The Gazette 1984

JULY/AUGIJST 1984

GAZETTE

existing within the State, was the Cork Local Admiralty Court. The Courts of Justice Act 1924 By Section 51 of the Act it was enacted: "There shall be transferred to the Circuit Court all jurisdiction not hereinbefore expressly excepted which at the commencement of this Act, was vested in or capable of being exercised by Recorders, County Court Judges and Chairmen and Courts of Quarter Sessions or any of the same in Saorstat Eireann." The Section referred to the Circuit Court, which means each and every Circuit and Judge of the Circuit Court, but a question posed at the time was whether the territorial limits which governed the exercise of jurisdiction by the Local Court of Admiralty in Cork, also applied to the Circuit Court. The 1876 Act defined the limits as "the County of Cork with the parts of the sea adjacent thereto, to a distance of three miles from the shore". 49 The question seems to have been decided by the case of Grimes -v- S.S. Bangor Bay,™ which decided that Admiralty Actions did not come within the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court. In that case an action was brought by Grimes and two other seamen against the owners of the S.S. Bangor Bay for wage bonuses and costs. The action was settled and it was ordered that costs be taxed in default of agreement. The owners objected to costs being taxed on the High Court scale on the grounds that the action could have been taken in the Circuit Court. The question was referred to the Court and Overend J. held that the phrase "any action founded on contract" in section 12(l)(c) of the Courts of Justice Act was wide enough to cover the case and ordered taxation on the Circuit Court Scale. On appeal to the Supreme Court it was held that Section 48 (ii) of the 1924 Act 51 (Contract and tort) was confined to personal actions and having regard to that section and the absence of a specific provision in Section 52 of the same Act as to where an action in rem could be brought, the action could not have been brought in the Circuit Court. While this decision is an authority for the proposition that Admiralty causes could not be taken in the Circuit Court in general, (the case being concerned with the Dublin Circuit Court in particular), it did not deal with the question of whether the Cork Circuit Court could exercise the jurisdiction of the Cork Local Admiralty Court. Later, it seems to have been assumed that it could in so far as the 1961 Act 52 specifically continues the existence of the Cork Local Admiralty Court (although the better opinion 53 now seems to be that the 1961 Act in fact established the Cork Local Admiralty Court as a new Court under that Act, the jurisdiction of which falls to be exercised by the Circuit Court Judge for Cork. This is a question to which we shall revert later). Rules Under the 1867 Act, the procedure of the Local Courts of Admiralty was to be governed by Rules 54 to be made by the Lord Chancellor, and such Rules were made in 1877. These Rules 55 were continued in force by the Circuit Court Rules of 1930, 56 with suitable alterations being made in the headings. In 1950, new Circuit Court Rules were introduced, but these contain no provisions similar to those in Order XXXVI of the 1930 Rules, (which was the Rule relating to Admiralty matters). A possible result 166

of this is that, after the coming into force of the 1950 Rules (and until the coming into force of section 23(2)(b) of the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act, 1961), the Rules applicable to the ordinary jurisdiction of the Court were also to apply to Admiralty causes. 57 However, this question seems to have been answered by O'Keeffe J. in the Kinvarra Shipping case when he confirmed that the Rules which applied to the old Recorder's court were to apply in the absence of qny new Rules. This, of course, was merely applying the section. The case is discussed more fully later. The Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act 1961 Under the terms of the 1924 Act the jurisdiction of the then Local Court of Admiralty was transferred to the Circuit Court. 58 However, as was mentioned earlier, the exercise of the jurisdiction of the Cork Local Admiralty Court was limited to the area of "the County of Cork with the parts of the sea adjacent thereto to a distance of three miles from the shore". 59 Accordingly, it was questionable whether the jurisdiction of the Local Court could be transferred to the Circuit Court in general. This seems to have been in the minds of the legislature when the 1961 Act was enacted. Section 23 of the Act provides: (1) "In this section: "the Cork Circuit" means the Circuit of the Circuit Court consisting of the County and the County Borough of Cork, "the Circuit Judge" means the Judge of the Circuit Court for the time being assigned to the Cork Circuit. (2) (a) The Cork Circuit Court Judge shall constitute and hold a local admiralty court (in this section referred to as "the Court") to be called the Cork Local Admiralty Court. (b) The Court shall, within the Cork Circuit with the parts of the sea adjacent to it and within the outer limits of the territorial seas, within the meaning of the Maritime Jurisdiction Act, 1959, 60 have the jurisdiction in Admiralty Causes which immediately before the commencement of Part II of the Act of 1924 61 was exercisable by the former Recorder of Cork.

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