Legal Definition and Related Resources of Maritime Law

The system of law which particularly relates to commerce and navigation , to harbors, ships and seamen, to business transacted at sea or relating to navigation, to the transportation of persons and property by sea and to marine affairs generally.

That system of law which particularly relates to the affairs and business of the sea, to ships, their crews and navigation, and to the marine conveyance of persons and property. See 21 Wall. (U. S.) 558.

Browse or run a search for Maritime Law in the American Encyclopedia of Law, the Asian Encyclopedia of Law, the European Encyclopedia of Law, the UK Encyclopedia of Law or the Latin American and Spanish Encyclopedia of Law.

Maritime Law in Historical Law

You might be interested in the historical meaning of this term. Browse or search for Maritime Law in Historical Law in the Encyclopedia of Law.

Search for legal acronyms and/or abbreviations containing Maritime Law in the Legal Abbreviations and Acronyms Dictionary.

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Mentioned in these terms

Admiralty, Clearance, Derelict, Dereliction, Lookout, Necessaries, Register, Registered Tonnage, Sailor, Salvage.

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This definition of Maritime Law is based on the The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary . This entry needs to be proofread.

Vocabularies (Semantic Web Information)

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Maritime Law

The following is a definition of Admiralty or Maritime Law, produced by Tetley: is a complete system of law, both public and private, substantive and procedural, national and international, with its own courts and jurisdiction, which goes back to Rhodian law of 800 B.C. and pre-dates both the civil and common laws. Its more modern origins were civilian in nature, as first seen in the Rôles of Oléron of circa 1190 A.D. Maritime law was subsequently greatly influenced and formed by the English Admiralty Court and then later by the common law itself. That maritime law is a complete legal system can be seen from its component parts. For centuries maritime law has had its own law of contract – of sale (of ships), of service (towage), of lease (chartering), of carriage (of goods by sea), of insurance (marine insurance being the precursor of insurance ashore), of agency (ship chandlers), of pledge (bottomry and respondentia), of hire (of masters and seamen), of compensation for sickness and personal injury (maintenance and cure) and risk distribution (general average). It is and has been a national and an international law (probably the first private international law). It also has had its own public law and public international law. Maritime law is composed of two main parts – national maritime statutes and international maritime conventions, on the one hand, and the general maritime law (lex maritima), on the other. The general maritime law has evolved from various maritime codes, including Rhodian law (circa 800 B.C.), Roman law, the Rôles of Oléron (circa 1190), the Ordonnance de la Marine (1681), all of which were relied on in Doctors’ Commons, the English Admiralty Court, and the maritime courts of Europe. This lex maritima, part of the lex mercatoria, or “Law Merchant” as it was usually called in England, was the general law applicable in all countries of Western Europe until the fifteenth century, when the gradual emergence of nation states caused national differences to begin creeping into what had been a virtually pan-European maritime law system. Today’s general maritime law consists of the common forms, terms, rules, standards and practices of the maritime shipping industry – standard form bills of lading, charterparties, marine insurance policies and sales contracts are good examples of common forms and the accepted meaning of the terms, as well as the York/Antwerp Rules on general average and the Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits. Much of this contemporary lex maritima is to be found in the maritime arbitral awards rendered by arbitral tribunals around the world by a host of institutional and ad hoc arbitral bodies. See Tetley , Int’l. M. & A. L., 2003, Chap. 1, at pp. 1-30.

“Canadian Maritime Law” in Maritime Law

Note: There is more information on maritime/admiralty law here.

The following is a definition of “Canadian Maritime Law”, produced by Tetley, in the context of admiralty law: The Supreme Court of Canada, in The Buenos Aires Maru (ITO -International Terminal Operators v. Miida Electronics) [1986] 1 S.C.R. 752, defined “Canadian maritime law” as having two major components: 1) the admiralty law of England received into Canada in 1934, upon the adoption of Canada’s Admiralty Act, S.C. 1934 c. 31, as subsequently developed by Canadian statutes and jurisprudence; and 2) that body of law which would have been administered by the former Exchequer Court of Canada (now the Federal Court of Canada) on its admiralty side, if that Court had had an “unlimited jurisdiction in relation to admiralty and maritime matters” (ibid. at p. 774). The first branch of “Canadian maritime law” was held to be “a body of federal law encompassing the common law principles of tort, contract and bailment” (ibid. at p. 779) and to be “uniform throughout Canada” (ibid. at p. 779) and “… not the law of any province of Canada” (ibid. at p. 779). The second branch of “Canadian maritime law” was to be interpreted as including matters falling “within the modern context of commerce and shipping” and to be “… limited only by the constitutional division of power in the Constitution Act, 1867” (ibid. at p. 774). The above definition has led to a major expansion of the scope of both “Canadian maritime law” and the admiralty jurisdiction of the Federal Court of Canada under sect. 2(1) and 22 of the Federal Court Act, R.S.C. 1985 c. F-7. See Tetley, “A Definition of Canadian Maritime Law” (1996) 30 U. British Columbia L. Rev. 137-164; Tetley, M.L.C., 2 Ed., 1998 at pp. 44-53; Tetley, Int’l. M. & A. L. 2003 at pp. 434-435. See also Ordon Estate v. Grail [1998] 3 S.C.R. 437 ; (1998) 166 D.L.R. (4th) 193 ; (1998) 232 N.R. 201 ; (1998) 115 O.A.C. 1 ; (1998) 40 O.R. (3d) 639. (Supr. Ct. of Can.). See also André Braën, Le droit maritime au Québec, Wilson & Lafleur Ltée, Montreal, 1992; André Braën, “De l’effet relatif du contrat maritime ou de la relative uniformité du droit maritime canadien” (2001) 31 Revue Générale de Droit 473-513.

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Legal English Vocabulary: Maritime Law in Spanish

Online translation of the English legal term maritime law into Spanish: derecho marítimo (English to Spanish translation) . More about legal dictionary from english to spanish online.

Related to the Legal Thesaurus

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See Also

• Law
• Rule of Law
• Law System
• Legislation

Hierarchical Display of Maritime law

Transport > Maritime and inland waterway transport > Maritime transport
Law > International law > Public international law > Law of the sea
Law > International law > Public international law
Transport > Transport policy > Transport policy > Transport law
Law > International law > Public international law > Law of the sea > Freedom of navigation

Meaning of Maritime law

Overview and more information about Maritime law

For a more comprehensive understanding of Maritime law, see in the general part of the online platform.[rtbs name=”xxx-xxx”]

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Translation of Maritime law

• Spanish: Derecho marítimo
• French: Droit maritime
• German: Seeschifffahrtsrecht
• Italian: Diritto marittimo
• Portuguese: Direito marítimo
• Polish: Prawo morskie

Thesaurus of Maritime law

Transport > Maritime and inland waterway transport > Maritime transport > Maritime law
Law > International law > Public international law > Law of the sea > Maritime law
Law > International law > Public international law > Maritime law
Transport > Transport policy > Transport policy > Transport law > Maritime law
Law > International law > Public international law > Law of the sea > Freedom of navigation > Maritime law

See also

• Law of the sea
• Maritime area
• Maritime surveillance
• Territorial waters
• Exclusive economic zone
• Archipelago
• Contiguous zone
• Freedom of the seas
• Freedom of navigation
• Public international law
• Law of the sea
• Territorial law
• Free movement of persons
• International responsibility
• Mutual assistance
• Recognition of a state
• Air law
• Law of outer space
• National sovereignty
• Law of states
• Supranationality
• Succession of states
• Transport law
• Freedom of navigation

• Ship’s flag
• Flag of convenience