England and Wales Scotland The Scottish court's earliest records, held in West Register House in Edinburgh, indicate that sittings were a regular event by at least 1556. Judges were styled "Judge Admiral" and received appointment at the hands of the Scottish High Admiral to hear matters affecting the
Royal Scots Navy as well as mercantile, privateering and
prize money disputes. From 1702 the judge of the court was also authorised to appoint deputies to hear lesser matters or to deputise during his absence. The Scottish court's workload was small until the mid-eighteenth century, with judges hearing no more than four matters in each sitting. After the 1750s the volume of cases rose until by 1790 it was necessary to maintain a daily log of decisions. The growth in caseload was related to increasing disputes regarding breaches of charter, including ship's masters seeking compensation for unpaid freight and merchants suing for damage to goods or unexpected port fees. Cases reflected Scotland's principal marine industries including the transshipment of sugar and tobacco and the export of dried fish, coal and grains. A smaller number of cases related to smuggling, principally brandy, and to salvage rights for ships wrecked on Scottish shores. The court ceased operation in 1832 and its functions were subsumed into the
Court of Session, Scotland's supreme court for civil disputes.
Cinque Ports The sole survivor of the independent courts of admiralty is the Court of Admiralty for the
Cinque Ports, which is presided over by the early-merged role of
Judge Official and Commissary. This office is normally held by a
High Court Judge who holds the appointment of Admiralty Judge. The jurisdiction of the Court of Admiralty of the Cinque Ports extends in an area with boundaries running from the
Naze Tower,
Essex along the shore to
Brightlingsea, then to Shoe Beacon (or Shore Beacon), (to the east of
Shoeburyness, Essex), across the mouth of the
Thames Estuary to
Shellness, Kent, and around the coast to Redcliffe, near
Seaford,
Sussex. It covers all the sea from Seaford to a point five miles off
Cape Grisnez on the coast of
France, and the Galloper Sands off the coast of Essex. The last full sitting was in 1914. According to general
civilian practice, the registrar can (and here does) act as deputy to the judge. Unless the judge finds a conflict of interest in the registrar's work their main task is to co-invest each successive
Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. Appeal from the court's decisions lies to the
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
Court regalia Since
Elizabethan times, the symbol of authority for a British admiralty court has been a silver oar, placed before the judge when the court is in session. In this respect the silver oar is the equivalent of a
ceremonial mace, representing the authority of the Crown and the
Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom. An antique silver oar is still placed before the bench when the High Court sits in London on matters relating to its admiralty court functions; in past times it was borne by the marshal in procession, not only in court but on occasions of arrest of persons or vessels, and also on the way to
Execution Dock for the last journey of those convicted of
piracy. The date of the London oar is uncertain: it is depicted on the tomb of David Lewis, Judge of the High Court of Admiralty from 1559 until 1584, there is some evidence that it may date from the beginnings of the court in the fourteenth century, though one of several assay marks suggests that it was remade three centuries later (based on the earlier pattern). Local courts and vice-admiralty courts had their own silver oars; early examples survive from colonial courts in
Bermuda (1701),
Boston (1725),
New York City (c. 1725),
Colombo (1801),
Cape of Good Hope (1806) and
Calcutta. The silver oars measure four feet in length, and are borne by a ceremonial
Water Bailiff, who is charged with the protection of the magistrate while the latter is on duty near the water. The Admiralty Court of the
Cinque Ports had a silver oar of early date, but it was stolen in the 1960s and replaced with a replica. Some
local authorities possess examples relating to their former local admiralty jurisdiction. In recent times, new silver oars have been made for admiralty courts in Canada, Australia and New Zealand; in 2014 the Admiralty Court presented a replica silver oar mace to the
Corporation of Trinity House on the occasion of its 500th anniversary, acknowledging the work of its brethren in advising the court over much of its history. In addition to representing the court in session, from the nineteenth century the silver oar has been the insignia of the Admiralty Marshal – an official responsible for serving writs of the court, and carrying out the sale of any vessels seized and disposed of by court decision.
Vice admiralty courts To expedite the administration of maritime law, British colonies were routinely granted subsidiary jurisdiction through independent vice-admiralty courts. These were civil courts with the power to interpret colonial legislation, provided these did not conflict with Admiralty Court decisions or British maritime law. The first
vice-admiralty court in Australia was established in the colony of New South Wales in 1788. The first Vice-Admiral was
Arthur Phillip and the first judge was
Robert Ross. The court was abolished in 1911 when the
Supreme Court of New South Wales was granted the admiralty jurisdiction of the court. A vice-admiralty court was also formed in
Nova Scotia to try
smugglers and to enforce the
Sugar Act 1764 throughout
British North America. From 1763 to 1765, when American smugglers were caught, they were tried by corrupt
judges who received a percentage of the confiscated goods if the defendants were found guilty; therefore, defendants were more than likely to be found guilty.
Colonial courts of admiralty Local courts and vice-admiralty courts had their own
silver oars as symbols of Admiralty jurisdiction; early examples survive from colonial courts in
Bermuda (1701),
Boston (1725),
New York City (c. 1725),
Colombo (1801),
Cape of Good Hope (1806) and
Calcutta. 1890 saw the enactment of the '''''' (
53 & 54 Vict. c. 27 (UK)). That act provided for the abolition of the imperial courts of admiralty and replace them with local courts to be called colonial courts of admiralty. It was widely considered unsatisfactory that the imperial court should exist separately to the colonial courts, yet use the same facilities and personnel of the colonial courts.{{multiref2 ==Ceylon and Sri Lanka==