County Courts Admiralty Jurisdiction Act 1868
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1868 c. 71,31 & 32 Vict. c. 71 |
| Year | 1868 |
County Courts Admiralty Jurisdiction Act, 1868
(31 & 32 Vict.) C A P. LXXI.
An Act for conferring Admiralty Jurisdiction on the County Courts.
[31st July 1868]
B E it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, as follows:
1 Short Title.
1. This Act may be cited as TheCounty Courts Admiralty Jurisdiction Act, 1868.
2 Appointment of County Courts for Admiralty Purposes.
2. If at any Time after the passing of this Act it appears to Her Majesty in Council, on the Representation of the Lord Chancellor, expedient that any County Court should have Admiralty Jurisdiction, it shall be lawful for Her Majesty, by Order in Council, to appoint that Court to have Admiralty Jurisdiction accordingly, and to assign to that Court as its District for Admiralty Purposes any Part or Parts of any One or more District or Districts of County Courts; and the District so constituted for that Court, with the Parts of the Sea (if any) adjacent to that District to a Distance of Three Miles from the Shore thereof; shall be deemed its District for Admiralty Purposes; and accordingly the Judge and all Officers of the Court shall have Jurisdiction and Authority for those Purposes throughout that District, as if the same was the District of the Court for all Purposes; and from a Time to be specified in each such Order, this Act shall have Effect in and throughout the District so constituted; and any such Order may be from Time to Time varied as seems expedient; and a County Court so appointed to have Admiralty Jurisdiction, and no other County Court, shall, for the Purposes of this Act, be deemed a County Court having Admiralty Jurisdiction: Provided that no Judge of a County Court, except the Judges of theLondon Court, shall have Jurisdiction in the City of London .
3 Extent of Admiralty Jurisdiction of County Courts.
3. Any County Court having Admiralty Jurisdiction shall have Jurisdiction, and all Powers and Authorities relating thereto, to try and determine, subject and according to the Provisions of this Act, the following Causes (in this Act referred to as Admiralty Causes):
(1) (1.) As to any Claim for Salvage—Any Cause in which the Value of the Property saved does not exceed One thousand Pounds, or in which the Amount claimed does not exceed Three hundred Pounds:
(2) (2.) As to any Claim for Towage, Necessaries, or Wages—Any Cause in which the Amount claimed does not exceed One hundred and fifty Pounds:
(3) (3.) As to any Claim for Damage to Cargo, or Damage by Collision—Any Cause in which the Amount claimed does not exceed Three hundred Pounds:
(4) (4.) Any Cause in respect of any such Claim or Claims as aforesaid, but in which the Value of the Property saved or the Amount claimed is beyond the Amount limited as above mentioned, when the Parties agree by a Memorandum signed by them or by their Attorneys or Agents that any County Court having Admiralty Jurisdiction, and specified in the Memorandum, shall have Jurisdiction.
4 Restrictions on County Court Jurisdiction in certain Cases.
4. Nothing in this Act, or in any Order in Council under it, shall confer on a County Court Jurisdiction in any Prize Cause, or in any other Matter within the Naval Prize Act, 1864, or in any Matter arising under any of the Acts for the Suppression of the Slave Trade, or any Admiralty Jurisdiction by way of Appeal.
5 No County Court other than that appointed to have Jurisdiction.
5. From and after the Time specified in each Order in Council under this Act appointing a County Court to have Admiralty Jurisdiction within any District as the Time from which this Act shall have Effect in and throughout that District, no County Court, other than the County Court so appointed, shall have Jurisdiction within that District in any Admiralty Cause; provided that all Admiralty Causes at that Time pending in any County Court within that District may be continued as if no such Order in Council had been made.
6 As to Transfer from County Court by Order of High Court of Admiralty.
6. The High Court of Admiralty ofEngland , on Motion by any Party to an Admiralty Cause pending in a County Court, may, if it shall think fit, with previous Notice to the other Party, transfer the Cause to the High Court of Admiralty, and may order Security for Costs, or impose such other Terms as to the Court may seem fit.
7 As to Transfer of Causes by Order of County Court to High Court of Admiralty.
7. If during the Progress of an Admiralty Cause in a County Court it appears to the Court that the Subject Matter exceeds the Limit in respect of Amount of the Admiralty Jurisdiction of the Court, the Validity of any Order or Decree theretofore made by the Court shall not be thereby affected, but (unless the Parties agree, by a Memorandum signed by them or by their Attorneys or Agents, that the Court shall retain Jurisdiction,) the Court shall by Order transfer the Cause to the High Court of Admiralty; but that Court may, nevertheless, if the Judge of that Court in any Case thinks fit, order that the Cause shall be prosecuted in the county Court in which it was commenced, and it shall be prosecuted accordingly.
8 As to Transfer of Causes to other County Courts or Court of Admiralty.
8. If during the Progress of an Admiralty Cause in a County Court it shall appear to the Court that the Cause could be more conveniently prosecuted in some other County Court, or in the High Court of Admiralty ofEngland , the Court may by Order transfer it to such other County Court, or to the High Court of Admiralty of England , as the Case may be, and the Cause shall thenceforward be so prosecuted accordingly.
9 Restrictions on Proceedings in the Court of Admiralty or Superior Court.
9. If any Person shall take in the High Court of Admiralty ofEngland or in any Superior Court Proceedings which he might, without Agreement, have taken in a County Court, except by Order of the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty or of such Superior Court or of a County Court having Admiralty Jurisdiction, and shall not recover a Sum exceeding the Amount to which the Jurisdiction of the County Court in that Admiralty Cause is limited by this Act, and also if any Person without Agreement shall, except by Order as aforesaid, take Proceedings as to Salvage in the High Court of Admiralty or in any Superior Court in respect of Property saved, the Value of which when saved does not exceed One thousand Pounds, he shall not be entitled to Costs, and shall be liable to be condemned in Costs, unless the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty or of a Superior Court before whom the Cause is tried or heard shall certify that it was a proper Admiralty Cause to be tried in the High Court of Admiralty of England or in a Superior Court.
10 Powers, &c. of Judges and Registrars.
10. In an Admiralty Cause in a County Court the Cause shall be heard and determined in like Manner as ordinary Civil Causes are now heard and determined in County Courts; save and except that in any Admiralty Cause of Salvage, Towage, or Collision the County Court Judge shall, if he think fit, or on the Request of either Party to such cause, be assisted by Two Nautical Assessors in the same Way as the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty is now assisted by Nautical Assessors.
11 Power to Judge of County Court to summon Nautical Assessors to his Assistance.
11. In any such Admiralty Cause as last aforesaid it shall be lawful for the Judge of the County Court, if he think fit, and he shall upon Request of either Party, summon to his Assistance in such Manner as General Orders shall direct Two Nautical Assessors, and such Nautical Assessors shall attend and assist accordingly.
12 Decrees in County Courts in Admiralty Causes to have same Force as those in Civil Causes.
12. The Decree of the County Court in an Admiralty Cause shall be enforced against the Person or Persons summoned as the Defendant or Defendants in the...
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