High Court of Admiralty

High Court of Admiralty, in England, formerly the court presided over by the deputy of the admiral of the fleet. The Black Book of the Admiralty says it was founded in the reign of Edward I, but it actually appears to have been established by Edward III about 1360. At this time the court seems to have had some civil jurisdiction over mercantile and shipping cases, although it originally dealt only with matters of discipline in the English fleet and with cases of piracy and prizes (ships and goods captured at sea). At first there were three separate Admiralty courts (each with a presiding admiral) for three different sections of the country, but these were merged into one high Admiralty court presided over by one admiral early in the 15th century. By this time the court had a marshal and other officers and forms of legal process.

The Admiralty court’s jurisdiction historically embraced all crimes and offenses involving English ships or crews that were committed at sea or along the English coast outside the borders of any county. The jurisdiction over such criminal cases was formally conferred in the 16th century on the lord high admiral or his deputy and on three or four other substantial persons appointed by the lord chancellor.

The early Admiralty court appears to have used much the same procedure as that used by the common-law courts. But the court’s jurisdiction over shipping and mercantile cases and the consequent international nature of its cases eventually occasioned the introduction of a procedure based on Roman civil law and similar to that used in continental Europe. In the 15th and 16th centuries the Admiralty court gradually acquired jurisdiction over many commercial and other cases properly belonging to the common-law courts. This occasioned many jurisdictional disputes between it and the judges of the common-law courts. The position of the common-law judges prevailed, and the Admiralty Court sank into comparative insignificance during the 17th century. The great maritime wars of the 18th century gave scope to the exercise of its prize jurisdiction, however, and it achieved international importance as a prize court in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

In 1834 the power to try crimes committed within the jurisdiction of the Admiralty (i.e., at sea) was transferred to the Central Criminal Court. By an act in 1844 this power was also given to the justices of assize. The Admiralty court henceforth concentrated on marine cases involving shipping, collisions, and salvage; the court’s jurisdiction in this regard was greatly enlarged by two enabling statutes passed in the mid-19th century. The manner in which these statutes were administered, the valuable assistance rendered by the nautical assessors working under the court’s aegis, the great increase in shipping, especially of steam shipping, and the number and gravity of cases of collision, salvage, and damage to cargo made the court one of the most important tribunals of the country. In 1875, by the operation of the Judicature Acts of 1873 and 1875, the High Court of Admiralty was merged with the other great courts of England into the High Court of Justice.