Review of recent Admiralty cases

Admiralty law is not the discipline that usually yields most case law, but in the last six months there has been an unusually plentiful and interesting crop of cases from overseas as well as, perhaps surprisingly, English courts. What follows is a brief review of the majority of cases – many of them have been or will be discussed in more depth in Shipping & Trade Law.

First, in a substantial development, the Federal Court of Australia has held that The Halcyon Isle [1980] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 325 should not be followed in Australia. That is the now controversial decision by which the Privy Council held that questions of the existence of an asserted maritime lien must be determined in accordance with the law of the forum.