Merchant Shipping (Part IX. Liability.) (3.) Where any Loss of Life or personal Injury is by reason of the improper Navigation of such Sea-going Ship as aforesaid caused to any Person carried in any other Ship or Boat; (4.) Where any Loss or Damage is by reason of any such improper Navigation of such Sea-going Ship as aforesaid caused to any other Ship or Boat, or to any Goods, Merchandise, or other Things whatsoever, on board any other Ship or Boat; Be answerable in Damages to an Extent beyond the Value of his Ship and the Freight due or to grow due in respect of such Ship during the Voyage which at the Time of the happening of any such Events as aforesaid is in prosecution or contracted for, subject to the following Proviso, (that is to say,) that in no Case where any such Liability as aforesaid is incurred in respect of Loss of Life or personal Injury to any Passenger, shall the Value of any such Ship and the Freight thereof be taken to be less than Fifteen Pounds per registered Ton. Limitation of DV. For the Purposes of the Ninth Part of this Act, the Value of CarFreight shall be deemed to include the Value of the Carriage riage of Goods of any Goods or Merchandise belonging to the Owners of the and Passage Money to be Ship, Passage Money, and also the Hire due or to grow due considered as under or by virtue of any Contract, except only such Hire, in Freight. the Case of a Ship hired for Time, as may not begin to be earned until the Expiration of Six Months after such Loss or Damage. Losses. DVI. The Owner of every Sea-going Ship or Share therein Provision for shall be liable in respect of every such Loss of Life, personal separate Injury, Loss of or Damage to Goods as aforesaid arising on distinct Occasions to the same Extent as if no other Loss, Injury, or Damage had arisen. Mode of Procedure. Mode of Procedure. of Trade may DVII. Whenever any such Liability as aforesaid has been In case of or is alleged to have been incurred in respect of Loss of Life or Loss of Life personal injury, the Board of Trade may, in its Discretion, or personal after giving not less than Three Days Notice by Post or other- Injury, Board wise to the Party to be made Defendant or Defender, by War- direct Prorant sealed with the Seal of such Board or signed by One of ceedings. its Secretaries or Assistant Secretaries, require the Sheriff having Jurisdiction over any Place in the United Kingdom to summon a Jury at a Time and Place to be specified in such Warrant for the Purpose of determining the following Question; (that is to say,) The Mode of Procedure. Either Party may require Question to be tried by a Special Jury. Provisions for Merchant Shipping (Part IX. Liability.) The Number, Names, and Descriptions of all Persons killed or injured by reason of any wrongful Act, Neglect, or Default And upon the Receipt of such Warrant the Sheriff shall summon a Jury of Twenty-four indifferent Persons, duly qualified to act as Common Jurymen in the Superior Courts, to meet at such Time and Place as aforesaid. DVIII. If either Party to the Inquiry desire any such Question as aforesaid to be tried before a Special Jury, such Question shall be so tried, provided that Notice of such Desire, if coming from the other Party, is given to the Board of Trade before it has issued its Warrant to the Sheriff; and for that Purpose the Board of Trade shall, by its Warrant to the Sheriff, require him to nominate a Special Jury for such Trial; and thereupon the Sheriff shall, as soon as conveniently may be after the Receipt by him of such Warrant, summon both the Parties to appear before him by themselves or their Attornies or Agents at some convenient Time and Place appointed by him for the Purpose of nominating a Special Jury; and at the Place and Time so appointed the Sheriff shall proceed to nominate and strike a Special Jury in the Manner in which such Juries are required by the Laws for the Time being in force to be nominated or struck by the proper Officers of the Superior Courts; and the Sheriff shall appoint a Day, and shall on the Day so appointed proceed to reduce the said Special Jury to the Number of Twenty, in the Manner used and accustomed by the proper Officers of the Superior Courts. DIX. The following Provisions shall be applicable to the Conduct of Proceedings by the Board of Trade; (that is to say,) (1.) The Sheriff shall preside at such Inquiry, and the Board of Trade shall be deemed in England and Ireland to be the Plaintiff, and in Scotland the Pursuer, both of which Terms are herein-after included in the Term Plaintiff, with Power to appoint any Agent to act on its Behalf, and shall have all such Rights and Privileges as the Plaintif is entitled to in Actions at Law; and the Owner or Owners of the Ship or Ships by whom such Liability as last aforesaid is alleged to have been incurred shall be deemed in England and Ireland to be the Defendant, and in Scotland the Defender, both of which Terms are herein-after included in the Term Defendant: (2.) Not less than Ten Days Notice of the Time and Place of the Inquiry shall be served by the Board of Trade on the Defendant: Merchant Shipping (Part IX. Liability.) (3.) Service on the Master of any Ship shall be deemed good Service on the Owner thereof, and the Master shall, in respect of the Proceedings on such Inquiry, be deemed the Agent and Representative of the Owner, with Power to appear for him on such Inquiry, and to do all Matters and Things which he might himself have done: * (4.) If the Defendant does not appear at the Time of such Inquiry, the same shall be proceeded with as if he had appeared, upon due Proof of Service of Notice having been made on him in pursuance of this Act: (5.) The empannelling of the Jury and the summoning and Attendance of Witnesses shall be conducted and enforced in England and Ireland in manner provided by the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, 18415, in Cases of disputed Compensation as to Land, and in Scotland in manner provided by the Lands Clauses Consolidation (Scotland) Act, 1845, in like Cases, or as near thereto as Circumstances permit and all Provisions in the said Acts having reference to Cases where any Question of disputed Compensation requires to be determined by the Verdict of a Jury shall, with the requisite Alterations, be considered as incorporated with this Act, and to have reference to Cases where the Question of the Liability of any Owner in respect of any such Accident as aforesaid requires to be determined by the Verdict of a Jury: (6.) In England and Ireland the Sheriff shall, if the Board of Trade so requires, or if the Defendant so requires, and the Board of Trade consents thereto, appoint as Assessor a Barrister-at-Law of competent Knowledge and Standing: (7.) The Costs incurred by all Parties in and incidental to any such Inquiry as aforesaid shall in England and Ireland be taxed by the Master of One of Her Majesty's Superior Courts of Common Law as between Attorney and Client, and in Scotland by the Auditor of the Court of Session as between Agent and Client; and shall, if the Verdict in any inquiry is in favour of the Flaintiff, be paid by the Defendant, but if such Verdict is in favour of the Defendant, be paid by the Board of Trade out of the Mercantile Marine Fund: (8.) The Payment of all Damages and Costs in any such Inquiry as aforesaid shall, upon Application made to such Superior Court as aforesaid by the Party entitled thereto, be enforced by Rule or Order of such Court or a Judge thereof, or otherwise as such Court or Judge thinks fit: Mode of Procedure. Mode of Procedure. Rules as to Damages and Application thereof. Merchant Shipping (Part IX. Liability.) (9.) The Board of Trade may make any Compromise it thinks fit as to the Damages payable in respect of personal Injury, or of the Death of any Person; and any Damages received in pursuance of such Compromise shall, so far as the same extend, be applied in the same Manner and be subject to the same Rules as if the same were Damages recovered on an Inquiry instituted by the Board of Trade. DX. The following Rules shall be observed as to the Damages recovered in any such Inquiry, and the Application thereof; (that is to say,) (1.) The Damages payable in each Case of Death or Injury shall be assessed at Thirty Pounds: (2.) The Damages found due on any such Inquiry as aforesaid shall be the first Charge on the aggregate Amount for which the Owner is liable, and shall be paid thereout in Priority to all other Claims: (3.) All such Damages as aforesaid shall be paid to Her Majesty's Paymaster General, and shall be distributed and dealt with by him in such Manner as the Board of Trade directs; and in directing sucu Distribution the Board of Trade shall have Power in the first place to deduct and retain any Costs incidental thereto; and in the next place, as regards the Sums paid in respect of Injuries, shall direct Payment to each Person injured of such Compensation, not exceeding in any Case the statutory Amount, as the said Board thinks fit; and as regards the Sums paid in respect of Deaths shall direct Payment thereof for the Benefit of the Husband, Wife, Parent, and Child of the Deceased, or any of them, in such Shares, upon such Evidence, and in such Manner as the said Board thinks fit: (4.) The Board of Trade shall refund to the Owner any Surplus remaining under its Control after making such Distribution as aforesaid, and the Sum so refunded shall form Part of the Residue herein-after mentioned: (5.) The Board of Trade shall not, nor shall any Person acting under it, be liable to any Action, Suit, Account, Claim, or Demand whatsoever for or in respect of any Act or Matter done, or omitted to be done, in the Distribution of such Damages as aforesaid: (6.) If the Amount paid to Her Majesty's Paymaster General in manner aforesaid is insufficient to meet the Demands upon it, the several Claims thereon shall abete proportionally. Merchant Shipping (Part IX. Liability.) Mode of Procedure. DXI. After the Completion of such Inquiry as aforesaid, if Any Person any Person injured estimates the Damages payable in respect who is disof such Injury, or if the Executor or Administrator of any de- the Amount of ceased Person estimates the Damages payable in respect of his statutory DaDeath, at a greater Sum than such statutory Amount, or, in age may bring an Accase of a Compromise having been made by the Board of Trade tion on his than the Amount accepted by such Board by way of Compen- own Account. sation for such injury or Death as aforesaid, the Person so estimating the same shall, upon repaying or obtaining the Repayment by the Board of Trade to the Owner of the Amount paid by him to the Board of Trade in respect of such Injury or Death, be at liberty to bring an Action for the Recovery of Damages in the same Manner as if no Power of instituting an Inquiry had herein-before been given to the Board of Trade, subject to the following Priviso; (that is to say,) that any Damages recoverable by such Person shall be payable only out of the Residue, if any, of the aggregate Amount for which the Owner is liable, after deducting all Suns paid to Her Majesty's Paymnaster General in manner aforesaid; and if the Damages recovered in such Action do not exceed double the statutory Amount, such Person shali pay to the Defendant in such Action all the Costs thereof, such Costs to be taxed in England and Ireland as between Attorney and Client, and in Scotland as between Agent and Client. Proceedings DXII. In Cases where Loss of Life or personal Injury has If Board of occurred by any Accident in respect of which the Owner of any Trade decline such Ship as aforesaid is or is alleged to be liable in Damages, to institute no Person shall be entitled to bring any Action, or institute Individuals any Suit or other legal Proceeding in the United Kingdom, may bring until the Completion of the Inquiry (if any) instituted by the Actions. Board of Trade, or until the Board of Trade has refused to institute the same; and the Board of Trade shall, for the Purpose of entitling any Person to bring an Action or institute a Suit or other legal Proceeding, be deemed to have refused to institute such Inquiry whenever Notice has been served on it by any Person of his Desire to bring such Action or institute such Suit or other legal Proceeding, and no Inquiry is instituted by the Board of Trade in respect of the Subject Matter of such intended Action, Suit, or Proceeding for the Space of One Month after the Service of such Notice. Trade after DXIII. Whenever the Board of Trade, having refused in Proceedings manner aforesaid to institute any Inquiry, afterwards determines by Board of to institute the same, the Damages and Costs (if any) recovered on such Inquiry shall be payable rateably with and not in priority to the Costs and Damages recovered in any other Action, Suit, or legal Proceeding. |