- The High Contracting Parties,
Having recognised the desirability of determining by agreement certain
uniform rules of law relating to the arrest of seagoing ships, have
decided to conclude a convention, for this purpose and thereto have agreed
as follows :-
Article 1
In this Convention the following words shall have the meanings hereby
assigned to them :
- (1) "Maritime Claim" means a claim arising
out of one or more of the following :
(a) damage caused by any ship either in collision or otherwise;
(b) loss of life or personal injury caused by any ship or occurring in
connection with the operation of any ship;
(c) salvage;
(d) agreement relating to the use or hire of any ship whether by
charterparty or otherwise;
(e) agreement relating to the carriage of goods in any ship whether by
charterparty or otherwise;
(f) loss of or damage to goods including baggage carried in any ship;
(g) general average;
(h) bottomry;
(i) towage;
(j) pilotage;
(k) goods or materials wherever supplied to a ship for her operation or
maintenance;
(l) construction, repair or equipment of any ship or dock charges and
dues;
(m) wages of Masters, Officers, or crew;
(n) Master's disbursements, including disbursements made by shippers,
charterers or agents on behalf of a ship or her owner;
(o) disputes as to the title to or ownership of any ship;
(p) disputes between co-owners of any ship as to the ownership, possession
employment or earnings of that ship;
(q) the mortgage or hypothecation of any ship.
- (2) "Arrest" means the detention of a ship
by judicial process to secure a maritime claim, but does not include the
seizure of a ship in execution or satisfaction of a judgment.
- (3) "Person" includes individuals,
partnerships, and bodies corporate, Governments, their Departments and
Public Authorities.
- (4) "Claimant" means a person who alleges
that a maritime claim exists in his favour.
Article 2
A ship flying the flag of one of the Contracting States may be arrested in
the jurisdiction of any of the Contracting States in respect of any
maritime claim, but in respect of no other claim; but nothing in this
Convention shall be deemed to extent or restrict any right or powers
vested in any Governments or other Departments, Public Authorities, or
Dock or Harbour Authorities under their existing domestic laws or
regulations to arrest, detain or otherwise prevent the sailing of vessels
within their jurisdiction.
Article 3
(1) Subject to the provisions of para (4) of this Article and of Article
10, a claimant may arrest either the particular ship in respect of which
the maritime claim arose, or any other ship which is owned by the person
who was, at the time when the maritime claim arose, the owner of the
particular ship, even though the ship arrested be ready to sail; but no
ship, other than the particular ship in respect of which the claim arose,
may be arrested in respect of any of the maritime claims enumerated in
Article 1 (1) (o), (p) or (q).
- (2) Ships shall be deemed to be in the
same ownership when all the shares therein are owned by the same person or
persons.
- (3) A ship shall not be arrested, nor
shall bail or other security be given more than once in any one or more of
the jurisdictions of any of the Contracting States in respect of the same
maritime claim by the same claimant: and, if a ship has been arrested in
any one of such jurisdictions, or bail or other security has been given in
such jurisdiction either to release the ship or to avoid a threatened
arrest, any subsequent arrest of the ship or of any ship in the same
ownership by the same claimant for the same maritime claim shall be set
aside, and the ship released by the Court or other appropriate judicial
authority of that State, unless the claimant can satisfy the Court or
other appropriate judicial authority that the bail or other security had
been finally released before the subsequent arrest or that there is other
good cause for maintaining that arrest.
- (4) When in the case of a charter by
demise of a ship the charterer and not the registered owner is liable in
respect of a maritime claim relating to that ship, the claimant may arrest
such ship or any other ship in the ownership of the charterer by demise,
subject to the provisions of this Convention, but no other ship in the
ownership of the registered owner shall be liable to arrest in respect of
such maritime claims.
- The provisions of this paragraph shall
apply to any case in which a person other than the registered owner of a
ship is liable in respect of a maritime claim relating to that ship.
Article 4
A ship may only be arrested under the authority of a Court or of the
appropriate judicial authority of the Contracting State in which the
arrest is made.
Article 5
The Court or other appropriate judicial authority within whose
jurisdiction the ship has been arrested shall permit the release of the
ship upon sufficient bail or other security being furnished, save in cases
in which a ship has been arrested in respect of any of the maritime claims
enumerated in Article 1(1)(o) and (p). In such cases the Court or other
appropriate judicial authority may permit the person in possession of the
ship to continue trading the ship, upon such person furnishing sufficient
bail or other security, or may otherwise deal with the operation of the
ship during the period of the arrest.
- In default of agreement between the
parties as to the sufficiency of the bail or other security, the Court or
other appropriate judicial authority shall determine the nature and amount
thereof.
- The request to release the ship against
such security shall not be construed as an acknowledgment of liability or
as a waiver of the benefit of the legal limitation of liability of the
owner of the ship.
Article 6
All questions whether in any case the claimant is liable in damages for
the arrest of a ship or for the costs of the bail or other security
furnished to release or prevent the arrest of a ship, shall be determined
by the law of the Contracting State in whose jurisdiction the arrest was
made or applied for.
- The rules of procedure relating to the
arrest of a ship, to the application for obtaining the authority referred
to in Article 4, and to all matters of procedure which the arrest may
entail, shall be governed by the law of the Contracting State in which the
arrest was made or applied for.
Article 7
(1) The Courts of the country in which the arrest was made shall have
jurisdiction to determine the case upon its merits if the domestic law of
the country in which the arrest is made gives jurisdiction to such Courts,
or in any of the following cases namely :
- (a) if the claimant has his habitual
residence or principle place of business in the country in which the
arrest was made;
(b) if the claim arose in the country in which the arrest was made;
(c) if the claim concerns the voyage of the ship during which the arrest
was made;
(d) if the claim arose out of a collision or in circumstances covered by
Article 13 of the International Convention for the unification of certain
rules of law with respect to collisions between vessels, signed at
Brussels on September 23, 1910;
(e) if the claim is for salvage;
(f) if the claim is upon a mortgage or hypothecation of the ship arrested.
- (2) If the Court within whose jurisdiction
the ship was arrested has no jurisdiction to decide upon the merits, the
bail or other security given in accordance with Article 5 to procure the
release of the ship shall specifically provide that it is given as
security for the satisfaction of any judgment which may eventually be
pronounced by a Court having jurisdiction so to decide; and the Court or
other appropriate judicial authority of the country in which the arrest is
made shall fix the time within which the claimant shall bring an action
before a Court having such jurisdiction.
- (3) If the parties have agreed to submit
the dispute to the jurisdiction of a particular Court other than within
whose jurisdiction the arrest was made or to arbitration, the Court or
other appropriate judicial authority within whose jurisdiction the arrest
was made may fix the time within which the claimant shall bring
proceedings.
- (4) If, in any of the cases mentioned in
the two proceeding paragraphs, the action or proceedings are not brought
within the time so fixed, the defendant may apply for the release of the
ship or of the bail or other security.
- (5) This article shall not apply in cases
covered by the provisions of the revised Rhine Navigation Convention of
October 17, 1868.
Article 8
(1) The provisions of this Convention shall apply to any vessel flying the
flag of a Contracting State in the jurisdiction of any Contracting State.
- (2) A ship flying the flag of a
non-Contracting State may be arrested in the jurisdiction of any
Contracting State in respect of any of the maritime claims enumerated in
Article 1 or of any other claim for which the law of the Contracting State
permits arrest.
- (3) Nevertheless any Contracting State
shall be entitled wholly or partly to exclude from the benefits of this
Convention any Government of a non-Contracting State or any person who has
not, at the time of the arrest, his habitual residence or principal place
of business in one of the Contracting States.
- (4) Nothing in this Convention shall
modify or affect the rules of law in force in the respective Contracting
States relating to the arrest of any ship within the jurisdiction of the
State of her flag by a person who has his habitual residence or principal
place of business in that State.
- (5) When a maritime claim is arrested by a
third party other than the original claimant, whether by subrogation,
assignment or otherwise, such third party shall for the purpose of this
Convention, be deemed to have the same habitual residence or principal
place of business as the original claimant.
Article 9
Nothing in this Convention shall be construed as creating a right of
action, which, apart from the provisions of this Convention, would not
arise under the law applied by the Court which had seisin of the case, nor
as creating any maritime liens which do not exist under such law or under
the Convention on Maritime Mortgages and Liens, if the latter is
applicable.
Article 10
The High Contracting Parties may at the time of signature, deposit or
ratification or accession, reserve
(a) the right not to apply this Convention to the arrest of a ship for any
of the claims enumerated in paragraphs (o) and (p) of Article 1, but to
apply their domestic laws to such claims;
(b) the right not to apply the first paragraph of Article 3 to the arrest
of a ship, within their jurisdiction, for claims set out in Article 1,
paragraph (1).
Article 11
The High Contracting Parties undertake to submit to arbitration any
disputes between States arising out of the interpretation or application
of this Convention, but this shall be without prejudice to the obligations
of those High Contracting Parties who have agreed to submit their disputes
to the International Court of Justice.
Article 12
This Convention shall be open for signature by the State represented at
the Ninth Diplomatic Conference on Maritime Law. The protocol of signature
shall be drawn up through the good offices of the Belgian Minister of
Foreign Affairs.
Article 13
This Convention shall be ratified and the instruments of ratification
shall be deposited with the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs which
shall notify all signatory and acceding States of the deposit of any such
instruments.
Article 14
(a) This Convention shall come into force between the two States which
first ratify it, six months after the date of the deposit of the second
instrument of ratification.
- (b) This Convention shall come into force
in respect of each signatory State which ratifies it after the deposit of
the second instrument of ratification six months after the date of the
deposit of the instrument of ratification of that State.
Article 15
Any State not represented at the Ninth Diplomatic Conference on Maritime
Law may accede to this Convention.
- The accession of any State shall be
notified to the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs which shall inform
through diplomatic channels all signatory and acceding States of such
notification.
The Convention shall come into force in respect of the acceding State six
months after the date of the receipt of such notification but not before
the Convention has come into force in accordance with the provisions of
Article 14(a).
Article 16
Any High Contracting Party may three years after the coming into force of
this Convention in respect of such High Contracting Party or at any time
thereafter request that a conference be convened in order to consider
amendments to the Convention.
- Any High Contracting Party proposing to
avail itself of this right shall notify the Belgian Government which shall
convene the conference within six months thereafter.
Article 17
Any High Contracting Party shall have the right to denounce this
Convention at any time after the coming into force thereof in respect of
such High Contracting Party. This denunciation shall take effect one year
after the date on which notification thereof has been received by the
Belgian Government which shall inform through diplomatic channels all the
other High Contracting Parties of such notification.
Article 18
(a) Any High Contracting Party may at the time of its ratification of or
accession to this Convention or at any time thereafter declare by written
notification to the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the
Convention shall extend to any of the territories for whose international
relations it is responsible. The Convention shall six months after the
date of the receipt of such notification by the Belgian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs extend to the territories named therein, but not before
the date of the coming into force of the Convention in respect of such
High Contracting Party.
- (b) A High Contracting Party which has
made a declaration under paragraph (a) of this Article extending the
Convention to any territory for whose international relations it is
responsible may at any time thereafter declare by notification given to
the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the Convention shall cease to
extend to such territory and the Convention shall one year after the
receipt of the notification by the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
cease to extend thereto.
- (c) The Belgian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs shall inform through diplomatic channels all signatory and
acceding States of any notification received by it under this Article.
Done in Brussels, on May 10, 1952, in the French and English languages,
the two texts being equally authentic.
Signatories : Federal Republic of Germany82, Belgium, Brazil82, Spain82,
France, Greece, Italy, Mohaco, Nicaragua, United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland, Yugoslavia.
82 Ad referendum
83 For later ratification
Private Maritime Law, Miscellaneous Conventions, etc.
Ratifications and Accessions as on January 1, 1981
RATIFICATION
Belgium April 10, 1961
Egypt August 24, 1955
France May 25, 1957
Germany (F.R.) October 6, 1972
Great Britain and Northern Ireland March 18, 1959
Greece February 27, 1967
Holy See August 10, 1956
Italy November 9, 1979
Portugal May 4, 1957
Spain December 8, 1953
Yugoslavia July 25, 1967
ACCESSION
Algeria August 18, 1964
Bahamas May 12, 1965
Benin April 23, 1958
Cameroon April 23, 1958
Centrafrica Republic April 23, 1958
Comore Isles April 23, 1958
Congo Popular Republic April 23, 1958
Costa Rica July 13, 1955
Djibouti April 23, 1958
Dominican Republic May 12, 1965
Fiji October 10, 1970
France
Overseas Territories April 23, 1958
Gabon April 23, 1958
Germany
Land Berlin October 6, 1972
Great Britain and Northern Ireland
(Overseas Territories)
Antiqua, Cayman Islands, Motserrat
St. Cristopher Nevis, Anguilla May 12, 1965
St. Helena, St. Lucia, Belize,
Turk's Isles and Caecos September 21, 1965
Bermuda May 30, 1963
British Virgin Islands May 29, 1963
Falkland Islands and dependencies October 17, 1969
Gibraltar, Hong Kong March 29, 1963
Guernsey December 8, 1965
Grenada May 12, 1965
Guiana March 29, 1963
Guianea Republic April 23, 1958
Hati November 4, 1954
Haute - Volta April 23, 1958
Ivory Coast April 23, 1958
Khmere Republic November 12, 1956
Kiribati September 2, 1965
Malgache Republic April 23, 1958
Mauritania April 23, 1958
Mauritius March 29, 1963
Niger April 23, 1958
Nigeria November 7, 1963
North Borneo March 29, 1963
Paraguay November 22, 1967
Poland July 16, 1976
Sarawak September 28, 1962
Senegal April 23, 1958
Seychelles March 29, 1963
Solomon Isles September 21, 1965
St. Lucia May 12, 1965
Sudan April 23, 1958
Switzerland May 28, 1954
Syrian Arabic Republic February 3, 1972
Tchad April 23, 1958
Togo April 23, 1958
Tonga June 13, 1978
Tuvalu September 21, 1965
Z re Republic July 17, 1967
By the accession of France
By the accession of Great Britain
By the accession of France
Formal confirmation by the Malgache Rep. registered 13.7.65
By the accession of Great Britain.
-
-
..............................................................................................................................................
This Page is contributed and reviewed by our Research Team
- WLSA,I: 3102-8051
-
shiparrest.co.in is an
initiative by SALK, in association
with Shippinglawyers.NET
-
..............................................................................................................................................
- The content of this page nor any part of this
page or content from any page or part of the same from this website should
not be construed as legal advice, you are therefore requested to verify
the same from your source. The
information provided in the entire site is of general nature and may not
apply to any particular set of facts or circumstances. Browsing shiparrest.co.in would mean that you have accepted our terms and
conditions for browsing and the disclaimer.
