general average
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 281 U.S. 515 - Charter Shipping Co. v. Bowring, Jones & Tidy, Ltd. · 1930Most cited · 177 citing opinions
that liability arises not from contract but from participation in the common venture... its extent in the absence of such limiting clauses is, under the admiralty rule, fixed by the law of the port of destination
How the Supreme Court has restated “general average”
Each Supreme Court definition of “general average,” sized by how often later courts cited it. “Change” is measured by wording overlap with earlier definitions — a rough signal, not a semantic judgment.
How often courts cite the cases defining “general average”
Court decisions citing the 5 opinions that defined “general average” — 451 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining cases as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.
All 6 definitions, chronological · 1839–1936
- 1839·38 U.S. 331 - The Columbian Insurance Company of Alexandria v. Ashby and Stribling[p9]· cited 46×ORIGINAL
the general principle certainly is, that whatever is sacrificed voluntarily for the common good, is to be recompensed by the common contribution of the property benefited thereby.
general principle
the Roman law fully recognized and enforced the leading limitations and conditions to justify a general contribution, which have been ever since steadily adhered to by all maritime nations. First, that the ship and cargo should be placed in a common imminent peril; secondly, that there should be a voluntary sacrifice of property to avert that peril; and, thirdly, that by that sacrifice the safety of the other property should be presently and successfully attained.
three conditions
where the ship is voluntarily run ashore to avoid capture, foundering, or shipwreck, and she is afterwards recovered so as to be able to perform her voyage, the loss resulting from the stranding is to be made good by general average contribution, as such a claim is clearly within the rule that whatever is sacrificed for the common benefit of the associated interests shall be made good by all the interests exposed to the common peril which were saved from the common danger by the sacrifice
there was a common imminent peril and a voluntary sacrifice or extraordinary expenses necessarily made or incurred to avert the peril and with a resulting common benefit to the adventure... the sacrifice or expenses fell upon the whole adventure and were to be assessed in proportion to the share of each in that adventure
The law of general average is an ancient feature of the maritime law and proceeds on the equitable principle that that which is sacrificed by one for the benefit of all in the course of a common venture at sea should be made good by the contribution of all.