Also known as: marine · marinarius · mariner · mariners · admiralty · seaman
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A descriptor for matters involving navigation, commerce, or jurisdiction on the high seas or navigable waters. The term supplies the basis for federal judicial power over cases arising from maritime activities and governs procedural rules in such proceedings.
Marcus Mitchell's cargo ship collides with another vessel on the open sea. The injured owner files suit in federal district court asserting that the dispute falls within the constitutional grant of power over maritime matters. The court accepts the case because the collision occurred on navigable waters and directly implicates admiralty concerns.
Michelle Murphy sues a shipping company after cargo damage during a voyage. At trial the company offers a port agent's out-of-court statement. The court applies the Federal Rules of Evidence because the proceeding is an admiralty case and the rules expressly cover such matters.
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Melissa Mills purchases a cruise ticket containing a clause requiring all disputes to be litigated in Florida. After an injury at sea she sues in her home state. The court enforces the clause because the underlying transaction is a maritime contract subject to federal admiralty principles.
Miles Montgomery challenges a federal statute that creates a civil remedy for violence occurring on a vessel. The court examines whether Congress properly invoked its authority over maritime matters or exceeded enumerated powers in regulating the conduct.
Maria Morales owns a barge that breaks loose during a storm because the mooring was left unattended. The court applies the admiralty rule that weighs the burden of precautions against the probability and gravity of harm to determine liability for resulting damage.
Musa Mensah obtains an interlocutory ruling in district court fixing liability for a collision at sea. The losing party seeks immediate appeal. The court of appeals accepts the appeal because the order determines rights in an admiralty case and federal statute permits review of such decrees.
No. Article III extends federal judicial power to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, which includes disputes arising on navigable inland waters as well as the high seas when the matter involves traditional maritime activities.
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Yes. The rules expressly state that they govern civil cases and proceedings including admiralty and maritime cases, so evidentiary standards remain uniform across such actions.
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Yes. Federal courts routinely uphold reasonable forum-selection clauses in maritime contracts such as cruise tickets when the clause is fundamentally fair and the passenger had notice of it.
No. Even when an incident occurs within maritime jurisdiction, Congress must still demonstrate that the regulated activity substantially affects interstate commerce. A bare maritime setting does not expand enumerated powers.
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Courts apply a balancing test that weighs the burden of adequate precautions against the probability and gravity of resulting harm, as illustrated in the classic barge-mooring scenario.
…253, 257 (D. Douglas ed. 1955). A decade before the Revolution, England gave jurisdiction over Stamp Act offenses to the admiralty courts, which followed civil-law rather than common-law procedures and thus routinely took testimony by deposition or private judicial examination. See 5 Geo. 3, c. 12, § 57 (1765);…