A libel, in

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 priva ...

, is the first pleading of the complainant.

Process

It is filed in the office of the clerk of the court to commence the action. It is in the form of a petition addressed to the judge of the court by name, setting forth the nature and facts of the claim and containing a prayer that process issue in the proper manner. If the action is against an individual, a citation will issue directing the person to appear and answer; if against a vessel, a writ issues to an officer of the court directing the officer to attach it, which is considered sufficient notice to the owners. The libel must be verified by the libellant, as the complainant is called, or the complainant's agent if the complainant is without the jurisdiction.

Etymology

The term comes from the

old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intelligib ...

''libel'', ''libelle'', ''libeau'', corresponding to french: libelle, from la, libellus, diminutive of la, liber, book, inner bark of a tree. The name was borrowed from the

Roman law Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the ''Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor J ...

where a pleading known as the ''libellus conventionis'' was employed to commence an action. The word libel continued to designate the first pleading in an action under the civil law. It corresponds to a complaint or declaration in other actions.

Notes

References

* {{Cite NIE, wstitle=Libel (admiralty practice), display=Libel. In admiralty practice, year=1905 Admiralty law