Legal Definitions - locality test

The locality test was a historical legal standard used in maritime law to determine whether a federal court had the authority (jurisdiction) to hear a case involving a civil wrong (a tort) that occurred in a maritime setting.

Under this test, a federal court could only exercise admiralty tort jurisdiction if the alleged wrong, or the incident causing harm, physically took place on navigable waters. This meant the incident had to happen on a body of water that could be used for commercial navigation, such as an ocean, a major river, or a large lake. If the incident occurred on land, even if it was closely related to a ship or maritime activity, the locality test would generally prevent a federal court from hearing the case under its admiralty jurisdiction.

It is important to note that the locality test was later deemed too narrow and was replaced by the "locality-plus test" (also known as the "maritime nexus test") in 1972, which considers both the location of the incident and its connection to traditional maritime activity.

Here are some examples illustrating how the original locality test would have been applied:

• Example 1: Collision on a River

  Imagine two commercial barges collide on the Mississippi River, causing damage to both vessels and their cargo. Under the locality test, a federal court would have had admiralty jurisdiction over the resulting lawsuit because the entire incident – the collision and the damage – occurred directly on navigable waters.

• Example 2: Passenger Injury on a Ferry

  Consider a passenger who slips and falls on a wet deck aboard a ferry traveling across Puget Sound, sustaining an injury. Because the fall and injury happened while the ferry was actively navigating the waters, the locality test would have allowed a federal court to hear the passenger's personal injury claim under its admiralty jurisdiction.

• Example 3: Crane Accident on a Dock

  Suppose a longshoreman operating a crane on a dock accidentally drops a heavy container onto a nearby truck, injuring the truck driver. Even though the container was intended for a ship, and the crane was part of port operations, the actual incident – the dropping of the container and the injury – occurred on the land of the dock, not on the navigable waters. In this scenario, the strict locality test would likely have prevented a federal court from exercising admiralty jurisdiction, as the alleged wrong did not physically occur on the water itself.