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Maritime Law deals with issues such as the rights and responsibilities of shipowners and captains, salvage, insurance, prize law (the law relating to ships and cargo captured during armed conflict), and compensation to sailors and their families in case of injury or death.
Maritime Law (sometimes called Admiralty Law, though they are technically different) was developed to enable commercial trade between ports with a reasonable expectation of safety and fair dealing. To avoid local bias of courts that might hear disputes, a single set of rules needed to be established for this type of trade. The early customs of those tribunals found in jurisdictions engaged in significant levels of maritime trade (such as the island of Rhodes in the Mediterranean or the island of Oleron for France and England) eventually were transcribed and followed by the courts in a number of countries. Scholarly treatises eventually appeared to interpret and elaborate upon these customs.
The term “admiralty law” usually applies to the jurisdiction of courts whose origins may be traced to the office of the Admiral that dealt with claims arising from contracts and torts of the high seas. “Maritime law” traditionally referred to the protections for personal injuries or the hazards of ocean travel. Admiralty law eventually expanded to cover those areas, and the terms are now used interchangeably.
Displayed here is a selection from the enormous collection of rare volumes on international law held by the Jacob Burns Law Library.