Claims in

respect of

to substitute.

CHAPTER XIV.

CLAIMS IN RESPECT OF SUBSTITUTES FOR SEAMEN VOLUN-
TEERING INTO THE ROYAL NAVY.

THE Merchant Shipping Act, 1854 (a), provides that if, wages paid in consequence of any seaman leaving his ship for the purpose of entering into the Royal Navy, as mentioned in the act, without the consent of the master or owner of his ship, it becomes necessary for the safety and proper navigation of the ship to engage a substitute, and if the wages or other remuneration paid to such substitute exceed the wages which would have been payable to the seaman under his agreement for similar service, the master or owner of the ship may apply to the registrar of the Court of Admiralty for a certificate authorising the repayment of such excess, and when the registrar certifies that a sum is due, the Accountant-General of the Navy shall pay the same.

Mode of

claim.

In these cases the proceedings are usually exceedingly prosecuting simple. The master or owner, on application in the registry, is furnished with a paper (b) of printed questions concerning the nature of his claim; answers are required to be written opposite to the questions, and the claimant must sign his name at the foot of the answers. At the foot of the paper is printed a blank form of affidavit verifying the answers. This must be filled up and sworn by the claimant in the usual way (c). The paper should then be left in the registry, with a ten-shilling stamp affixed (d). Notice in writing of

(a) Ss. 214-220.

(b) See Forms, Appendix.

(c) See supra, p. 261.
(d) Ad. Rules, 131.

CLAIMS IN RESPECT OF SUBSTITUTES, ETC.

the claim will then be sent from the registry to the secretary of the Admiralty, under cover to the solicitor of the Admiralty, and the registrar will in due course proceed to examine the application. The registrar may call upon the registrargeneral of seamen to produce any papers in his possession relating to the claim, and he may examine witnesses on oath, or require such evidence in support of the claim as he thinks fit. If the registrar considers the whole claim to be just, he will give a certificate accordingly, and the certificate will be delivered to the claimant on his handing into the registry a ten-shilling Admiralty Court stamp (e). On the certificate being delivered to the Accountant-General of the Navy, with a receipt from the master or owner, the money will be paid.

309

from ad

If the registrar considers that the claim or any part there- Appeal of is not just, he will deliver such his opinion in writing to verse dethe claimant, on the claimant handing in to the registry a cision. ten-shilling Admiralty Court stamp (f). If the claimant is dissatisfied with the opinion of the registrar, he may, at any time within sixteen days from the time of receiving the opinion of the registrar, apply to the judge on motion to review the same, but if no notice of motion is given within that time, the decision of the registrar becomes final (g).

The registrar has power to allow for the costs of the pro- Costs. ceedings any sum not exceeding five pounds for each seaman quitting his ship; such sum may be added to the sum allowed, and certified by the registrar accordingly (h). In practice these claims are generally preferred by the parties themselves, and the only sum usually allowed for costs is the money expended by the claimant in court fees. But when cases arise of such a nature as to render it necessary for the claimant to have the assistance of a solicitor, a sum will be allowed by the registrar for the remuneration of the solicitor.

(e) Ad. Rules, 132.

(ƒ) Ad. Rules, 133.

(g) It is believed that there has not been any instance in which an appeal

has been made from the registrar's
decision.

(h) The Merchant Shipping Act,
1854, s. 218.

Time with

to appeal.

institute.

CHAPTER XV.

APPEAL FROM LOCAL MAGISTRATES IN CASES OF SALVAGE.

PERSONS aggrieved by an award made by local magistrates in salvage cases may, where the sum in dispute exceeds fifty pounds, appeal to the Court of Admiralty (a).

The appellant must, within ten days after the date of the in which award, give written notice to the local magistrates who have adjudicated on the claim, of his intention to appeal, and within twenty days from the date of the award he must proceed to institute the appeal. In order to institute the apPræcipe to peal the appellant's solicitor should file a præcipe to institute. The præcipe should be entitled in the same way as a præcipe to institute a cause in personam. It should state that the cause is a cause of appeal from an award of salvage, and should state the name of the appellant and the name of the respondents. It should contain an address for the service of documents, and should be signed in the usual way. The præcipe to institute should be filed in the registry with a Citation in five-shilling Admiralty Court stamp affixed. At the same personam. time the appellant should proceed to take out a citation in

personam. To obtain a citation in personam a præcipe for a citation should be filed in the registry, and an affidavit to lead the citation, with a copy of the notice of appeal served upon the magistrates annexed. Where the appellant is the party claiming salvage reward, the affidavit to lead the cita

(a) The Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, s. 464. The words "sum in dispute" have been held to refer to the sum originally claimed, and not to the sum

The

awarded and appealed against. Andrew Wilson, Br. & L. 56; The Mary Anne, ib. 334; see supra, pp. 111, 150.

tion should state that salvage services were performed in
respect of which the appellant claimed from the respondents
a sum of more than 50l. as salvage reward, and that a dis-
pute arose between the appellant and the respondents in
respect of the claim; that the property saved did not exceed
10007, or that the sum claimed for salvage did not exceed
2001. ;
that the dispute was duly referred to local magis-
trates, who made their award concerning the same on the
day of the date of the award, which should be stated, and
that the notice of appeal annexed to the affidavit was duly
served upon them. In cases where the appellant is the
owner of the property saved the affidavit to lead the warrant
will vary in form according to circumstances. On applying
for the citation the following Admiralty Court stamps should
be handed into the registry. A five-shilling stamp for the
præcipe, a five-shilling stamp for the affidavit, a one-shilling
stamp for the copy of the notice, and a ten-shilling stamp for
the citation. The citation is issued under the seal of the Court;
it directs the respondents to enter an appearance within six
days from the service of the citation, and warns them that if
they do not enter an appearance the Court may proceed to
determine the appeal, or make such order as it sees fit. The
citation should be served on the respondents in the usual.
way, and an appearance may be entered by them in the
same way as in a cause in personam (b).

When a cause of appeal is instituted, a copy of all the Certified proceedings had before the local magistrates, certified under copy of the proceelings their hands to be a true copy, must be transmitted to the before the registry, and be filed there. The certified copy of the pro- trates. ceedings is generally transmitted to the registry by the magistrates through the appellant's solicitor (c). The appel

(b) See supra, pp. 241, 242. If the respondents should neglect to enter an appearance, it is apprehended that the Court would not allow judgment to go by default, but would require the cause to be set down for hearing, and would consider the evidence before it reversed

the decision of the inferior tribunal.
But in cases where the respondents do
not appear, an affidavit of the service of
the citation in personam should be filed
in order to have the case set down for
hearing.

(c) The Merchant Shipping Act, 1854,

magis