Court of Marine Inquiry

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Courts of Marine Inquiry and Boards of Marine Inquiry are tribunals established in common law countries to investigate matters relating to shipwrecks, casualties affecting ships, or into charges of incompetency or misconduct on the part of the masters, mates or engineers of ships.

1 Australia
2 Fiji
3 Tonga
4 References

[edit] Australia

Various tribunals are established in Australia to investigate the causes of shipwrecks, crashes and other matters pertaining to ships in Australian waters. As Australia is a federal jurisdiction, both the States of Australia and the National government have joint authority to make laws over navigation. Where navigation relates to overseas or interstate trade, the national government's law will take precedence in certain circumstances.

At the national level, the Australian Government has established the Court of Marine Inquiry of Australia under the federal Navigation Act.

At the state level, the following tribunals have been established:

The New South Wales Government has established the Court of Marine Inquiry of New South Wales
The Western Australian Government has established the Local Court of Western Australia is a court of marine inquiry.
The Victorian Government has established the Marine Board of Victoria to perform the functions of a court of marine inquiry.

[edit] Fiji

In Fiji, marine boards are established under the Marine Act to conduct enquiries. For a recent inquiry held in Fiji, see Marine Enquiry re the Sinking of the MV OVALAU II at http://www.paclii.org/fj/cases/FJHC/2005/369.html