Page:Halsbury Laws of England v1 1907.pdf/297

 — Part

II.

.



Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.

126. Salvage in respect of the preservation priority to all other claims for salvage

of life is

75

payable in

Sect.

ii.

Salvage.

(i).

Priority of

Sub-Sect. 2.— Salvage of Property.

life salvage.

127. Originally the Admiralty Court had no jurisdiction over Salvage claims for salvage of property unless the services were rendered on wherever the high seas (A), but the jurisdiction has been extended by statute rendered to include all claims for salvage of property within the body of a

county

(/).

128. Neither under the inherent jurisdiction derived from the Court of Admiralty nor under the statutory additions to its jurisdiction has the iVdmiralty Division jurisdiction in an action of salvage to enforce payment of salvage remuneration for services rendered to any property other than a ship, her cargo or apparel or any other things belonging to her or to her lading, including freight. Thus salvage remuneration cannot be recovered for services rendered to a raft of timber which has not formed part of the cargo of a ship {m), or to a structure afloat on the water, not used in navigation but for storing gas to be used in a lamp erected on the structure for the purpose of lighting a tidal river (n) 129. Not only the owners of salved property, but other persons directly interested in the preservation of the salved property,

may,

Services

must

be rendered to ship, or

cargo etc.

Persons liable claim for

under the above provisions as to jurisdiction, be liable to an action personam for the purpose of enforcing payment of the salvage remuneration due as, for example, where stores belonging to the Crown in the possession of charterers under bills of lading not exempting the charterers from liability for negligence were salved, and the charterers were held liable to pay salvage remuneration (o). of salvage in



130.

No claim can be

damage or

tackle or furniture of (/) (/v)

(0

allowed in any salvage suit for any loss. any of His Majesty's ships, or to the stores, any such ship, or for the use of any stores or

risk caused to

Merchant Shippino; Act, 1894 (57 & 58 Raft of Timher (1844), 2 W. Eob. 251. Merchant Shipping Act, 1894 (57 & 58

544

Yict.

c.

60),

Vict.

c.

60), s. 565.

a.

(2).

{m) Raft of Timher, supra. (n) WeUs y. Owners of Gas Float WliHton No. 2, [1897] A. 0. 337. Whether, however, this decision would be applicable to cases where, no owner appearing within a year and a day, similar structures to the Oas Float Whitton No. 2 would be the sub j ect of condemnation as Admiralty droits to the Crown, may be doubted and probably in such cases the persons who rendered the salvage services would be held entitled to be rewarded on salvage principles out of the proceeds of the structures salved. Otherwise, would the Crown be entitled to the droit of Admiralty without any pavment to the finders at all ? On this point see Stacpoole V. R. (1875), L. R. 9 Eq. Ir. 619, where it was held that logs of timber found floating in the sea were droits of Admiralty and not wreck. See also Williams and Bruce, 3rd ed. p. 127 n., where many instances of property, other than the property which the House of Lords has declared to be the subject of salvage, are referred to as being salved and condemned as droits of Admiralty after salvage had been paid to the salvors. See also an article entitled "Admiralty Droits and Salvage," by E. G. Marsden, Law Quarterly Eeview, Vol. XL.,

pp.

353_366. TAe Cargo ex Fort

^^(o)

Victor, [1901] P. 243.

See Five

Steel

Barges (1890),

Claim on behalf of

^^cfews^^^^