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Jurisdiction in all such Cases was conferred upon the High Court of Admiralty of England by the 24 and 25 Vict. c. 10, s. 7, and this Clause gives the same jurisdiction to the Vice-Admiralty Courts.

(7.) Claims in respect of Bottomry or Respondentia Bonds:

This was part of the original Jurisdiction of the Courts.

(8.) Claims in respect of any Mortgage where the Ship has been sold by a Decree of the Vice-Admiralty Court, and the Proceeds are under its control:

Jurisdiction in such Cases was conferred upon the High Court of Admiralty of England by the 3 and 4 Vict. c. 65, sect. 3, and this Clause gives similar jurisdiction to the Vice-Admiralty Courts.

It is obviously desirable that Mortgagees should be enabled to prosecute their Claims before the Proceeds are disposed of, and multiplicity of Suits is avoided by giving the Adjudication thereon to the Court which has the control of the Proceeds.

(9.) Claims between the Owners of any Ship registered in the Possession in which the Court is established, touching the Ownership, Possession, Employment, or Earnings of such Ship:

Jurisdiction in all Questions of Ownership, &c., arising between Co-Owners was conferred upon the High Court of Admiralty of England by the 24 and 25 Vict. c. 10, s. 8. The object of this Clause is to give a similar Jurisdiction to the Vice-Admiralty Courts; but, for obvious reasons, only in the case of Ships registered in the Colony or Possession in which the Court is established.

(10.) Claims for Necessaries supplied, in the Possession in which the Court is established, to any Ship of which no Owner or Part Owner is domiciled within the Possession at the time of the Necessaries being supplied:

Jurisdiction over Claims for Necessaries supplied to Foreign Ships was given to the High Court of Admiralty of England by the 3 and 4 Vict. c. 65, s. 6, and was extended to all Cases where no Owner or Part Owner is domiciled in England or Wales by the 24 and 25 Vict. c. 10, s. 5. Before these Provisions were enacted, British Subjects who had supplied Necessaries to Foreign Ships had no means of enforcing their Claims, except by suing the Foreign Shipowner in the Courts of his own Country for Goods supplied perhaps in this. This caused much inconvenience to the Shipowner also; for Merchants were naturally unwilling to supply the Ship with Necessaries, knowing that they could not recover the Value by proceeding against the Ship.

This Clause applies to Cases where Necessaries are supplied in any Colony to a Ship whose Owners are not there domiciled; and the object of this Clause is to enable Colonial Merchants who have so supplied Necessaries in any Colony, to proceed against the Ship in the Vice-Admiralty Court of that Colony, as may now be done by English Merchants in the High Court of Admiralty of England.

(11.) Claims in respect of the building, equipping, or repairing within any British Possession of any Ship of which no Owner or Part Owner is domiciled within the Possession at the time of the work being done.

Similar reasons apply for extending the Jurisdiction of the Vice-Admiralty Courts to the Claims for Building, &c., mentioned in this Clause.

Section II.

(1.) All Cases of Breach of the Regulations and Instructions relating to the Trade between the Possessions of Her Majesty.

This was part of the original Jurisdiction of the Courts.

(2.) All Matters arising out of Droits of Admiralty.

This also was part of the original jurisdiction.

Section 12.

The object of this Section is—

(1.) To save the existing jurisdiction of the Vice-Admiralty Courts in other Cases than those above mentioned; e.g., in Matters relative to the Slave Trade; and

(2.) To save the Jurisdiction of all other Courts from any possible infringement.

Section 13.

This Section merely expresses in other words a Provision which is contained in some of the existing Acts.

Sections 14 to 19.

These Sections merely re-enact, with a few verbal alterations, the existing Provisions contained in Sections 1 to 5 of 2 and 3 Will. 4, c. 51.

Section 20.

The Registrar of the High Court of Admiralty was empowered to administer Oaths by the 24 Vict. c. 10, s. 26, and the Object of this Section is to confer a similar power upon the Registrars of the Vice-Admiralty Courts.