Canadian Maritime Law: An Introduction

AuthorEdgar Gold; Aldo Chircop; Hugh M. Kindred; William Moreira
Pages1-9
11
CHA PTER 1
CANADIAN
MARITIME LAW:
ANINTRODUCTION
A. M AR ITIME L AW IN CANADA
Maritime law, or as it is also ca lled, “admiralty l aw,” has been practised
in Canada at least si nce the eighteenth century. The term “admiralty”
is derived from the period in history when the Admiral of the English
f‌leet exercised signif‌icant powers over the sovereign’s naval f‌leet, as
well as over those matters th at occurred at sea over which common law
courts had no juris diction. This specialized body of law with its own
unique character, but linked to many other areas of law, has historical-
ly been administered by “Admiralty Cour ts.” These courts are judicial
institutions that possess the competence necessar y to exercise ad-
miralty juri sdiction. Although the term admir alty is still widely us ed,1
especially w ith reference to the Admiralty Court and admiralty juri s-
diction, the more modern and encompassing ter m is “maritime” law.
Contemporary marit ime law is signif‌icant ly broader in scope than the
areas tradit ionally addressed by admiralty law. However, for present
purposes, there i s no meaningful dist inction between the two terms
and consequently, with the exception of references to the Admira lty
Court, they are used interch angeably.
Almost a century ago Edward Cour tenay Mayers wrote the only com-
prehensive treatise on Can adian mariti me law2 prior to the f‌irst edition
1 Especial ly in the United States.
2 Edward C Mayer, Admiralty La w and Practice in Canada (Toronto: Carswell, 1916).

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