Instance Court

English Law: Instance Court in the Past

The English court of admiralty is divided into two distinct tribunals; the one having, generally, all the jurisdiction of the admiralty, except in prize cases, is called the instance court; the other, acting under a special commission, distinct from the usual commission given to judges of the admiralty, to allow the judge in time of war to assume the jurisdiction of prizes, and’ called Prize court.

Developments

In the United States of America, the district courts of the U. S. possess all the powers of courts of admiralty, whether considered as instance or prize courts. 3 Dall. R. 6. Vide 1 Gall. R. 563; Bro. Civ. & Adm. Law, ch. 4 & 5; 1 Kent, Com. 355, 378. Vide Courts of the United States of America; Prize Court. [1][rtbs name=”history-of-english-law”]

Resources

Notes and References

1. Partialy, this information about instance court is based on the Bouvier´s Law Dictionary, 1848 edition. There is a list of terms of the Bouvier´s Law Dictionary, including instance court.

See Also