HL Deb 08 November 1911 vol 10 cc107-10

Order of the Day for the House to be put into Committee, read.

Moved, That the House do now resolve itself into Committee.—(The Earl of Granard.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.

House in Committee accordingly.

[The EARL OF DONOUGHMORE in the Chair.]

Clause 1:

Power to arrest ship on claim for work done in stowing cargo, &c.

1.—(1) If it is claimed that any sum is due to any person from the owners of a ship for work done at any place in the United Kingdom by that person in connection with the stowing or discharging of cargoes on board or from that ship, or the trimming of coal on board that ship, and that ship is at any time found in any place in the United Kingdom or within three miles of the coast, thereof, a judge of any court of record in the United Kingdom may, upon its being shown to him by any person applying in accordance with rules of court that prima facie the claim against the owners is a good claim and that none of the owners reside in the United Kingdom, issue an order for the arrest of the ship.

(2) An order under this Act shall be directed to some officer of customs and excise, or some other officer named in this order, and shall require him to detain the ship until such time as satisfaction has been made by the owners, agent, master, or consignee thereof in respect of the claim, or until security, to be approved by the judge, has been given by them or him, to abide the event of any action, suit, or other legal proceeding that may be instituted in respect of the claim, and to pay all costs and damages that may be awarded thereon, and where any such order is made, the officer to whom the order is directed shall detain the ship accordingly.

(3) In any legal proceedings in relation to any such claim as aforesaid, the person giving security shall be made defendant, and shall be stated to be the owner of this ship in respect of which the work giving rise to the claim was done, and the production of the order of the judge, made in relation to the security, shall be conclusive evidence of the liability of the defendant to the proceedings.

(4) Where a complaint is made to the Board of Trade that before an application can be made under this section, the ship in respect of which the application is to be made will have departed from the limits of the United Kingdom or three miles from the coast thereof, the ship shall, if the Board so direct, be detained for such time as will allow the application to be made and the result thereof to be communicated to the officer detaining the ship, and that officer shall not be liable for any costs or damages in respect of the detention if made in accordance with the directions of the Board.

(5) Section six hundred and ninety-two of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, shall apply to the detention of a ship under this Act as it applies to the detention of a ship under that Act.

(6) If the owner of a ship is a corporation, the owner shall for the purposes of this Act be deemed to reside in the United Kingdom if the corporation has an office in the United Kingdom at which service of writs can be effected.

(7) In the application of this section to Scotland, "a judge of the court of session and a sheriff of a county," shall be substituted for "a judge of a court of record," and "defender" shall be substituted for "defendant."

THE EARL OF GRANARD

My Lords, since I asked your Lordships to give a Second Reading to this Bill yesterday the Scottish Office have found that there is already machinery existing in Scottish law which makes it unnecessary to apply this Bill to Scotland. Therefore I venture to move three Amendments to leave out the words "United Kingdom" and to insert the words "England and Ireland."

Amendments moved— Clause 1, page 1, lines 10 and 12, leave out ("United Kingdom") and insert ("England and Ireland").—(The Earl of Granard.)

On Question, Amendments agreed to.

Amendment moved— Clause 1, page 2, line 11, leave out ("United Kingdom ") and insert ("England and Ireland").—(The Earl of Granard.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

THE EARL OF GRANARD

I now move the deletion of subsection (7), which deals with the application of the clause to Scotland.

Amendment moved— Clause 1, page 2, lines 25 to 28, leave out subsection (7).—(The Earl of Granard.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Clause 1, as amended, agreed to.

Clause 2 agreed to.

LORD GORELL

In speaking on the Second Reading of this Bill yesterday I suggested the desirability of adding a clause which would give power to a person having a claim which he could enforce under this Bill to make that claim, if he so desired, by means of proceedings in the Admiralty Court. I suggested that those proceedings, if the claimant chose to adopt them, might afford, perhaps, a more expeditious way of proceeding to arrest the vessel and also a more expeditious way of enabling that vessel to be released, and the new clause which I now propose carries that out. This work is almost on the same lines as necessaries supplied to the ship, and the Amendment would not affect the other provisions of the Bill, but would give another, and, as I think, a better remedy.

Amendment moved—

After Clause 2 insert the following new clause: Any person having a claim under the foregoing provisions of this Act may, if he so desires, instead of proceeding under those provisions institute proceedings in Admiralty for enforcing the claim, and all Courts having jurisdiction in Admiralty shall, if proceedings are so instituted, have the same jurisdiction for the purpose of enforcing the claim as if the claim were a claim for necessaries supplied to the ship.—(Lord Gorell.)

THE EARL OF GRANARD

His Majesty's Government are very pleased to accept the noble and learned Lord's Amendment.

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

THE EARL OF GRANARD

I beg to move the insertion of a further new clause after Clause 2.

Amendment moved—

After Clause 2, insert the following new clause:

. Nothing in this Act shall affect the power of any person to enforce any claim to which this Act applies otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of this Act.—(The Earl of Granard.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Remaining clause agreed to.

The Report of Amendments to be received on Tuesday next, and Bill to be printed as amended. (No. 206.)