Vice Admiralty Court Law and Legal Definition
Vice admiralty courts are juryless courts which were located in British colonies. They were granted jurisdiction over local legal matters related to maritime activities. Maritime activities include dispute settling between merchants and seamen. Judges were given five percent of confiscated cargo, if they found a smuggling defendant guilty. This gave judges financial incentive to find defendants guilty. Vice admiralty courts were established in the 18th century. They also dealt with piracy and other offences committed in the high seas. The legal concept of the Vice-Admiralty courts was that a defendant was assumed guilty until he proved himself innocent. Failure to appear as commanded resulted in an automatic guilty verdict. The English practise were followed in the admiralty courts of the U.S.
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