General Course Information
1.1 Course details
| Course code: | LLAW6329 / JDOC6329 |
| Course name: | Admiralty Law and Practice |
| Programme offered under: | LLM Programme / JD Programme |
| Semester: | First |
| Prerequisites / Co-requisites: | No |
| Course offered to non-law students: | No |
| Credit point value: | 9 credits / 6 credits |
1.2 Course description
This course deals with three interlinked issues. First, studies the Admiralty jurisdiction of the courts of Hong Kong, a special jurisdiction reflecting the powers previously enjoyed by the Admiralty courts of England. The Admiralty jurisdiction is, in part, statutorily defined and included the two enforcement options available to claimants who have claims under the Admiralty jurisdiction, the action in rem and the action in personam. The existence of the action in rem in support of a specific claim is a prerequisite for requesting the court to detain the ship or a sister ship, what is called ship arrest. This has important consequences for the shipowner because the ship cannot continue trading and may even be sold by the court unless security is provided. At the same time the arresting court acquires jurisdiction on the merits. If the defendant shipowner does not appear to provide security for the claim and defend the ship will be sold and the proceeds will be distributed to claimants who have claims supported by an action in rem. The priority between these claims is not statutorily decided but comes through case law and the designation of some of the claims entitled to an action in rem as maritime liens. Two international Conventions harmonise aspects of ship arrest and provide the background for the development of common categories of maritime claims.
While ship arrest favours claimants, because they can arrest a ship in Hong Kong without serving documents on the defendant shipowner, shipowners have, together with some other entities, the right to limit their liability in respect of some claims. Provided that the shipowner has given to the court the limitation amount, what is called the establishment of the limitation fund, the ship cannot be arrested and no other action can be taken against the property of the shipowner. Limitation of liability is the second aspect dealt with by this course.
The third aspect concerns the resolution of situations where the ship has been arrested in Hong Kong, thus establishing jurisdiction on the merits on the underlying dispute but the shipowner does not wish to have the claim to be heard in Hong Kong but at another forum. This could be, for example, a case where the claim is contractual and the contract includes an exclusive jurisdiction or arbitration clause. This would be a matter for the Private International Law of Hong Kong and in particular for the forum conveniens test.
By the end of this course, students will not only understand the key legal and regulatory principles in Admiralty enforcement, but will also acquire practical skills in assessing whether a claim can to a ship arrest and thus the provision of security and whether the claim may be subject to limitation of liability.
1.3 Course teachers
| Name | E-mail address | Office | Consultation | |
| Course convenor | Michael Tsimplis | tsimplis@hku.hk | CCT 607 | By email |
Learning Outcomes
2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course
CLO 1 Have a sound understanding of Admiralty enforcement, limitation of liability and their interaction.
CLO 2 Grasp key legal and regulatory principles and appreciate how they can be applied in practice to obtain security for maritime claims.
CLO 3 Be familiar with the procedure of ship arrest and its significance.
2.2 LLM and JD Programme Learning Outcomes (PLOs)
Please refer to the following link:
LLM – https://course.law.hku.hk/llm-plo/
JD – https://course.law.hku.hk/jd-plo/
2.3 Programme Learning Outcomes to be achieved in this course
| PLO A | PLO B | PLO C | PLO D | PLO E | PLO F | |
| CLO 1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 2 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 3 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Assessment(s)
3.1 Assessment Summary
| Assessment task | Weighting | Feedback method* | Course learning outcomes |
| 4 Quizzes | 20% (@5%) | 1, 2, 3 | |
| Final exam | 80% | 1, 2,3 |
| *Feedback method (to be determined by course teacher) | |
| 1 | A general course report to be disseminated through Moodle |
| 2 | Individual feedback to be disseminated by email / through Moodle |
| 3 | Individual review meeting upon appointment |
| 4 | Group review meeting |
| 5 | In-class verbal feedback |
3.2 Assessment Detail
To be advised by course convenor(s).
3.3 Grading Criteria
Please refer to the following link: https://www.law.hku.hk/_files/law_programme_grade_descriptors.pdf
Learning Activities
4.1 Learning Activity Plan
| Seminar: | 3 hours / week for 11 teaching weeks |
| Private study time: | 9.5 hours / week for 11 teaching weeks |
Remarks: the normative student study load per credit unit is 25 ± 5 hours (ie. 150 ± 30 hours for a 6-credit course), which includes all learning activities and experiences within and outside of classroom, and any assessment task and examinations and associated preparations.
4.2 Details of Learning Activities
To be advised by course convenor(s).
Learning Resources
5.1 Resources
| Reading materials: | Reading materials are posted on Moodle |
| Core reading list: | TBA |
| Recommended reading list: | TBA |
5.2 Links
Please refer to the following link: http://www.law.hku.hk/course/learning-resources/