BY:

E.MBANG AKPAMBANG, LL.M; B.L;

LECTURER, FACULTY OF LAW,

EKITI STATE UNIVERSITY, ADO-EKITI, NIGERIA

“…the Federal High Court shall have and exercise jurisdiction to the exclusion of any other court in civil causes and matters – (g) any Admiralty jurisdiction, including shipping and navigation on the River Niger or River Benue and their affluents and on such other inland waterway as may be designated by any enactment to be an international waterway, all Federal ports, (including the constitution and powers of the port, authorities for Federal ports) and carriage by sea.”

Introduction:                                                                         

The above quotation is the constitutional provision vesting the admiralty jurisdiction in Nigeria on the Federal High Court. Admiralty jurisdiction generally refers to the authority of a nation to hear and determine certain types of cases from actions that take place in the high seas or other navigable waters. Such cases could be in respect of torts or criminal offences. The jurisdiction might extend also to contract disputes that relate to maritime law, such as contract concerning payment of wages to seamen, transportation of persons or cargo, maritime liens or maritime insurance policies and other maritime claims.

Nations that assert Admiralty jurisdiction usually derives such authority from their Constitutions or statutes. Nigeria’s source of Admiralty jurisdiction is traceable to the Colonial Courts of Admiralty Act 1890. The present Nigerian position as seen above, however, is based on Section 251(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution and statutes like the Admiralty Jurisdiction Act 1991 and the Federal High Court Act 2004, as amended. These constitutional and statutory provisions define the scope and extent of the jurisdiction vested on the Federal High Court.

In this paper, we shall discuss the historical evolution of the admiralty jurisdiction in Nigeria, the extent of the admiralty jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, the maritime claims entertained by the court. We shall further discuss procedural matters such as commencement of action in admiralty matters. The paper will also examine the admiralty jurisdiction in three other foreign jurisdictions, namely, England, South Africa and …...