The Admiralty Bill (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) seeks to replace old and obsolete maritime laws and consolidate the existing laws on civil matters of admiralty jurisdiction of courts, admiralty proceedings on maritime claims, and arrest of vessels.  Admiralty laws deal with cases of accidents in navigable waters ( territorial not inland)or involve contracts related to commerce like contracts, torts etc on such waters.

The Bill repeals following old archaic laws of British period:-

1.Admiralty Court Act 1840

2.Admiralty Court Act 1861.

3.Colonial Courts of Admiralty Act 1890

4.Colonial Courts of Admiralty(India) Act 1891.

5.Letters  Patent Provisions 1865.

Some important features of Admiralty Bill

1.Admiralty Bill extends admiralty jurisdiction to the High courts located in coastal states of India and extends it up to their territorial waters.Previously, this power was with only Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai High court.

It means now if any accident occurs in coastal water of Odisha then complainant can move to Odisha High Court rather than the above 3 High Courts who only had admirability Jurisdiction till yet.

2. The admirability jurisdiction will be extendable by the Union Government notification up to exclusive economic zone (EEZ) or any other maritime zone or islands constituting part of India

3.It will be applicable to all the vessel irrespective of their flag state, the state of registration, etc. However  it will not be applicable to naval vessel or vessel for non-commercial purpose.

4.Maritime Claims-The High Courts may exercise jurisdiction on maritime claims arising out of conditions including: (i) disputes regarding ownership of a vessel, (ii) disputes between co-owners of a vessel regarding employment or earnings of the vessel, (iii) mortgage on a vessel, (iv) construction, repair, or conversion of the vessel, (v) disputes arising out of the sale of a vessel, (vi) environmental damage caused by the vessel, etc.

The Bill defines a vessel as any ship, boat, or sailing vessel which may be propelled mechanically or otherwise.

5.It defines the hierarchical chain of priority among the claim.The priority order of maritime claims followed claims on mortage of the vessel.

Within Maritime  Claims priority order is: – claims for wages in matters of employment on the vessel > claims with regard to loss of life or personal injury related to the operation of the vessel.

6.A vessel may be arrested for providing security against a maritime claim, on the order of the High Court which has the admirability jurisdiction on the waters in which the vessel is present at the time of the incident.

7.Appeals-Judgement from the single bench to High Court can be challenged in the division bench of the same high court.However, the Supreme Court may, on application by any party, transfer an admiralty proceeding at any stage from one High Court to any other High Court.  The latter High Court will proceed with the matter from the stage where it stood at the time of the transfer.

8.Jurisdiction over Persons-High Court may also exercise admiralty jurisdiction over certain persons under certain circumstances.

The Bill thus seeks to build an Admiralty Law as per the need of the present time so that jurisdiction of High Courts are increased and speedy trial can be achieved in admiralty related proceedings.

You May also like:-Ecology and Environment

This new social boycott law in Maharashtra forbids social boycott of any person, individual, class or community in the name of caste, community, religion, rituals, habits, customs, etc.

What constitutes a social boycott under the new law?

If an individual, group, the community tries to obstruct or prevent any other individual or community from:-

1. Performing any social and religious custom like marriage, funerals, worship, etc.
2. Access to social, economic, religious and political ties.
3. Acess to an educational institution, hospitals, religious place, place of worship, community halls, playgrounds, etc.
4. Practising any particular profession of their choice

Following will also amount to social boycott
1. Any form of social ostracism of any kind.
2.Challenging the freedom guaranteed as per law. Freedom here also includes freedom to wear the dress of choice, marrying outside one’s own caste, use any specific language, etc.

Moreover, discrimination on the basis of morality, political inclination, sexuality, sexual orientation will also qualify as social boycott under the new law.

Remedy under the new Social Boycott Law

A collector or District Magistrate can prohibit the assembly for the imposition of social boycott. Moreover, the penalty for the offence of social boycott will be jail up to three years or a fine up to Rs.1 lakh or both.

The offence under the law will be cognizable and bailable and will be tried by a Metropolitan Magistrate or a First Class Judicial Magistrate.

Analysis

The Social Boycott law is the need of the hour not only in Maharashtra but in the whole of India.The boycott imposed by Jati Panchayats, Khap Panchayats, Gavkis, etc(by taking extra judicial power in their hand) are highly irrelevant in today’s democratic society.

Freedom and liberty as guaranteed in the Constitution can be guaranteed by this law. The recent cases in Maharashtra like the honour killing of Pramila Khumbharkar, staining of Narendra Dabholkar, social boycott of Rahul Yelange(who was a part of the team from Pune that conquered Mt.Everest, but had to face social boycott in his native village Budruk because his wife wore jeans. These kinds of social stigma need to be removed and tackled with firm action so that everyone can enjoy his/her rights guaranteed by the Constitution and as per law.

It is not a proud moment for a country when special legislation is required to prohibit social discrimination, ostracism and practices repugnant to human dignity. Yet, given the prevailing circumstances, any legislative assault on abhorrent social practices ought to be welcomed.

Related Article: Caste System of India – Anti-caste and untouchability movements

Finance Minister of India Arun Jaitley released National Trade Facilitation Action Plan (NTFAP), a 76 point National Action Plan which provides a time bound map, not only for implementing WTOs TFA (Trade Facilitation Agreement ) but also focuses on India’s initiatives for trade facilitation and Ease of Doing Business thus going beyond TFA. The plan is to be implemented between 2017-20 in a phased manner.

The actions covered under the plan have been categorised by prioritising the activities into short-term, mid-term and long- term.

Chronology of Events

1. India ratified WTO’s TFA in April 2016
2. Under Art 23.2 of TFA, a National Committee on Trade Facilitation (NCTF) headed by cabinet secretary was constituted in Aug 2016. It consists of stake holders from the government and the private sector including trade community.
3. WTO’s TFA came into force on 22^nd Feb 2017.
4. NCTF adopted 76 points National Trade Facilitation Action Plan

Aim of National Trade Facilitation Action Plan

The aim of NTFAP is to transform cross border clearance ecosystem through efficient, transparent, co- ordinate, digital and technology driven procedures which are supported by state of the art sea ports, airports and land labours.

Objectives

1. Improvement in Ease of doing business by the reduction in cargo release time and cost.
2. Move towards paperless regulatory environment, transparent and predictable legal regime.
3. Improve investment climate through better infrastructure.

Monitoring

National plan will be monitored by the steering committee (the operational arm of NCTF), chaired by revenue secretary and the commerce secretary. The plan would be reviewed by the cabinet secretary.

Other important points about NTFAP

1. The action plan lists out specific activities which would be carried out by all regulatory agencies like customs, FASSAI, Drug controller, Plant Quarantine, DGFT etc. in a time bound manner. The coordination among all the stake holders is the key to achieve the objective of trade facilitation.
2. The action plan is divided into two categories i.e. TFA and TFA plus. TFA category will cover activities coming under the WTO TFA while TFA plus category will go beyond the ambit of TFA
3. Infrastructure augmentation particularly road, rail and port are also part of the action plan.

Related Article: 

World Trade Organization (WTO) and India’s Stand

World Trade Organisation(WTO): International Trade

Commitment to Reducing Inequality index [ CRI index ] is an index launched by UNs HLPF, Development Finance International (DFI) and Oxfam.

The CRI index ranks governments based on their policies in 3 critical areas thus reducing the gap between the rich and the poor. These areas are as follows:

1. Social spending.
2. Progressive taxation.
3. Labour

India performed badly ranking 132 out of 152 countries.

Other country’s ranking in CRI index

Sweden topped the list while Nigeria occupied the last place.

India’s neighbour Nepal and China performed better by securing 81st and 87th rank respectively.

What is UN- HLPF?

HLPF i.e. High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development is UNs central platform to keep a follow-up and review of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development and the Sustainable Development Goals. It ensures full and effective participation of all states members of the UN and states members of specialised agencies.

Related Articles:

Global Competitiveness Ranking: 2016

Source: Oxfam