Admiralty in Wonderland

Abstract

This paper critiques the controversial decision of the New Zealand Court of Appeal in Danzas AG v Hally Press Ltd (2004) 17 PRNZ 181.

An airplane is not a ship. Even a seaplane is not a ship. Despite the beguilingly simple and settled nature of this proposition, the New Zealand Court of Appeal recently had to reconsider it in the highly unusual context of whether a Warsaw Convention claim, which was brought against an aircraft in the admiralty jurisdiction, was time-barred. In holding that the claim was not, the Court of Appeal reached some surprising and, it is submitted, erroneous conclusions about the nature of New Zealand’s admiralty jurisdiction, and its relationship with the general civil jurisdiction.

Keywords: Admiralty jurisdiction, aviation, airplane, ship, time bar

JEL Classification: K11, K22, K33