admiralty court so established can exercise any jurisdiction except for some purpose relating to prize, the royal navy, the slave trade, foreign enlistment, Pacific Islanders’ protection, and questions relating to treaties or conventions on international law. ”

“ References to English authorities on admiralty procedure are always misleading unless the jealousy which prevented the expansion of the admiralty court, and strangled its jurisdiction and stunted its growth, and gave the common-law courts such complete power over it in England, is constantly borne in mind. ”

“ A mate has no legal right to enforce his orders by beating one of the crew. Up to about seventy years ago corporal punishment of seamen was permitted by law, owing to the nature and supposed necessities of the service, and no doubt officers find it hard to give it up. Courts of admiralty endeavor to deal with these cases in a practical way. Altercations and assaults between master and crew have never been treated by them like those redressed in the common law courts, where the slightest blow may be treated as a trespass to one's dignity and feelings of self-respect. ”

“ On some days he was assigned to drive a forklift on board ship. On others, such as the day of the injury, he shuttled cargo between various points on the dock during the loading process. Respondent was subject to all the risks and hazards of loading the ship; and the humanitarian policy of the admiralty law has been to allow those who so service the ship to receive the protections usually afforded that class.
Equipment need not belong to the ship to be an appurtenance of the ship ”

“ It is not an uncommon course in the admiralty, acting under the law of nations, to treat the vessel in which or by which, or by the master or crew thereof, a wrong or offense has been done as the offender, without any regard whatsoever to the personal misconduct or responsibility of the owner thereof. ”

“ Parties without fault such as shippers and consignees, bear no part of the loss in collision suits, and are entitled to full compensation for the damage which they suffer from the wrongdoers, and they may pursue their remedy in personam, either at common law or in the admiralty, against the wrongdoers or any one or more of them, whether they elect to proceed at law or in the admiralty courts. ”

“ It is yet unsettled whether those of a nonmaritime class survive, as in the case of the lien for shipbuilding which, not being regarded by the admiralty as maritime, has been enforceable under the state statutes. ”

“ Opinions like these evince an adherence to the admiralty apparently extreme, and almost contumacious; and it may be owning to this devotion, that decisions have been pressed into its support, which, to my apprehension, do not come directly up to the point they are called to fortify, or, if they did, are too few in number and too feeble to remove the firmly planted landmarks of the law. Thus the case of Menetone v. Gibbons, 3 T. R. 267, is cited as authority that the admiralty has cognizance over contracts, though executed on land and under seal. ”

“ The characteristic feature of this proceeding is that the vessel or thing proceeded against is itself seized and impleaded as the defendant and is judged and sentenced accordingly. Sales made under it are good against all the world while at common law it is only the title of the defendant which is affected and the title conveyed can never be better than his own. The nature of the proceeding is more apparent when it is noted that the admiralty personifies the ship and considers her capable of incurring legal obligations entirely irrespective of her owner's personal responsibility therefor. ”

“ Admiralty, however, in certain cases, if no ship's husband has been appointed, will interfere to prevent the majority from employing the ship against the will of the minority without first entering into a stipulation to bring back the ship or pay the value of their shares. ”

“ That whenever a right of action is granted by the law of any foreign State on account of death by wrongful act, neglect, or default, occurring upon the high seas, such right may be maintained in an appropriate action in admiralty in the courts of the United States without abatement in respect to the amount for which recovery is authorized, any statute of the United States to the contrary notwithstanding. ”

“ This must be the inevitable consequence of admitting the proposition which assumes that the maritime law disregards the rights of individuals to be protected in their persons and property from wrongful injury, by recognizing that those who are amenable to the jurisdiction of courts of admiralty are nevertheless endowed with a supposed governmental attribute by which they can inflict injury upon the person or property of another, and yet escape all responsibility therefor. ”

“ At the same time, the owner of the shore will have a sufficient title to goods cast thereon to maintain an action for their value against third parties and salvors should be prompt in seeking the protection of the admiralty if their efforts are successful. ”

“ In the baptism of launching she receives her name, and from the moment her keel touches the water she is transformed, and becomes a subject of admiralty jurisdiction. She acquires a personality of her own; becomes competent to contract, and is individually liable for her obligations, upon which she may sue in the name of her owner, and be sued in her own name. Her owner's agents may not be her agents, and her agents may not be her owner's agents. She is capable, too, of committing a tort, and is responsible in damages therefor. ”

“ If the stronger character is a layman, he may be ignorant of, or see no danger in waiving, naval traditions that are embodied in no statute or regulation, but are not embodied simply because their cogency has never been questioned. In other words, the autocracy of the Admiralty is a necessity of executive administration, but can only be exercised safely if its enforcement is continuously tested by professional opinion.
How many people, I often wonder, really appreciate how singular a body is that which is made up of admirals, captains, commanders, and lieutenants of the Royal Navy? ”

“ The death sentence is always carried out by hanging at the yard-arm; Admiral Byng, however, was shot in 1757. The board of admiralty have, under the Naval Discipline Acts, a general power of suspending, annulling, and modifying sentences which are not capital. The jurisdiction extends to all persons belonging to the navy, to land forces and other passengers on board, shipwrecked crews, spies, persons borne on the books of H.M. ships in commission, and civilians on board who endeavour to seduce others from allegiance. ”