''Wake-Walker v SS Colin W Ltd'' is a Canadian

admiralty law Admiralty law or maritime law is a body of law that governs nautical issues and private maritime disputes. Admiralty law consists of both domestic law on maritime activities, and private international law governing the relationships between priv ...

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concerning the issue of inevitable accident. The case was decided by the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 Augus ...

, in an appeal affirming a ruling by the

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The collision between HMS ''Dragon'' and the ''Maplebranch''

On August 13, 1934, under the command of Captain

Frederic Wake-Walker Admiral Sir William Frederic Wake-Walker KCB CBE (24 March 1888 – 24 September 1945) was a British admiral who served in the Royal Navy during World War I and World War II, taking a leading part in the destruction of the , and in Operation '' ...

was entering the Market (or Victoria) Basin in the harbour of

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. After entering the basin, it attempted to avoid colliding into the ''Saguenay Trader'', but it subsequently collided with an oil bunkering steamer, the ''Maplebranch'', which was securely moored at the time of the collision. The ''Maplebranch'' sank.''Wake-Walker v Steamer Colin W. Ltd'', [1937
/nowiki> UKPC 49 (PC).">937">''Wake-Walker v Steamer Colin W. Ltd'', [1937
/nowiki> UKPC 49 (PC)./ref> The owners of the ''Maplebranch'' sued Wake-Walker for the damages to the ''Maplebranch'' and its cargo.

Decisions of the Canadian courts

Exchequer Court

The admiralty action was heard by Mr. Justice Demers of the Exchequer Court of Canada (Quebec Admiralty District), assisted by two nautical assessors. The plaintiffs alleged that the collision was caused solely by the improper and negligent navigation and mismanagement of ''Dragon'' by Wake-Walker. In his defence, Wake-Walker pleaded inevitable accident, said to be caused by the maneuvering of the ''Saguenay Trader'', which Wake-Walker was trying to avoid hitting. On June 21, 1935, Demers J. held that Wake-Walker was liable.

Supreme Court of Canada

On a 3-2 majority, the

upheld the finding of liability. In his opinion for the majority, Davis J. held that when a vessel under steam collides with a moored vessel, the commander of the vessel under steam is presumed liable for the collision, and has the onus of proving that he was not negligent. Wake-Walker had not done so. In summary, the majority stated:

Appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council

Wake-Walker then appealed to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, at that time the highest court of appeal for the

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, including Canada.James G. Snell and Frederick Vaughan, ''The Supreme Court of Canada: History of the Institution'' (Toronto: Osgoode Society, 1985), pp. 4–9, 42. His appeal was dismissed by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The opinion was delivered by

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which noted: Therefore, the Privy Council agreed with the courts below that Wake-Walker had not discharged the onus to prove that the accident had been inevitable.

Subsequent career

In spite of the finding of liability, Wake-Walker continued to rise in the Royal Navy. Promoted to rear-admiral in 1939, he was involved in

Operation Dynamo Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

, the evacuation of

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label= French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Bismarck in 1942, and he was heavily involved in creating the flotilla of landing craft needed for Operation Torch in North Africa, and later the

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on D-Day.

References

{{Reflist Judicial Committee of the Privy Council cases on appeal from Canada 1937 in Canadian case law Admiralty case law Canadian tort case law