VPRS 12692 Vice-Admiralty Court Judge's Report Books

Admiralty jurisdiction is concerned with shipping disputes. Until 1890 with the passing of the Colonial Courts of Admiralty Act (UK) which made all colonial courts of law which had unlimited civil jurisdiction a court of admiralty, the Supreme Court was made a Vice-Admiralty Court of the British one. The 1890 Act is the basis for the admiralty jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.The jurisdiction extends to matters such as certain claims for seamens wages, salvage disputes, bottomry bonds, certain claims for damages done to and by ships, certain disputes relating to the possession or ownership of ships and some cargo claims. There is the power to arrest ships or cargoes, attracting jurisdiction over the defendant owner with the ship or cargo becoming available as security to meet the judgment.This series consists of handwritten notes as taken by the Chief Justice in the course of hearings before the Court in the Admiralty jurisdiction. Books are written in from the front to the back on the righthand side and from the back to the front of the volume on the lefthand side. There are numerous examples of underlinings, marginal markings and amendments (especially to improve legibility). These notes may have been used by the Chief Justice in preparing judgments in these matters.VPRS 12692/P1 was previously registered as Units 2 6 of VPRS 5369 Vice Admiralty Court Report Books. The records were reserialised in 2001 as part of the ARAD Project.

海事管辖权（Admiralty Jurisdiction）专司航运纠纷案件。直至1890年《殖民地海事法院法案》（Colonial Courts of Admiralty Act (UK)）获得通过，该法案将所有具备无限民事管辖权的殖民地法院确立为海事法院，在此之前英国最高法院曾被设立为大英帝国的副海事法院（Vice-Admiralty Court）。1890年法案乃是英国最高法院海事管辖权的法律依据。
该管辖权涵盖如下案件类型：海员工资债权请求、海难救助纠纷（salvage disputes）、船舶抵押贷款契约（bottomry bonds）纠纷、船舶致损与船舶受损相关的损害赔偿请求、船舶占有或所有权归属纠纷，以及部分货物索赔案件。法院有权扣押船舶或货物，从而取得对被告船东的管辖权，此时被扣押的船舶或货物可作为履行生效判决的担保物。
本系列档案包含首席大法官（Chief Justice）在海事管辖权法院庭审过程中手写的庭审笔记。该笔记册右侧页面从前往后书写，左侧页面则从后往前书写。笔记中存在大量下划线标注、页边批注（marginal markings）以及修改痕迹，尤以提升文本可读性为目的的修改居多。上述笔记或曾被首席大法官用于起草相关案件的判决书。
VPRS 12692/P1原登记为VPRS 5369《副海事法院报告册》的第2至6单元。该批档案于2001年作为ARAD项目（ARAD Project）的一部分完成了重新编号。