1 Introduction

1.01 Admiralty jurisdiction in England and Wales dates back to the early Middle Ages. Nowadays, however, it is derived in the first instance from the provisions of the Senior Courts Act (SCA) 19811 and encompasses both in rem and in personam actions. Some of those provisions give effect to the International Convention on the Unification of Certain Rules relating to the Arrest of Seagoing Ships 1952 (the Arrest Convention) and so are to be construed in its light.2 A new International Convention on the Arrest of Ships was adopted on 12 March 1999 (the Arrest...