Federal High Court to set up Admiralty division for maritime dispute

LEKKI, Lagos – Maritime disputes in Nigeria will soon be settled by dedicated admiralty judges of the Federal High Court in line with international best practices.

A Lagos-based maritime and dispute resolution lawyer, and member of Nigeria Admiralty Law and Procedure Reform Committee, constituted by the Nigerian Maritime Law Association (NMLA) in May 2020, Mr ‘Nonso Azih, stated this while responding to questions during the recent protest walk by members of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to the office to the Lagos State Police Commissioner.

Mr. Azih stated that NMLA, through the Nigeria Admiralty Law and Procedure Reform Committee, is leading efforts to improve procedural rules and substantive law for efficient maritime and admiralty dispute resolution in Nigeria.

According to him, after a comprehensive review of the Admiralty Jurisdiction Procedure Rules 2011 by a dedicated sub-committee of the reform committee, being a starting point for the envisaged procedural and substantive reforms, they (the sub-committee), submitted a review of draft amendments to the Exco of NMLA, who then submitted the draft review to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court of Nigeria.

This draft review, according to him, led to the introduction of the Admiralty Jurisdiction Procedure Rules (AJPR) 2023 effective May 18th, 2023, replacing the 2011 Rules.

The 2023 Rules were officially presented by the Chief Judge at the Federal High Court during the New Legal Year event in Abuja.

Mr. Azih also stated that the new Rules now empower the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court to designate judges of the Federal High Court as Admiralty Judges – ensuring only judges with requisite maritime experience and knowledge to handle such matters.

According to Mr. Azih, “This is a progressive initiative following the clarion call by maritime stakeholders for the establishment of an Admiralty Court to be manned by judges with proven experience and knowledge of maritime and admiralty law and procedure.’’

He added that the role of Admiralty Marshal, a key aspect of admiralty practice, has now been streamlined to include the power to move an arrested vessel to another location as necessary.

Additionally, the requirement to identify “the relevant person” (being the person who would be liable in an action (in personam) to enforce proprietary maritime claims is no longer necessary.

Further, he stated that there is now a clear and specific provision on the order of priority for maritime claims in line with international best maritime practices amongst other salient provisions.

The Nigeria Admiralty Law and Procedure Reform Committee is made up of notable maritime law practitioners.