LEGAL PRINCIPLE: MARITIME LAW – Admiralty Jurisdiction – Cause of Action – Claim for Security as Substantive Relief
PRINCIPLE STATEMENT
A claim presupposes a cause of action. What is plaintiff's cause of action in the present proceedings? Is security for damages, interest and/or costs that may be awarded in a proceeding a cause of action? Certainly not. Security for damages, etc, belongs to the realm of adjectival law, that which prescribes method of enforcing rights or obtaining redress for their invasion... It is not a cause of action that can ground a claim, unless otherwise specifically provided by statute.
RATIO DECIDENDI (SOURCE)
Per Ogundare, JSC, in Messrs. NV. Scheep v. MV "S.ARAZ" (2000) NLC-1671996(SC) at p. 18; Paras A–D.
"A claim presupposes a cause of action. What is plaintiff's cause of action in the present proceedings? Is security for damages, interest and/or costs that may be awarded in a proceeding a cause of action? Certainly not. Security for damages, etc, belongs to the realm of adjectival law, that which prescribes method of enforcing rights or obtaining redress for their invasion... It is not a cause of action that can ground a claim, unless otherwise specifically provided by statute."
EXPLANATION / SCOPE
A claim for security—such as security for damages or costs—does not constitute a substantive cause of action. It belongs to adjectival law, governing procedure for enforcing rights, not the rights themselves. Without a substantive underlying claim, a plaintiff cannot invoke the court’s jurisdiction solely to obtain security. Unless statute expressly permits such standalone claims, security is ancillary to an existing substantive dispute. Jurisdiction requires a justiciable controversy over rights, not merely procedural mechanisms. Standalone security claims are impermissible as they lack a substantive foundation.