Status of Law Commission Report - Matters Related To Ministry Of Rural Development, Department Of Land Resources

The undermentioned Law Commission report relates to the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways.

BACKGROUND

The subject of "Admiralty Jurisdiction" was taken up for an in-depth study by the Law Commission suo motu because of the observations of the Supreme Court in M .V. Elizabeth and Others v. Harwan Investment and Trading Private Limited (IT 1992 (2) SC 165) relating to the jurisdiction of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in Admiralty matters. India does not have "Admiralty Law" of its own, instead, our courts continue to administer the admiralty jurisdiction following the statutes enacted by the British Parliament and extended to the then colonial India. The British Admiralty Law has undergone, several radical changes but in India, there has' been no legislative exercise to enact or amend the law of admiralty. The Commission has in this report considered the matter in detail and it has recommended enactment of the law. Draft legislation was framed under the Report.

PRESENT STATUS

This Ministry in its communication dated 01.12.2020 has advised that the said Law Commission Report titled 'Admiralty Jurisdiction' has already been  accepted and "The Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Act, 2017" which incorporated the recommendations of the said report of Law Commission was enacted on 9th August 2017

TThe New Law came into force with effect from 1st April 2018.

CONCLUSION

Hence the recommendations and the draft legislation proposed under the Law Commission vide its 151st Report has been fully "Accepted".