Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly
Admiralty claims and the new CPR Part 61
Michael Tsimplis * and Nicholas Gaskell †
A new Part 61 of the Civil Procedure Rules and an accompanying Practice Direction came into force in 2002 and have separated the functions of rules and practice. They refer almost exclusively to claims
in rem; claims
in personam, previously dealt with by their predecessor (Practice Direction 49F), are generally referred to the new Part 58 (Commercial Claims) and its Practice Direction. The rewording of the Rules does not appear to make significant changes to the bulk of the established
in rem procedure. Arrest remains subject to compliance with formal requirements and not, apparently, subject to the discretion of the courts, although the rewording creates doubts about its character as an entitlement and may allow for the use of arrest in execution of unsatisfied foreign and domestic judgments.
Introduction
As part of the latest revision of the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR), a new set of rules has been issued for Admiralty claims and entered into force on 25 March 2002.1
The rules are now included in a new Part 61 of the CPR, which removes Admiralty claims from CPR Part 49 (Specialist Proceedings). In addition, CPR Part 61 (Admiralty Claims) is supplemented by a new Part 61 Practice Direction (Admiralty Claims), which supersedes the previous Part 49F Practice Direction. There is also a new CPR Part 58 (Commercial Claims) with an associated supplementing Part 58 Practice Direction (Commercial Claims). These Part 58 provisions will apply to Admiralty claims except where they are inconsistent with CPR Part 61 or Admiralty Practice Direction 61.2
There are now 31 revised special Admiralty Forms issued by the Court Service.3
On 25 March 2002 a new Admiralty and Commercial Court Guide
was also issued,4
replacing the 5th edition of the Commercial Court Guide.
The new title reflects the fact that the two courts have for some time been administered by a single Registry and Listing Office,5
with many common procedures. The new Guide contains the same basic structure
* Lecturer in Law, Institute of Maritime Law, University of Southampton.
† David Jackson Professor of Maritime and Commercial Law, Institute of Maritime Law, University of Southampton.
1. The Civil Procedure (Amendment No. 5) Rules 2001 (SI 2001 No. 4015).
2. CPR 61.1(3) and PD 61, §1. See infra, fn. 23 for accepted forms of abbreviation.
3. See <http://www.lcd.gov.uk/civil/procrules_fin/menus/forms.htm#admiralty>.
4. See <http://www.courtservice.gov.uk/notices/comm/ComCt.pdf>.
5. See Practice Note [1987] 3 All E.R. 616.
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