Of Court of proceed in the common law courts rather than in Admiralty. It is to be observed, however, that whenever there are several claimants, e. g., when there is damage by the collision to the cargo as well as the ship, or when there is loss of life in addition to damage, the defendant in a common law court has power to stay proceedings and to transfer the litigation to the Court of Chancery, or (in certain cases) to the Admiralty Court. This power is given by the 17 & 18 Vict. c. 104, s. 514, and the 24 Vict. c. 10, s. 13. The former section enacts that "in cases where any liability has been or is alleged to have been incurred by any owner in respect of loss of life, personal injury, or loss of or damage to ships, boats, or goods, and several claims are made or apprehended in respect of such liability, then (subject to the right herein before given to the Board of Trade of recovering damages in the United Kingdom in respect of loss of life or personal injury), it shall be lawful in England or Ireland for the High Court of Chancery, and in Scotland for the Court of Session, and in any British possession for any competent court, to entertain proceedings at the suit of any owner for the purpose of determining the amount of such liability subject as aforesaid, and for the distribution of such amount rateably amongst the several claimants, with power for any such court to stop all actions and suits pending in any other court in relation to the same subjectmatter; and any proceeding instituted by such Court of Chancery or Court of Session or other competent court, may be conducted in such manner, and subject to such regulations as to making any persons interested parties to the same, and as to the exclusion of any claimants who do not come in within a certain time, and as to requiring security from the owner, and as to payment of costs, as the court thinks just." And, by the latter section, it is enacted that "Whenever any ship or vessel, or the proceeds thereof, are under arrest of the High Court of Admiralty, the said Court shall have the same powers as are conferred upon the High Court of Chancery in England by the ninth part of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854." The clause first cited is within the ninth part of this Act. It appears, then, that whenever there are several claimants or possible claimants under a collision, the defendant has in all cases the power of transferring the suit from the Common Law Courts to the Court of Chancery; and, if any one of such claimants shall have arrested the ship under Admiralty process, the defendant has the power to compel the transfer of all other litigation springing out of the same collision to the Court of Admiralty. After judgment has been obtained in a common law court, if the defendant shall have become bankrupt, so that no damages are in fact recovered, the ship may still be proceeded against in rem through the Court of Admiralty, though in the hands of a third person to whom she has been sold though there is no such power, pendente lite (a). And, Transfer of suits from Courts to After suit at may proceed in Admiralty. common law, (a) John and Mary, Swab. 473. And conversely. Suits in Court of Session. Jurisdiction of inferior courts. conversely, after having sued in Admiralty, and exhausted the res, the claimant may then go to a common law court, and sue the owner personally for the residue of his damages (a). An action commenced in the Scotch Court of Session, which has Admiralty jurisdiction, may be abandoned, before judgment given, in order to take proceedings in our Admiralty Court; and the ship may be arrested here before formal abandonment of the action there (b). Even though the collision have taken place on the high seas, and though one or both of the colliding ships be foreigners, the Common Law Courts have jurisdiction, and power is given by the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, s. 527, to the Judge of any Court of Record in the United Kingdom, as well as to the Judge of the Admiralty Court, or, in Scotland, of the Court of Session, or the sheriff of the county, to arrest and hold any foreign ship, under suit for collision damages, until a satisfactory security be given (c). In many cases, when the collision has taken place within the limits of an English port, proceedings may be taken summarily in one or other of the inferior Courts, as in the Court of Passage in Liverpool, or before the magistrates. (a) Nelson v. Couch, 11 Weekly Reporter, 964. (c) In dealing with collisions in Indian or colonial waters, the Court of Admiralty will take cognizance of the local laws of those places,-e. g. as to whether the taking of a pilot is compulsory (Peerless, 1 Lush. 40). The Merchant Shipping Act, 1854 (a), gives a special jurisdiction to the Board of Trade in the case of claims for loss of life or personal injury resulting from a collision. The Board may call upon any sheriff to summon a jury to assess damages for such loss or injury, and to preside at their enquiry, assisted, if so required, by a barrister as assessor. Power is given to the Board of Trade to make any compromise as to the amount of damages payable, but otherwise, by s. 510, "the damages payable in each case of death or injury shall be assessed at thirty pounds." If, however, the claimant is dissatisfied with this amount of damages, he may, on certain conditions, bring his action as if no such enquiry had taken place. The English Consular Court at Constantinople has, by long established usage, a right of Admiralty jurisdiction, and many proceed in rem, though it has no compulsory power except over British subjects. It has been decided that this Court is bound to follow the Admiralty rule, in preference to that which prevails in our Common Law Courts; that is, when both are in fault, the damages of both are to be halved (b). (a) Sections 507-513. (b) Laconia, 12 Weekly Reporter, 90. Arrest. CHAPTER XII. PROCEDURE IN ADMIRALTY. THE subject next in order for our consideration is, the machinery of the Court of Admiralty, and of its Court of Appeal, the Judicial Committee of Privy Council, for enforcing claims for collision damage. The most convenient method of doing this appears to be, to follow the course of a collision suit, from its commencement to its close. The materials for doing this are to be found in the "Rules, Orders, and Regulations of the High Court of Admiralty of England," issued by an Order of Council, dated the 29th of November, 1859 (a), and in the various decisions in Admiralty and Privy Council, bearing on the construction of those Rules, and questions incidental thereto. Admiralty procedure being mostly in rem, the first step to be taken is to bring the property which is to be the security for the suit within the control of the Court; and this is done by arrest. A proctor desiring to institute a cause must first file in the registry of the Court of Admiralty a (a) 1 Lush. App. iii. |