high court of admiralty

High Court of Admiralty. In England, a court exercising jurisdiction in matters relating to shipping, collision, and salvage cases. • The court dates from the 14th century, and much of its early history concerns prize and piracy cases. Its jurisdiction varied through the centuries, sometimes extending into criminal matters and other areas of law not related directly to maritime issues. The Judicature Acts of 1873–1875 merged the Court into the High Court as part of the Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty Division. The Administration of Justice Act of 1970 established a new Admiralty Court as part of the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court. It is regulated by the Supreme Court Act of 1981.

— Also termed Court of the Lord High Admiral; Court of Admiralty. Cf. ADMIRALTY(1).

“To the office of the Lord High Admiral (originally a naval official concerned with the command of the fleet and the suppression of piracy and wrecking) there was annexed a court which acquired a jurisdiction over civil cases of a maritime nature. Just how and when this happened is too cloudy and controversial for simple or even accurate summary, but by the time of Richard II (1377–1400) the admiral and vice-admiral were transacting enough judicial business to move Parliament to limit their jurisdiction by statute to ‘a thing done upon the sea,’ and in Tudor times the court was well established as a court of record, doing a large civil business. It slowly but surely took away most of their business from the local maritime courts in the port towns, and attracted the easily aroused jealousy of the common law courts, as well as the dislike of those who feared it as a prerogative court …. These factors resulted in the rather anticlimactic eclipse of the court for almost two centuries.” Grant Gilmore & Charles L. Black Jr., The Law of Admiralty § 1-4, at 9–10 (2d ed. 1975).

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