ADMIRALTY AND MARITIME JU RISDICTION. The system of law and pro cedure under which maritime transactions are regulated. It derives its name from the fact that it was originally administered in England by the lord high admiral. The modern laws have been adopted from the civil law and from such sea codes as those of Rhodes and Oleron (qq.v.). Article III, § 2 of the Constitution provides that the judicial power of the United States extend to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction" and as is the custom in Europe the United States Supreme Court has declared that by virtue of these words our admiralty courts shall entertain jurisdiction not only over the high seas but also over all public navigable waters, including interior lakes, rivers and canals, and that this jurisdiction is not confined to tide waters. The admiralty juris diction of the Federal courts is fixed by statute and in general covers cases that arise under contracts calling for the performance of cer tain duties or obligations upon navigable waters, such as contracts involving the transportation of passengers or merchandise between different States or foreign ports, cases of salvage, bonds of bottomry or hypothecation of ship and cargo, contracts (express or implied) for sea men's wages,. seizures under the laws of im post, navigation or trade, cases of prize or ransom, charter-parties, contracts with material men, jettisons, maritime contributions and aver ages, policies of marine insurance, contracts for the furnishing of materials for or the making of repairs on foreign vessels, and generally to all assaults and batteries, damages and tres passes taking place on the high seas. Under war conditions the admiralty jurisdiction is extended so as to include the power to deter mine questions of prize. Crimes committed upon the high seas or beyond the jurisdiction of any country come under the jurisdiction of the admiralty courts, but as no crimes save those specified by statute are punishable in the Federal courts, the jurisdiction in this respect does not differ from that regarding other statu tory offenses. A suit is commenced in admiralty by filing a libel, upon which a warrant is issued for the arrest of the person, or attachment of his property if he cannot be found, or a simple monition to appear; such proceedings are called actions in personam, that is, actions between individuals for tort or breach of contract.
There may be a proceeding in rem, under which a warrant is issued for the arrest of the thing in question ; in other words the proceedings are to determine the rights to or claims against a vessel or other particular subject-matter. In cases of actions in personam, the admiralty courts do not possess exclusive jurisdiction, since under the statutes the parties to such actions still retain their rights of action at common law; but in cases in rem, admiralty courts exercise exclusive jurisdiction and no other remedy can be sought in any other court. In the latter class of cases the vessel or other subject-matter involved must be brought by seizure or otherwise within the jurisdiction of the court. Since, in the United States, there are no courts whose duties and jurisdiction are confined to admiralty cases the district courts, by statute, have original jurisdiction in general admiralty and maritime cases and ap peal may be made to the circuit court of appeals, but in a few specified cases and in prize cases the appeal is to the Supreme Court. The court usually tries admiralty cases without a jury, but in a few special cases trial by jury is pro vided by statutory provision. State courts have no admiralty jurisdiction. Among the more prominent cases in the Supreme Court are : Waring vs. Clark (1846), 5 How. 441 ; The Propeller Genesee Chief vs. Fitzhugh (1851), 12 How. 443; The Moses Taylor (1866), 4 Wall. 411; Insurance Co. vs. Dunham (1870), 11 Wall. 1; Leon vs. Galceran (1870), 11 Wall. 185; Ex party Boyer (1884), 109 U. S. 629; Manchester vs. Massachusetts (1891), 139 U. S. 240. See COMMERCIAL LAW ; LAW, MARI TIME; INSURANCE, MARINE. Consult Benedict, E. C., The American Admiralty, Its Jurisdic tion and Practice' (4th ed., • Albany, N. Y., 1910). The early continental and English authorities are collected in Judge Story's opin ion in the case of De Lovio vs. Boit (1815), 2 Gallison 398, 7 Fed. Cases, No. 3,776. The Laws of °limn and other early maritime codes and ordinances may be found in Peter's (Admiralty Decisions,' 1792-1807, Vol. I, App., and in the appendix to Cases,' Vol. XXX.