Historical origins

1.1 Today the Admiralty Court is simply part of the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court1 but for many years it had a separate existence, its own court buildings near St. Paul’s cathedral and its own specially trained cadre of advocates.2 The emergence of the Admiralty Court as a distinct jurisdiction has been traced to the period between the years 1340 and 1357.3 It is thought to have come into being because of difficulties experienced by domestic courts in dealing with international piracy claims.4 The practice and procedure of the Admiralty Court is not founded on common law principles but on civil law concepts as developed and adapted by the civilian practitioners of the College of Advocates and Doctors of Law.5 It was not until 1859 that common law barristers and solicitors were even permitted to appear in the Admiralty Court.6 Prior to 1859, the Admiralty Court had been the exclusive preserve of the civilian practitioners (called proctors and advocates to distinguish themselves from the solicitors and barristers of the common law courts). The advocates were members of the College of Advocates and Doctors of Law, more usually referred to by the name of the place of the building which housed the court, its registry and its practitioners, Doctors’ Commons.7 Doctors’ Commons housed the High Court of Admiralty from 1664 to 1860, when it moved to Westminster Hall. It was only after 18618 that it