Slave Trade Act 1873

5 Jurisdiction of courts in regard to slave vessels, slaves, goods, and effects.

The High Court of-Admiralty of England and every Vice-Admiralty Court in Her Majesty's dominions out of the United Kingdom shall have jurisdiction to try and condemn or restore any vessel, slave, goods, and effects, alleged to be seized, detained, or forfeited, in pursuance of this Act, and on restoring the same to award such damages in respect of the visitation, seizure, and detention of such vessel, goods, and effects, and of any person on board such vessel, and in respect of any act or thing done in relation to such visitation, seizure, or detention, or in respect of any of such matters, and in any case to make such order as to costs as, subject to the provisions of this Act and of any existing slave trade treaty, the court may think just.

Provided that nothing in this section shall give to any court any jurisdiction inconsistent with any existing slave trade treaty over a vessel which is shown to such court to be the vessel of any foreign state and which has not been engaged within British jurisdiction in the slave trade, but where any vessel of a foreign state is liable to be condemned by a British slave court, such court shall have the same jurisdiction as if she were a British vessel.

Each of the said courts shall have the same jurisdiction in regard to any person who has been seized, either at sea or on land, on the ground that he has or is suspected to have been detained as a slave, for the purpose of the slave trade, as the court would have under this section if he had been so detained on board a vessel that was seized and brought in for adjudication.