Until now the 1981 English case of The Halcyon
Isle has been the principal authority on maritime liens and
conflict of laws in Anglo-Common law jurisdictions. In that case,
which was on appeal from the Singapore courts, the majority of the
Privy Council held that the recognition and enforcement of maritime
liens were to be determined according to the law of the forum in
which the proceedings were commenced (i.e. the lex fori).
In Australia, the problem was touched on in the 1998 Federal
Court case of The Skulptor Vuchetich. One cannot
determine from the judgment itself whether the court was taken
through any considered analysis of the key decisions of the various
Common Law jurisdictions to examine the differences between them,
before concluding that the decision of the majority in The
Halcyon Isle should be followed. That is, that the
recognition of a foreign maritime lien, like the problem of ranking
and priorities, should be decided by applying the lex
fori.
