admiralty

Admiralty, in British government, department in charge of the operations of the Royal Navy until 1964. Originally established under Henry VIII, it was reorganized under Charles II. Five lords commissioners composed the board of Admiralty, each gradually developing his own field of specific responsibility, with the first lord responsible to Parliament. In 1832 it absorbed the navy board, previously responsible for the administrative organization. In 1964 the Admiralty became the navy department, coequal with the other service departments, of the ministry of defense. The navy is now directed by the Admiralty Board of the Defense Council, which consists of 4 naval and 7 civilian members, including the secretary of state for defense, who serves as chair.

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maritime law

 or admiralty law or admiralty

Body of legal rules that governs ships and shipping. One early compilation of maritime regulations is the 6th-century Digest of Justinian. Roman maritime law and the 13th-century Consolat de Mar (“Consulate of the Sea”) both brought temporary uniformity of maritime law to the Mediterranean, but nationalism led many countries to develop their own maritime codes. Maritime law deals mainly with the eventualities of loss of a ship (e.g., through collision) or cargo, with insurance and liability relating to those eventualities, and with collision compensation and salvage rights. There has been an increasing tendency to make maritime laws uniform; the chief organization overseeing maritime law is the International Maritime Committee, composed of the maritime law associations of several countries.