What it does
The Admiralty Rules 1988 establish a comprehensive procedural framework for the conduct of admiralty proceedings in Australian courts exercising jurisdiction under the Admiralty Act 1988 (Cth). At their core, the Rules operationalise the unique features of admiralty law, which permits actions in rem (against the ship or property itself) in addition to actions in personam (against the owner). This is grounded in rule 19, which mandates that an action in rem must be commenced by writ in accordance with Form 6, while rule 18 prohibits combining in rem and in personam claims in the same initiating process.
The Rules are divided into 12 Parts. Part I (Preliminary) contains 6A rules, including an extensive interpretation provision in rule 3(1) that defines over 25 terms. These include "arrest warrant", "caveator", "interested person" (expressly including underwriters and insurers), and a suite of maritime certificates (classification certificate (hull and machinery), international load line certificate, safety construction certificate, etc.). Rule 3(2) extends references to "ship or other property" to include sale proceeds paid into court under rule 71. Rule 4 clarifies the roles of the Marshal and Registrar, permitting delegation to authorised officers, Masters or Associate Judges, with oral authorisations permitted in urgent cases (rule 4(4)).
Part II governs caveats. Division 1 (rules 7-9) allows a caveat against arrest to be filed in the Federal Court registry using Form 2, but only if the Registrar is satisfied the caveator will enter an appearance and provide bail or payment into court (rule 7(2)). The filing itself constitutes an undertaking enforceable by the court (rule 8). Rule 9 requires the caveator to pay into court or file a bail bond within 3 days of service of initiating process, or face deemed non-appearance and liability for committal. Division 2 (rules 10-11) permits caveats against release (Form 4) once a ship is under arrest, which the court may set aside. Division 3 provides that caveats last 12 months (rule 12), may be withdrawn using Form 5 (rule 13), and requires maintenance of two Registers (rule 14).