Note: This educational purposes, fair use excerpt is from material copyright by the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Rome did not become a maritime power until the Punic wars of the 3rd century BC. From the fact that the Romans were allies of the Rhodians and from the references in the Digest, it is logical to assume that Roman maritime law borrowed heavily from that of Rhodes. Acknowledging Rhodes as the birthplace of maritime jurisprudence, the maritime code of the later Eastern Empire, dating from the 7th or 8th century AD, was called the “Rhodian Sea Law .”

Because the Mediterranean, under Roman control, was not only the centre of the Western world but also its principal commercial highway, European maritime law evolved as a uniform, supranational, comprehensive body of law—a characteristic which, though sometimes threatened by the spread of nationalism, has never been lost completely. . . . [T]he next widely accepted body of sea laws was the Consolat de Mar, or “Consulate of the Sea,” originally compiled at Barcelona in the 13th century. More elaborate than the earlier codes, the Consolat was followed in Spain, Provence, and the Italian cities and had a significant effect on the development of modern maritime law.

The earliest code to emerge beyond the Mediterranean was the “Rolls of Oléron,” named for an island in the Bay of Biscay and apparently dating from the 12th century. Whether the Rolls were of French or of Anglo-Norman origin, they became the nucleus of the maritime law not only of England and France but also of Scotland, Flanders, Prussia, and Castile; and they are still occasionally cited as authority, even by U.S. courts. The Rolls were closely followed in the Laws of Wisby, headquarters of the Hanseatic League until 1361.

. . . Established customs of the sea, revised to suit the times, were made part of the national law, enforceable in the French Admiralty Court, which was granted maritime jurisdiction to the exclusion of the old consular courts, whose judges had been elected by the mariners themselves.

. . .

Although the “Pied Poudre” courts, held primarily for the settlement of disputes at English fairs and markets, also had special jurisdiction of seamen's cases, it is probable that the first English tribunals to apply maritime law, with the Rolls of Oléron as a basis, were the courts of the Cinque Ports. The High Court of Admiralty , which sat at London, and the Vice Admiralty Courts, set up in the other ports, were a later development. They were named after the admiral, an officer whose duties were at first solely administrative and military but were broadened early in the 14th century to include disciplinary proceedings in such matters as piracy. The Admiralty Court is considered as dating from 1360, when for the first time the admiral was expressly granted jurisdiction in civil maritime cases. By the end of the 16th century the admiralty courts had come to exercise an extremely wide jurisdiction, reaching far beyond saltwater transportation into many areas of commercial law. But during the first half of the 17th century, the judges of the common-law courts succeeded in divesting their competitors in the Admiralty of their commercial jurisdiction and in restricting them to the adjudication of “things done upon the sea.”

The Admiralty was a royal court with valuable emoluments. It functioned without the aid of juries, following procedures borrowed from the Continent that were somewhat less dilatory and cumbersome than those of the common-law courts, and applied the laws and customs of the sea to the maritime controversies that came before it. For these reasons it was preferred by the merchants and favoured by the Crown, which depended to a considerable extent on taxation of the merchants for its revenues. Its jurisdiction therefore waxed and waned with the strength or weakness of the reigning sovereign. Thus, it enjoyed wide jurisdiction under the Tudors, but its powers were severely curtailed under succeeding monarchs and governments, and were never fully restored until the passage of the first of the Admiralty Court Acts in the 19th century.

Although the powers of the English Admiralty are today quite broad, in practice it is rare for cases other than those involving marine collisions and salvage to be brought before it. . . .

In the United States, the federal district courts are by statute granted original jurisdiction, “exclusive of the courts of the States,” of “Any civil case of admiralty or maritime jurisdiction, saving to suitors in all cases all other remedies to which they are otherwise entitled.” This means, essentially, that if a maritime claimant wishes to have his claim litigated in accordance with admiralty procedure he must invoke the admiralty jurisdiction of the district courts. However, he is free to sue in a state court, unless the defendant is a citizen of another state, in which case the suit may be tried as an ordinary civil action in the district court.

Components of maritime law

Maritime liens

Although admiralty actions are frequently brought in personam, against individual or corporate defendants only, the most distinctive feature of admiralty practice is the proceeding in rem, against maritime property, that is, a vessel, a cargo, or “freight,” which in shipping means the compensation to which a carrier is entitled for the carriage of cargo.

Under American maritime law, the ship is personified to the extent that it may sometimes be held responsible under circumstances in which the shipowner himself is under no liability. The classic example of personification is the “compulsory pilotage” case. Some state statutes impose a penalty on a shipowner whose vessel fails to take a pilot when entering or leaving the waters of the state. Since the pilotage is thus compulsory, the pilot's negligence is not imputed to the shipowner. Nevertheless, the vessel itself is charged with the pilot's fault and is immediately impressed with an inchoate maritime lien that is enforcible in court.

Maritime liens can arise not only when the personified ship is charged with a maritime tort, such as a negligent collision or personal injury, but also for salvage services, for general average contributions, and for breach of certain maritime contracts.

In a proceeding in rem, the vessel, cargo, or freight can be arrested and kept in the custody of the court unless the owner obtains its release by posting a bond or such other security as may be required under the applicable law or as may be acceptable to the plaintiff. More frequently, however, the owner will post security to avoid a threatened arrest, and the property never has to be taken into custody. . . .

"Maritime Law." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2003.  Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
13 Aug, 2003  <http://www.search.eb.com/eb/article?eu=115491>.

Maritime law is often thought of as being a species of international law rather than a branch of domestic or municipal law. It should not be denied that the international aspect of maritime law gives it a distinctive flavour; in doubtful cases courts of one country will often look to the precedents or statutes of another country for inspiration or guidance. Except to the extent that it may have bound itself by international conventions, however, each country has the right to adopt such maritime laws as it sees fit. Although many such laws are common to most maritime countries, others are not, though there is a growing tendency to restore the international uniformity in the maritime law achieved during the Middle Ages. In many areas, the lead has been taken by the International Maritime Committee, more commonly known by its French name, Comité Maritime International (CMI), which is composed of the maritime law associations of more than 30 nations. The work of the Comité consists principally of drafting international conventions relating to subjects of maritime law. When such a draft is prepared, it is submitted to the Belgian government, which then convenes a diplomatic conference at which the CMI draft is discussed and amended as the official delegates may decide. If the revised draft wins approval at the conference, it is then submitted to the national governments for possible ratification. Although many of these conventions have failed to be widely ratified, others have been highly successful.

The international regulations for the prevention of collisions at sea, first adopted at an international conference held in Washington in 1889 and revised at maritime safety conferences held in London from time to time since 1914, are recognized by all of the maritime countries. The regulations are, in effect, an international code of navigation. In other fields much has been accomplished to ensure international uniformity through private agreements voluntarily adhered to by affected interests; the York-Antwerp Rules of General Average, first promulgated in 1890 and most recently amended in 1950, are the best known example of such agreements; although they do not technically have the force of law, nevertheless, by incorporation in charter parties and bills of lading, they determine the rights and obligations of the parties as effectively as any statute.

Nicholas Joseph Healy