Draft Merchant Shipping (Convention
on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims) (Amendment) Order
2004: memorandum from the Department for Transport
Draft Merchant Shipping (Convention on Limitation
of Liability for Maritime Claims) (Amendment) Order 2004
1. This memorandum is being submitted by the Department
for Transport with the draft Merchant Shipping (Convention on
Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims) (Amendment) Regulations
2004 ("the 2004 Regulations"), in order to explain the
application of paragraph 4.11 of Statutory Instrument Practice
to those Regulations.
2. The Merchant Shipping (Convention on Limitation
of Liability for Maritime Claims) (Amendment) Regulations 1998
(S.I. 1998/1258) ("the 1998 Regulations") implemented
changes to the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime
Claims 1976 ("the Convention") which were made by the
1996 Protocol to that Convention. One of the changes to the Convention
was the insertion of Article 15.3bis, which allowed a State Party
to the Convention to regulate by specific provisions of national
law the system of liability to be applied to claims for loss of
life or personal injury to passengers of a ship.
3. The 1998 Regulations implemented the new Article
15.3bis through paragraphs 2A and 6 of the Part II set out in
Schedule 7 to the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 (c.21) as amended
by the 1998 Order. The effect of these provisions was intended
to be to restrict the right of the owner of a passenger ship to
limit his liability under the Convention. However, it has since
been realised that paragraph 2A would also have the unintended
effect of restricting the right to limit liability of other ships
which were in collision with a passenger ship. The 2004 Regulations
correct this error by removing paragraph 2A from the Part II set
out in Schedule 7 to the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. In accordance
with paragraph 4.11 of Statutory Instrument Practice, the Stationary
Office will make the draft and made versions of the 2004 Regulations
available free of charge to those who have already bought or who
subsequently buy the 1998 Regulations.
March 2004
