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These Rules are the Admiralty Rules 1988.
These Rules commence on 1 January 1989.
In these Rules:
Act means the Admiralty Act 1988.
amount claimed includes an amount in respect of interest and costs.
arrest warrant means a warrant for the arrest of a ship or other property.
Australian legal practitioner means a person who is admitted to the legal profession in Australia and who holds a current practising certificate.
authorised deposit‑taking institution has the meaning given by subsection 5(1) of the Banking Act 1959.
caveator, in relation to a caveat, means the person by whom, or on whose behalf, the caveat was filed.
classification certificate (hull and machinery) means a certificate of class issued by a Classification Society within the meaning of regulation II‑1/3‑1 of the Annex to the Safety Convention.
costs, in relation to a proceeding, includes:
a party’s reasonable costs of the proceeding; and
if relevant, any amount the party has paid, or is liable to pay, to the court or the Marshal in relation to the arrest, custody, preservation, discharge, release or sale of a ship or other property.
electronic communication means a communication of information in the form of data, text or images by means of guided and/or unguided electromagnetic energy.
Federal Court Chief Executive Officer means the Chief Executive Officer and Principal Registrar of the Federal Court of Australia.
foreign registration certificate means a document issued under the law of a foreign country that is equivalent to a registration certificate.
interested person, in relation to a ship or other property that is under arrest, includes an underwriter or insurer of the ship or property or of a liability in relation to the ship or property.
international load line certificate means a certificate in the form of the International Load Line Certificate set out in Annex III to the International Convention on Load Lines.
international ship security certificate has the same meaning as ISSC in section 10 of the Maritime Transport and Offshore Facilities Security Act 2003.
international tonnage certificate means a certificate in the form of the International Tonnage Certificate (1969) set out in Annex II to the Tonnage Convention.
Load Lines Convention has the same meaning as in subsection 14(1) of the Navigation Act 2012.
original certification document means any of the following certificates:
a classification certificate (hull and machinery);
a foreign registration certificate;
an international load line certificate;
an international ship security certificate;
an international tonnage certificate;
a registration certificate;
a safety construction certificate;
a safety equipment certificate;
a safety management certificate;
a safety radio certificate;
a survey certificate.
proceeding means a proceeding commenced under the Act.
Register means a register maintained under subrule 14(1) or (2) or rule 79.
registration certificate has the same meaning as in subsection 3(1) of the Shipping Registration Act 1981.
safety construction certificate means a certificate issued in accordance with regulation 12(a)(ii) of Chapter I of the Safety Convention.
Safety Convention means the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, done at London on 1 November 1974, as amended and in force for Australia from time to time.
safety equipment certificate means a certificate issued in accordance with regulation 12(a)(iii) of Chapter I of the Safety Convention.
safety management certificate means a certificate issued in accordance with regulation 4.3 of Chapter IX of the Safety Convention.
safety radio certificate means a certificate issued in accordance with regulation 12(a)(iv) of Chapter I of the Safety Convention.
survey certificate means a safety certificate that:
relates to the survey of a ship; and
is issued in accordance with section 100 of the Navigation Act 2012 and Marine Order 31, issue 6.
Tonnage Convention has the same meaning as in subsection 14(1) of the Navigation Act 2012.
In these Rules, a reference to a ship or other property includes a reference to the proceeds of the sale under the Act of the ship or property that have been paid into court under rule 71.
If, in relation to a proceeding in a court, a power, function or duty is conferred or imposed on the Registrar by these Rules, the power or function may be exercised, and the duty must be performed, by an officer of the court:
appointed by the court to be a Registrar; or
authorised by the court, or by the Rules of Court, to exercise the power or function or perform the duty.
If, in relation to a proceeding in a court:
a power, function or duty is conferred or imposed on the Registrar by these Rules; and
the Rules of Court concerned authorise a Master or an Associate Judge of the court to exercise the power or function or perform the duty;
the power or function may be exercised, and the duty must be performed, by a Master or an Associate Judge.
If, in relation to a proceeding in a court, a power, function or duty is conferred or imposed on the Marshal by these Rules, the power or function may be exercised, and the duty must be performed:
by a person (whether or not an officer of the court):
appointed by the court to be a Marshal; or
authorised by the court, or by the Rules of Court, to exercise the power or function or perform the duty; or
by an officer or employee of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory, authorised in writing by a Marshal to exercise the power or function or perform the duty on his or her behalf.
Action may be authorised orally under paragraph (3)(b) if it is not practicable to authorise the action in writing before it is taken, but a written authorisation must be given as soon as practicable.
A document to be filed in, or issued out of, a court in a proceeding:
must include in the heading of the document a title in accordance with Form 1; and
must identify the proceeding in accordance with the Rules of Court concerned.
Subject to subrule (2), this rule applies to the service of documents for the purposes of the Act or these Rules.
This rule does not apply to the service of:
initiating process; or
arrest warrants.
A document may be served on a person:
by email:
if an email address has been provided by the person for the purpose of service in the proceeding—to that email address; or
otherwise—to an email address of the person; or
by fax sent to a fax number of the person; or
if the court orders that the document may be served by means of a particular kind of electronic communication—by that means.
Rules of Court of a court exercising jurisdiction under the Act may permit a document to be served otherwise than by electronic communication.
A reference to a document in subrule (3) includes a reference to a document that is to be given to a person to enable the person to exercise a power, or perform a function, for the purposes of the Act or these Rules.
These Rules are not intended to exclude or limit the operation of Rules of Court of a court exercising jurisdiction under the Act to the extent that those Rules are not inconsistent with these Rules.
Rules of Court of a court exercising jurisdiction under the Act that require or permit a document to be filed by electronic communication will apply to a document required or permitted by these Rules to be filed in the court.
If an act or omission of a person is an offence against rule 56 and a contempt under Rules of Court or at common law and the person is found guilty of the contempt, the person is not liable to be convicted of the offence.
The court may dispense with compliance with any of the requirements of these Rules, either before or after the occasion for compliance arises.
A caveat against the arrest of a ship or other property must be in accordance with Form 2 and may be filed in a registry of the Federal Court.
The caveat must not be filed unless the Registrar is satisfied (whether because of an undertaking endorsed on the caveat or for other sufficient reason) that the caveator will, in any proceeding of a kind specified in the caveat that is commenced as an action in rem against the ship or property:
enter an appearance; and
comply with rule 9.
The undertaking must be in accordance with Form 3.
Without limiting the power of the Registrar under subrule (2), the Registrar may be satisfied for the purposes of that subrule if there is produced to the Registrar an undertaking in writing to satisfy any judgment for the amount specified in the caveat, being an undertaking given by:
a protection and indemnity association that is a member of the International Group of Protection and Indemnity Associations; or
an authorised deposit‑taking institution.
The Federal Court may set aside a caveat against the arrest of a ship or other property.
The filing of a caveat under rule 7 constitutes an undertaking by the caveator:
to enter an appearance in a proceeding of a kind specified in the caveat that is commenced as an action in rem against the ship or other property specified in the caveat; and
to comply with rule 9.
The undertaking is enforceable by the court in which the proceeding is commenced.
This rule applies if:
a caveat against the arrest of a ship or other property is in force; and
under these Rules, initiating process in a proceeding has been served on the caveator; and
the proceeding is a proceeding of the kind specified in the caveat; and
the caveat specifies an amount not less than the amount claimed.
Within 3 days after having been so served, the caveator must, unless otherwise agreed in writing between the caveator and the plaintiff:
pay into court an amount equal to:
the amount claimed; or
the amount specified in the caveat;
whichever is the less; or
cause a bail bond to be entered into in that amount, and give notice, in accordance with Part VII.
A caveator who fails to comply with subrule (2):
is taken to have failed to appear in the proceeding within the time specified for appearing; and
is liable for committal.
If a ship or other property is under arrest in a proceeding, a person may file in the court by which the arrest warrant was issued a caveat in accordance with Form 4 against the release from arrest of the ship or property.