The Gazette 1984

GAZETTE

JULY/AUGIJST 1984

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".

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

(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

specifically continues the

existence of the Cork Local Admiralty Court (although

the better opinion

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

to be made by

the Lord Chancellor, and such Rules were made in 1877.

These Rules

were continued in force by the Circuit

Court Rules of 1930,

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.

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.

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".

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,

have the jurisdiction in Admiralty

Causes which immediately before the

commencement of Part II of the Act of 1924

was exercisable by the former Recorder of

Cork.

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