Wiktionary
n. (context legal English) The area of law that deals with ships at sea and the rights of sailors, passengers, and owners of cargo.
WordNet
n. the traditional body of rules and practices relating to commerce and navigation or to business transacted at sea or to general maritime affairs [syn: maritime law]
Wikipedia
Admiralty law or maritime law is a distinct body of law that governs maritime questions and offenses. It is a body of both domestic law governing maritime activities, and private international law governing the relationships between private entities that operate vessels on the oceans. It deals with matters including marine commerce, marine navigation, marine salvaging, shipping, sailors, and the transportation of passengers and goods by sea. Admiralty law also covers many commercial activities, although land based or occurring wholly on land, that are maritime in character.
Admiralty law is distinguished from the Law of the Sea, which is a body of public international law dealing with navigational rights, mineral rights, jurisdiction over coastal waters and international law governing relationships between nations.
Although each legal jurisdiction usually has its own enacted legislation governing maritime matters, admiralty law is characterized by a significant amount of international law developed in recent decades, including numerous multilateral treaties.
Usage examples of "admiralty law".
So, if the master and mariners of a ship, furnished with letters of reprisal, committed piracy against a friend of the king, the owner lost his ship by the admiralty law, although the crime was committed without his knowledge or assent.
It was held that, the ship being within the body of the county, the admiralty law did not apply.
THEY OBEY ADMIRALTY LAW, WHERE ADMIRALTY NAVY IS PRESENT TO ENFORCE IT.
And, in all the history of Admiralty law, said the Lord Chancellor, there never was a case as complicated as this one.
We are bound by Admiralty law: if the prize was made before the declaration of war the proceeds escheat to the Crown.
When pirates are put to death, it is because they have been out on the high seas violating Admiralty law, whose jurisdiction extends only to the high-tide mark.
I had to work hard to master the arcane rules of Admiralty Law, which I took only because I wanted to have a course taught by Charles Black, an eloquent, courtly Texan who was well liked and respected by the students and who was especially fond of Hillary.
Much to my surprise, the jurisdiction of admiralty law extended to any waterway in the United States that had been navigable in its original condition.