LEGAL PRINCIPLE: MARITIME LAW – Admiralty Jurisdiction – Statutory Interpretation – Section 10 of Admiralty Jurisdiction Act, 1991 – Proceedings Must Be Pending
PRINCIPLE STATEMENT
Section 10 of our act presupposes the existence of a pending action that is ordered to be stayed or dismissed. Section 26 of the U.K. Act goes further than this... There is nothing in sections 1,2,5 and 10 of the act or any other section, that empowers the plaintiffs to invoke the admiralty jurisdiction of the Federal High Court in the circumstances of this case. Plaintiff's claim is not for the enforcement of, or a claim arising out of an arbitral award, it is for the sole purpose of obtaining security for the satisfaction of whatever award that might ultimately be made in their favour in the U.K. arbitration proceedings.
RATIO DECIDENDI (SOURCE)
Per Ogundare, JSC, in Messrs. NV. Scheep v. MV "S.ARAZ" (2000) NLC-1671996(SC) at pp. 20–21; Paras C–B.
"Section 10 of our act presupposes the existence of a pending action that is ordered to be stayed or dismissed. Section 26 of the U.K. Act goes further than this... There is nothing in sections 1,2,5 and 10 of the act or any other section, that empowers the plaintiffs to invoke the admiralty jurisdiction of the Federal High Court in the circumstances of this case. Plaintiff's claim is not for the enforcement of, or a claim arising out of an arbitral award, it is for the sole purpose of obtaining security for the satisfaction of whatever award that might ultimately be made in their favour in the U.K. arbitration proceedings."
EXPLANATION / SCOPE
Section 10 of the Admiralty Jurisdiction Act requires a pending action that can be stayed or dismissed—it does not independently authorize arrest for security for foreign arbitration. Unlike the UK Act, which has broader provisions, Nigerian law does not permit invoking admiralty jurisdiction solely to obtain security for anticipated foreign arbitration awards. Without a substantive claim enforceable in Nigeria, the court lacks jurisdiction. Parties seeking security for foreign arbitration must pursue remedies within the arbitral forum or where the substantive dispute is properly pending.