CHAPTER VI. SENDING TO PORT OF ADJUDICATION. 69. After Detention, the Commander should as soon as possible send the Vessel and Cargo in for Adjudication. Ransom only in cases authorised by Order in Council. 70. The Commander is not at liberty, in lieu of sending the Vessel and Cargo in for Adjudication, to take either Ransom or Bail for the same except in such cases as may be provided for by any Order of Her Majesty in Council which may be made in this behalf. If he enter into any Contract or Agreement for a Ransom in Contravention of such Order in Council, he is liable for every such offence to be proceeded against in the High Court of Admiralty at the Suit of Her Majesty in her Office of Admiralty, and, on conviction, to be fined at the discretion of the Court any sum not exceeding 500.1 Penalty for delay in sending in for Adjudication. 71. If the Commander is guilty of unnecessary delay in sending the Vessel and Cargo in for Adjudication, he will, in the event of restoration being decreed, be liable for damages.2 What are Proper Ports of Adjudication. 72. By a Port of Adjudication is meant a Port to which the Vessel and her Cargo are sent in order that they may lie there in safety pending proceedings for Adjudication. 73. The proceedings for Adjudication must in every instance be instituted in a British Prize Court;3 that is, either the High Court of Admiralty of England, or any Court of Admiralty or Vice-Admiralty, or any other Court exercising Admiralty Jurisdiction in Her Majesty's 1 Naval Prize Act, 1864, Sec. 45. 2 Gerasimo, 11 Moore, P.C. 107. Susanna, 6 C. Rob. 51. Peacock, 4 C. Rob. 190. 3 Donaldson v. Thompson, 1 Camp. 428. Purissima Conception, 6 C. Rob. 45. Henrick and Maria, 4 C. Rob. 43. Polka, Spinks, 57. Comet, 5 C. Rob. 285. Kierlighett. 3 C. Rob. 96. Falcon, 6 C. Rob. 197. Staadt Embden, 1 C. Rob. 27. Flad Oyen. 1 C. Rob. 135. Dominions, for the time being authorised to take cognisance of and judicially proceed in matters of Prize. 74. The Port of Adjudication should, if possible, be a British Port, whether in the United Kingdom or elsewhere in the British Dominions; if not, an Allied Port;5 but in the latter case it will be necessary, in order that proceedings for Adjudication may be duly instituted, for the Commander to forward the witnesses, together with the Vessel's Papers and necessary Affidavits, in charge of one of the Officers of his Ship to the nearest British Prize Court. 75. None but a British or an Allied Port can be a proper Port of Adjudication. It is only in cases of necessity hereafter considered that resort may be had to a Neutral Port. Port of Adjudication; how to be selected. 76. In selecting from amongst the many Ports which are proper Ports of Adjudication, the Commander should select the one which, upon a consideration of all the circumstances, shall seem the most convenient. He should have regard in the first place to the exigencies of the Public Service, and in the second place to the interests of all parties concerned - - namely, the owners of the Vessel, the owners of the Cargo, and the Captors. These interests require (amongst other things) 1. That the Port should be capable of giving safe harbourage to the Vessel.8 2. That it should be large enough to admit the Vessel without unlivery of her Cargo.8 3. That it should offer easy communication with the Prize Court before which the case is to be adjudicated.8 4. That it should be as near as possible to the place of Capture.9 77. If the Commander, in selecting a Port of Adjudication, unreasonably disregard the interests of the Owners of the Vessel and Cargo, he will be liable for damages. Anna, 5 C. Rob. 385. Hunter, 1 Dod. 482. 8 Principe, Edwards, 70. 9 Anna, 5 C. Rob. 385. Washington, 6 C. Rob. 276. Catharina Elizabeth, 1 Acton 309. Maryland, cited 1 Acton 310. Peacock, 4 C. Rob. 190. Hunter, 1 Dodson 482. Wil helmsberg, 5 C. Rob. 143. Provision for Navigation of the Vessel. 78. Having selected the Port of Adjudication, the Commander should appoint a Prize Officer to take charge of the Vessel. 79. The Commander should invite the Master and Crew of the Vessel to assist in navigating her to the Port of Adjudication under the orders of the Prize Officer; 10 but if they refuse, he will not be justified in coercing them.11 80. He should place under the command of the Prize Officer a Prize Crew, sufficient for the safe conduct of the Vessel, regard being had to her size and character and condition, the length and nature of the voyage, the number of her crew, their disposition to co-operate or resist, and all other circumstances of the case.12 What is to be sent with the Vessel. 81. If possible, the Vessel should be sent in to the Port of Adjudication in the same condition as when she was taken, with her Master, Crew, and all her Cargo on board.13 Sometimes, however, it is impracticable for the Commander wholly to fulfil this Requisition. His duty in such case is prescribed below. Sect. 84 to 101. 82. The Affidavits and Vessel's Papers must be forwarded in the Vessel to the Port of Adjudication. If the Affidavits have not been sworn at the time when the Vessel is despatched for the Port of Adjudication, it will be necessary that some person should be sent with her to whose charge the Papers should be intrusted, and who will be able, upon the arrival of the Vessel at the Port of Adjudication, to make the Affidavits verifying the Papers, and to depose (if required) as to all the circumstances of the Capture. If the Affidavits have been duly sworn before the Vessel is sent in for Adjudication, they should, together with the Vessel's Papers annexed thereto, be enclosed in an envelope securely sealed up and addressed to the Registrar of the Court before which the case is to be adjudicated, and should be given to the Prize Officer 10 Resolution, 6 C. Rob. 21. 11 Pensylvania, 1 Acton 33. 12 Resolution, 6 C. Rob. 21. 13 Speculation, 2 C. Rob. 293. Anna, 5 C. Rob. 373. Flying Fish, 2 Gall. 374. with directions to deliver the same unopened into the Registry. Insurance of Prize. 83. The Risk attending the Vessel and Cargo until sold or released by Order of a Court of Admiralty falls upon the Captors. Accordingly it lies with the Commander to insure the Vessel and her Cargo, if he think any insurance advisable. Duty of Captor, if unable to send in the whole of Crew to Port of Adjudication. 84. If it is impracticable to send the whole of the Crew in the Vessel to the Port of Adjudication, the Commander should at least send three or four of the principal persons to be witnesses, and amongst these should be two of the following officers: viz. the Master, Supercargo, Mate, and Boatswain. 85. The Commander should at the same time draw up an Affidavit, to be made by the Prize Officer, stating what persons have been removed, and what is the cause of their removal. In default of directions from the Admiralty, the Affidavit may be in Form No. 5, page 74. 86. All persons so removed should as soon as possible be forwarded to the Port of Adjudication; and in the meantime should be provided for, either on board ship or on shore, as may be found most convenient. Duty of Captor, if Cargo is unfit to be sent to Port of 87. If the Cargo appear to be not in a condition to be sent into a proper Port of Adjudication, the Commander should cause a Survey thereof to be made by the Officers of his Ship the best qualified for the duty. 88. The Surveying Officers should report to the Commander in writing; and the Report should be signed by them, and entered on the Log of the Ship. 89. If the Surveying Officers report that the Cargo is not in a condition to be sent into a proper Port of Adjudication, the Commander should cause it to be sold.14 90. The sale may be made either on the spot or in any 14 Princessa and La Reine Elizabeth, 2 C. Rob. 31. Neutral Port where the local authorities may be willing to allow the Sale to take place; and for the purpose of selling the Cargo at a Neutral Port, the Commander may either send the Vessel in the first instance to such Port, or cause the Cargo to be trans-shipped, and so forwarded. 91. Previous to the sale, the Cargo, or such part as is intended to be sold, should be appraised. The Appraisers should be as competent persons as can be obtained, and should be sworn to be impartial, and the Appraisement should be in writing. 92. The sale should be made by the authority and in the presence of the Prize Officer, and, if possible, by public auction; and the proceeds of the sale should be remitted without delay, in pursuance of any Regulations that may be made for this purpose by Order in Council, or, in the absence of such Regulation, into the Bank of England to the Credit of Her Majesty's Paymaster-General, or into the hands of some Government Accountant; and the Prize Officer should draw up an Affidavit of all the proceedings, and annex to it the Report of the Surveying Officers, the Appraisement, Account Sales and other documents, and take the same in the Vessel to the Port of Adjudication. 93. In default of directions from the Admiralty, the Affidavit may be in Form No. 6, page 75. Duty of Captor, if the Vessel is unfit to be sent to a proper Port of Adjudication. 94. If the Vessel appear to be not in a condition to be sent into a proper Port of Adjudication, the Commander should cause a Survey to be made thereof by the Officers of his Ship the best qualified for the duty. 95. The Surveying Officers should report to the Commander in writing; and the Report should be signed by them, and entered on the Log of the Ship. 96. If the Surveying Officers report that the Vessel is not in a condition to be sent into a proper Port of Adjudication, the Commander should, if practicable, take her into the nearest Neutral Port that may be willing to admit her. 97. The Commander, however, must bear in mind that he cannot take the Vessel into a Neutral Port against the will of the Local Authorities; and that under no circum |