Canadian Maritime Law: An Introduction

• Author: Edgar Gold; Aldo Chircop; Hugh M. Kindred; William Moreira
• Pages: 1-9

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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).