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 — Part

III.

Practice of the Supreme Court.

109

^'E'Ct. 4. and to distribute that amount rateably among the several claimants, and any proceedings pending in any other Court in relation to the Limitation same matter may be stayed. The Court may proceed in such manner of L iabil ity, and subject to such regulations as to making parties interested parties to the proceedings, and as to the exclusion of any claimants who do not come in within a certain time, and as to requiring security from the owners or other persons applying, and as to payment of any

costs, as

the Court thinks just

(r).

230. The first step is to issue a writ of summons. The writ must Writ, contain the actual names of the plaintiffs (s), but it is not directed to "(the vessel with any person by name, but " to the owners of the which the collision occurred) "and of the cargo lately laden on board and to all or every person claiming in respect of loss of life the or personal injury occasioned by the improper navigation of the ," or bears such similar directions as the case may require (t). The w^rit is in practice served only on the owners of the adverse Service of ™^ vessel, or on any know^n cargo owner who may be conveniently usually appear within the time ^PP®^^^^^®The persons so served served. limited by the writ and act in a sense as representative defendants, since it would in many cases be practically impossible to serve the writ on all the persons who might have a claim to share in the amount of the plaintiffs' liability. Any other persons, however, who answer the description of those to whom the writ is directed may also appear before the hearing and raise any defence open to them, though the Court may not grant all the defendants so appearing their costs the usual practice being not to allow costs of the hearing to more than one or two sets of defendants. ,



231. Statements of claim, defences, and replies are delivered in Pleadings, these actions as in other Admiralty actions in personam, but in most cases the defences merely put the plaintiffs to proof of those allega-

statements of claim which, if proved, will the relief claimed such allegations usually are the occurrence of the collision or stranding, and any legal proceedings following thereon, and that claims beyond the amount of the plaintiffs' limited liability are apprehended. The plaintiffs submit in the case of there having been loss or damage to goods or merchandise to pay into Court the limited amount calculated on the appropriate tonnage of their vessel, with interest at 4 per cent. [a). In the case of loss of life or personal injury the claimants submit in addition to give bail for such claims in the Admiralty Registry or to give an undertaking to pay the amount of their liability into Court {b). tions contained in the

entitle the plaintiffs to



(r) Merchant Shipping Act, 1894 (57 & 58 Vict. c. 60), s. 504 Merchant Shipping (Liability of Shipowners and others) Act, 1900 (63 & 64 Vict. c. 32), ss. 1,2; Merchant Shipping Act, 1906 (6 Edw. 7, c. 48), s. 71. (s) The Inventor (1905), 10 Asp. M. L. C. 99. {t) As to whether the names of the plaintiffs should be set out in the writ under the present practice, see The Blanche (1904), 21 T. L. R. 145; The

Inventor, supra.

Merchant Shipping Act, 1894 (57 & 58 Yict. c. 60), See The Northumhria (1869), L. E. 3 A. & E. 6 i. 178; T lie Inventor, supra. (a)

s.

{b)



503.

The Crathie, [1897]