Outline of the reports
ALRC 33
ALRC 33 found that the Colonial Courts of Admiralty Act 1890 (Imp) had limited civil admiralty jurisdiction to matters that were within the admiralty jurisdiction of England as at 1890. As a result there were many uncertainties about, and unjustified limitations on, the scope of the jurisdiction.
The report outlined that any reform of the jurisdiction must take account of the fact that commercial practices had been built up on the assumption that jurisdiction would be exercised over ships and ship owners in special ways and that there were certain international trends in admiralty.
ALRC 33 concluded that admiralty jurisdiction should be stated in a clear, precise and accessible form.
ALRC 48
ALRC 48, the second report into admiralty jurisdiction, identified that the existing jurisdiction of Australian courts over offences committed at sea had two main sources - Imperial Admiralty legislation and modern Commonwealth or state legislation.
The report found that this combination of sources had resulted in laws that were inconsistent and uncertain.