ABSTRACT
Thus far, we have seen that the admiralty jurisdiction is statutory, with specific heads of subject matter. It entertains both claims in rem and claims in personam. The in rem claim which, until recently, was known as the action in rem, has had a long history. It has been mentioned in the introduction of Chapter 1 that the conflict between the common law courts and the Admiralty Court was settled first, by permitting the Lord Admiral to determine disputes in matters that concerned exclusively what happened at sea, such as collisions and salvage, as well as matters that involved mortgages on ships, questions of possession of, or title in a ship. The Lord Admiral was allowed to proceed with a suit only in rem against the ship. This perhaps marked the genesis of the truly in rem causes, which involved claims concerned with proprietary rights on the ship and maritime liens and, in which, the defendant was the ship. The concept that the ship was the defendant in maritime claims was used to extend the jurisdiction of the court. The Admiralty Court Acts (ACA) 1840 and 1861 extended the admiralty jurisdiction to other maritime claims, which were not all concerned with proprietary rights in a ship, or maritime liens, the non-truly in rem. The merger of these additional claims with the truly in rem claims, coupled with the merger of all courts by the Judicature Acts (JA) 1873-75 brought a fusion of truly in rem claims with the non-truly in rem. Actions in rem and actions in personam could be tried in the same courts. The distinction, however, between truly and non-truly in rem claims and in rem or in personam proceedings has always been maintained in the mode of exercise of jurisdiction and can be found in the present statute, as will be seen later. Briefly, the truly in rem claims can be brought against the relevant ship without considerations of who would be liable in personam for the claim, or who is the beneficial owner of the ship to be arrested. The maritime lien is attached to the ship, the mortgage is a legal or equitable right in a ship, claims of ownership or possession of a ship are rights in a ship. By contrast, considerations of ownership, or liability in personam, are taken into account when a non-truly in rem claim is brought against the relevant ship. Before examining these considerations in detail, it is important to understand, first, what are the nature and the functions of in personam and in rem claims, respectively. An examination of the effect of The Indian Grace on the nature of the in rem claim follows, after an analysis of how non-truly in rem claims can crystallise on the ship by institution of suit.
